Google Directory Fixed?

Web search and directory now look different

[Hissingsid]

Hi,

Just a quick heads up. I've just noticed that when I do a Google search and then click on the directory tab the results have gone back to being different.

Directory results actually look right! Well I could live with those as Web SERPs anyway.

Best wishes

Sid

[seofreak]

ya, noticing the same myself.

[BallochBD]

Me too!

[nileshkurhade]

Yes directory results are different but my site has been in DMOZ for well over 4 months now but no listing in Directory!

[skipfactor]

Wow, my site's there on a directory search for missing money terms. Could this be a glimmer of hope?

[Tropical Island]

I love the directory results - lets go with those in regular search.

[Skier]

Wow, that's the first time I have seen my index page come up for my best money keyword, since Florida.

Not much use in itself, but encouraging.

I have never paid much attention to the directory and where it fits into Google's system. What, if anything, does this return of the "lost" to the directory mean?

[Yidaki]

>Google Directory Fixed?

Category links are still missing in the serp's for pages that have been added to dmoz on 10, July 2003 and that are listed at the google directory since ~3 months. Pfff ...

[IITian]

Not for me. Results are stranger than before. Clicking on a category leads me a random category - sometimes in a different language.

[Fearless]

I wonder if Yadaki has it right? One of our sites FINALLY made it, one didn't. (That is to say, they have been listed in DMOZ (ODP) but not on Google's "Directory.") The site which made it was launched 6/24/03 and although I didn't record the date (I wish that I had) it was listed with DMOZ sometime this summer. This is the first time that I've seen it in Google version of the Directory, so I think that some sites from this summer have made it (apparently.)

A companion site that we launched this Fall is listed in DMOZ (ODP) but not the Google Directory (google yes, directory no.)

[Hissingsid]

Hi,

I have not got a clue if this will help but I gave a link to the category that my site is listed in from the site that was affected as part of my post Florida fidleing. I did this for the DMOZ cat and the Google cat, kind of trying to show Google bot the way around ;-)

Still clutching at illogical straws, but if I had a recent DMOZ listing I think I'd want to make sure Googlebot found it, goodness only knows how old the cached version of DMOZ is that it is working from.

I realise I may have further exposed my stupidity but hey who cares any more?

Best wishes

Sid

[Stefan]

Hissingsid, it's a good idea... it can't hurt anyway. Clever thought making sure Google finds them rather than waiting for an rdf dump. I have links to both my dmoz category pages... they're good and should be useful to users.

ADDED: Yeah, good to see the directory searches back. Also nice to see we're #1 on most of our important kw's.

[superscript]

Sid,

I've been in DMOZ for 2 years, but Google keeps forgetting this (mainly a non-www, www issue) I did the same thing a few months ago - I pointed to the appropriate DMOZ category containing my URL from my index page in the hope of 'enlightening' the GoogleBot. Hasn't worked to date. It's because my non-www.mysite has a DMOZ listing, but Google hasn't picked it up on www.mysite. I've basically got a duplicate penalty on this because Google doesn't understand that in the vast majority of cases non-www and www are identical and usually resolved with a 302. I now have a proper 301 in place, but see my post regarding Strange results in allinurl - now I can't figure out whether the 301 is t*ts up, or a strange redirect is responsible for losing 2 important pages from my site.

'Things can only get better' - or perhaps: 'worse things happen at sea' as they say - but it will be stretching it to make things any worse for his particular webmaster at the present time.

[Stefan]

It's because my non-www.mysite has a DMOZ listing

Have you tried asking the editor to change it? If it's a really large category, then maybe it's not going to happen, but it's worth a try.

Google doesn't understand that in the vast majority of cases non-www and www are identical

Yeah, it's rather insane. I had a problem with it back in Dom/Esm, got the links changed, and since then I watch things like a hawk. I go through log files looking for incoming links in the wrong form... even have a notice on the index page. The www business is madness in the first place, "world wide web"... some stupid marketing term that has the acronym taking longer to say than the words themselves.

Back on topic: well spotted, hissingsid, on the directory getting back to normal. That went for a few months eh, with it just a dupe of the main serps.

<edit>got my acronym, terms, mixed up</edit>

[steveb]

The Directory search is still using ancient category data, from before it was updated November 1st.

It's not updated, but its returned to how it was.

[willybfriendly]

Still pretty screwy in my niche. Searched directory for "keyword"

Responses are listed by I don't know what. Nothing from the high level cat Business>.>.>.>keyword shows up until about #8. Instead are results from lower level cats, i.e Business>.>.>.>keyword>associations, or Business>.>.>.>keyword>Manufacturers>Country>State

And, to boot, have a site that is listed in the high level keyword cat, but the directory search returns it in the much lower level Regions>.>.>State>City secondary listing that I have.

Now that secondary listing was changed within the past month, but the higher cat listing has been there for a long, long time.

Go figure...

WBF

[GoogleGuy]

Methinks the directory search had a bug and is fixed now; the search from that tab should only search sites in the directory, so it's good that it's doing that now instead of doing a web search.

[nileshkurhade]

Hi GoogleGuy,

How often dose Google update its Directory? Is it currently updated?

[steveb]

GG, hopefully there will be a full update of the Directory soon, as the search still pulls up sites that were listed before the November 1st update, and also it would be nice if the cool green thingee on the toolbar and link under the serps would both be up to date.

[superscript]

Le Snip!

[Chalupee]

I'm not sure by what
"Google Directory Fixed" means... does that mean it's
been neutered or spay...

but as of today Sunday... I am seeing a third
permutation of the data since Fla update..
AND as of today..
andbody notice Y=ahoo today (or last day or so)...
results look very similar to G=oogle (again).
It appears as though both are heavy on the link popularity
to achieve better ranking, as compared to relevance.
whaT a mess....

ugh..

[GoogleGuy]

I'll pass those comments on, GreatVista.

[nileshkurhade]

Hi GoogleGuy,
How often dose Google update its Directory? Is it currently updated?

[GoogleGuy]

During monthly updates, we'd pull down a fresh rdf dump for every monthly index, so as long as the rdf was available the directory would be fresh to within a few weeks. I haven't asked what the schedule looks like lately, but I'm happy to ask around. I might not reach them during the holidays, but I'll take this as a long-term request to keep the directory updated.

(I'll be out of town for a few days myself this week, just so people know..)

[nileshkurhade]

GoogleGuy,

Happy Holidays and Merry Chirstmas.

Thanks for the answer but what is rdf dump?

[rfgdxm1]

>Have you tried asking the editor to change it? If it's a really large category, then maybe it's not going to happen, but it's worth a try.

Redirect root to www. An ODP editor in that case should list the www subdomain, as root is just a redirect. As for how long it will take after doing this for the change, it depends on how active the editors are.

[edited by: rfgdxm1 at 7:34 pm (utc) on Dec. 21, 2003]

[rfgdxm1]

>Thanks for the answer but what is rdf dump?

The ODP produces a RDF dump on average weekly. This is the latest update of the database for Google and others to use.

[Chalupee]

<< on to GreatVista

I've never heard of GreatVista.

What is that... is it Government run or
something rich with manipulation...

[outland88]

Many search engines do an excellent job pulling up-to-date DMOZ Directory dumps. Google seems to do it very poorly though. Since many of the DMOZ categories utilize only the index page they tend to be less prone to spam. I have seen Google directory listings bounce from a year old to a month old, sometimes four times a week. But then again there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to the regular Google results after the Florida update.

[plasma]

Haleluja