The Official Who's Dissapointed With the last Google update thread
 

Now that the dust has settled...who is disappointed with the last google update?

I know a lot of people lost a lot of listings on this last reindex, I lost a few myself, but everall didn't make out that bad.

I was kind of dissapointed to see the spammers holding strong through it and mainstream stuff like HBO and CNN coming up under "Gay Sex" and "Sex Videos".

Feedback?

Jay - I dont think its over yet - the datacenters are still really different - the PR hasnt been updated at all of them yet and the backlinks havent come across to all of them yet - theres a few filters they havent implemented yet either - probably wont be done for a few days - after the weekend I think :)

Yeah maybe, some of the most obvious spammers are still holding in there. It couldn't be that hard to catch, especially seeing as people are reporting them.

The serps are filled with garbage. It's just another typical google "improvement".

I'm seeing a big increase in nonadult expired domains crammed with spammy pages in the top 20.

Not over yet IMO.....

I lost some serious terms.. that are just completely unexplainable... so I don't think it is over yet..

Definitely seeing a huge spammer increase... |angry|

DD

Google Updates?

Just checked and there is an update to PR and backlinks sitting on one of the datacenters that isnt showing on the main www, 2 and 3 yet - I really think once those are factored in (cause it looks like alot of people here got more backlinks) there will be some major shifts this weekend

Yeah - the spam is what bother me. Maybe there's still a filter they have not kicked in yet.

really in flux - they must be trying something really off the wall - do a search for a term on the normal web search - then do the same on the directory - the results are the same - never been that way before

Off the wall is right - lol

It does seem to have a lot to do with the directory - then not - then yes - then not again - lol it's SO inconsistent.

Many searches are returning bullshit in terms of relevancy and it looks like a lot of the results listed (in all of the datacenters) are absent from the 'live search results'...

And I'm sure they haven't finished dealing with the spam - in fact right now it seems like spam sites have benefited...

Can't believe it's going to stay that way... Mind you - if it does at least it'll make seo easier to understand in future - lol.

I'm sure they have a fair chunk of work left to do yet...

Or then again maybe...

Maybe they just have to upload one more itsy bitsy little equasion and everything will POP perfectly into place - lol
|pink

I think patience is the only answer - or it's off to 'pink elephant land' for all of us :)

That may be sign they are about to stop using / devalueing DMOZ listings. DMOZ's time has come and gone. I can understand why google would do that.

i noticed that some of my sites PR went down, some of the sites even dropping all the way to PR0.

please somebody tell me this is just a temporary thing and i'll wake up tomorrow with everything like i want it to be :)

Im way bummed out.
My best keyword was worth about 6000 hits a month. I was number one for about 9 months. I dont even think Im in the top 100 now. ( insert smilie of me hanging myself from a tree )

Google has gone fuckin' mad. |hammer

Urb :) nahhh- they're just still dancing - watching the results go all over the place - just watched the SERPs for "sex" go from 280 mill to 3 mill then to 59 mill - its gonna get crazier before they're done - cant wait to see the filters for spam come in :) theyve been promising wholesale changes - guess we'll have to see

I'll sleep better now. Thanks Linkster. :)

yep - there's been another big shuffle in the serps since yesterday

still not making a ton on sense
http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...oe=UTF-8&q=xxx

No...it is not over yet. Or at least it wasn't yesterday. And, I have not seen a difference yet.

This doesn't look good to me.....

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...oe=UTF-8&q=xxx

Before that GG was #3 for xxx and I was #8 - now we are way back there. That was my #1 term too.

I think Google is trying to do something where they will show result from non-adult sites up ahead of the adult - I've been noticing that for a while. JUst seems to be bumping it up now.

Those spammers are still in there solidly.

That sucks. :(

Yeah - I pretty much think the goose is cooked, for the time being. The new PRs are assigned - I have several pages that jumped in PR, but droped on SERPS - which proves what I've been saying all along - PR ain't as important as everyone thinks it is.

Anyone check with the 'filter trick':

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...=Google+Search

For a 3 word phrase ya need to put two gibberish filters on like:

kw1 kw2 kw3 -adfdfs -sfsff

And you'll see results without the stupidity.

Maybe it's good not to be in the 1st 1000 listings and that is the 'safe zone' before the next round of filters- I kid myself into thinking.

AW

Very interesting - I can only hope your safe zone theory is right. The thing that pisses me if is not that Google is bringing up the competetion - it's just I can't really understand what they are doing now.

Nice find though man!

xxxjay,

Wasn't my find. A guy on webmasterworld named 'Kackle' found it.

He calls it a 'dictionary' of phrases- but it seems like a 'phrase blacklist' to me.

It only trips certain phrases. There are so many posts in that Google Update thread it's crazy.

Have seen other people mention that there are SERP's where entire DMOZ lists don't appear.

This is the case for a site I manage which is in a *very* niche market and is only known by one term. In searching 'industry name company' not a single company pops up in Google. Nevermind the site I manage- quite literally *all* companies were ZAPPED from the results.

The #4 spot for 'industry name' previosuly held by the site I manage is now held by a free page on AOL. That site has about 50% of it's links pointing to domains that no longer exist.

I came across an odd datacenter by accident wherein the Google Web Directory was listed at #1 for 'industry name company' and the listings were updated and sorted by PR. Site I mange was #5.

Somethin' wacky going on with the Dmoz data and Google's version of it lately.

I tend to think there's a part II to this update...but maybe not. I haven't seen much change in the data centers over the past 4 days.

It's a bit much of a coincidence to have all sites in DMOZ _not_ come up in specific searches.

Everything is just...wrong. :)

Alphawolf - I think I had mentioned up somewhere earlier on this thread that I suspected that Google may be severing ties with DMOZ.

I'm sure there is a DMOZ editor or two that will read this and get pissed, but if you think about it - why would anyone spend time reviewing websites if they didn't have an interest at stake...like adding as many their own sites into it as possible.

I've even head of, since only DMOZ editors can approve other DMOZ editors, they will apply to themselves with another email address, approve themselves, and then be controling new cats.

The only way that whole thing could be done fairly is if they paid people that had no interest in the industry they are approving sites for - but then that's just yahoo...

That's an attitude that a lot of people share - particularly in the Adult industry. The answer to a question like "Why would anybody spend time at dmoz unless there was something in it for them?" can't be explained if someone has to ask the question in the first place. To be a (good) dmoz editor you have to be altruistic.

You know what bugs me about adult webmasters complaining about dmoz editors? Have you got any idea how hard some editors work to keep the Adult section clean from spamming and cheating webmasters and editors? The cleaner our section is for our surfers the better for you guys, as the non-cheating webmasters find their sites listed quicker as we deal with the spammers.

Why do I do it? I LOVE editing. Believe it or not, I really do like reviewing your submissions, sorting them into categories, writing descriptions - dotting the 'i's and crossing the 't's. I'm a nerd, basically. I build ordinary porn sites yet I work all over Adult including the Shopping section, the Link Sites, TGP area, Software, Webmaster Resources. Outside of Adult I tend to work in Society but I've also worked in Shopping and Business and have the permissions necessary to work anywhere I like.

|rasta| Since the only editors that can approve new applications are Category Moderators, Metas and Staff, why would anybody at this level need to set themselves up as another editor? Don't believe everything you hear.

|roses|

Jay,

Yeah- DMOZ is a PITA. A site of mine that was submitted 1 YEAR ago and confirmed to be in the correct category is still 'in the que'.

I'm not sure why Google would penalize people for being listed though- that makes no sense.

Hand checking without massive amounts of people and money is not very useful in Internet time.

I never really understood the hand check deal anyways. Once you are in the directory your site is in. They don't check it like once a month to make sure it's still the same- they couldn't.

So, a site that was submitted and accepted a couple years ago could be and probably *is* a totally different site today.

Unless the site is monitored every so often hand checking to get into a category means virtually nothing. At least, I don't understand the rational for it.

Jezebel,

>>>I'm a nerd, basically. I build ordinary porn sites yet I work all over Adult including the Shopping section, the Link Sites, TGP area, Software, Webmaster Resources. Outside of Adult I tend to work in Society but I've also worked in Shopping and Business and have the permissions necessary to work anywhere I like.<<<

Isn't an editor supposed to have *nothing* to do with the category they review?

Also, isn't it the case that any single domain is only allowed 2 listings- one in a category and one in Regional? Some sites have more than 2 listings. |angry|


Oh, well- I guess if you get through good adult sites, good for you. :)

Where did you get that from? Applicants with experience in a category are welcome.

Domain? You must mean site. There are some occasions where a site can be listed more than two times, particularly when it has a strong regional, national and international influence but that's not something I ever come across in the Adult/ section. If you've got a beef about sites that have more than two listings, send the URLs to me and I'll take a look at them.

Jezebel,

Where did I get that? Dunno- I think in clicking around to become an editor and reading the initial application.

Rather not report any sites. best not to rock the boat. :)

In defense of the adult side of DMOZ - and Im not on the staff there- Jezebel and a gaggle of others over there do a fantastic job - especially knowing that its all volunteer - and there are avenues to check a submit you've done to find out the status - Ive dont it myself recently and the response was immediate and helpful.

In the past there have been isolated instances (actually way in the past there were a heck of a lot) of people abusing their positions there - but that seems to have been weeded out pretty well on the adult side - the mainstream side I wont comment on :)

As far as the question about multiple domain entries - I know I have many domains with loads of listings - that comes with the territory of building free sites on the same domain - you can have as many sites as you want on a domain and each is considered separately for DMOZ - as they should be.

Ive seen a lot of bad entries get cleaned out of the adult side as well which in my experience has been good for the biz - the cat editors seem to take a good personal interest in their cats.


the original issue with the DMOZ directory and Google - I dont believe that Google has brought in a good RDF for a while - the results look like Google is trying to parse the database with filters that arent responding correctly - and unlike the past when they did all of this on a datacenter that nobody knew about before they made it live, so many know about all of the datacenters now that Google has given up trying to do it in the background and just lets whatever they have at the moment go live

I have to believe, and based on the hard results that appear on reloads, that the update of the directory, the PR update and a few other things are not done - and wont be for a few days.

Forgot - actually I believe the cat editors are encouraged to have experience in the category they are editing - and are allowed to add their own sites if they fit the cat.

I applied to be a DMOZ editor in the 'For Women' category a few months ago and got accepted, in spite of the fact that my main area in the biz is 'For Women'. Since then I have applied for other categories and been accepted.

One of the main things I have noticed is how hard DMOZ editors actually work, the job is enormous and they have to contend with cheats, spammers and massive queues of sites waiting to get listed. If you are wondering why your sites take so long to get get listed, I would imagine its because there are too many sites and not enough editors to do the job.

Want to get your sites listed faster? Then apply to become an editor and do it yourself. But before you can do that you must clean up the sites in front of you. Cos if you cheat you will get thrown out. In spite of all the things you might read about DMOZ, the editors in charge keep a close eye on what is going on and editors who cheat dont last too long. And if you find a site that breaks the rules, report it and it WILL get checked out.

If you dont have the time or the inclination to become an editor then stop whingeing and let the editors that are there do their job.

|santa|

It's a simple equation:

Having even one site in the category you are editing = bias

I doubt in the history of DMOZ there has never been a time when an editor has rejected his own site.

Jay - Im not so sure if Id call it bias - I think Id call it a perk :) and a well deserved one for taking the time to be a volunteer in my book
Now if they were to completely dominate a cat with just their sites thats a different game - and gets editors booted

You know something XXXJay? Thats crap. Not only have I rejected my own site I have had to delist sites that belong to friends of mine in the biz!! You dont know what you are talking about.

My site did not fit the DMOZ guidelines and I was not willing to change it to comply so I flicked it. If I had listed sites that were not compliant I would have been kicked out on my ass by now

If you want to make a difference then become an editor and make a difference. If all you want to do is discredit the work of the editors that are working their butts off so that your sites can get listed (presuming of course they fall within the guidelines), then go and do it somewhere else.

God you DMOZ people are touchy. Ok, yeah really, I must be wrong nothing shady ever goes on at DMOZ...

NOT!

I wonder why

|zzzzzzzzz

Regarding the multiple listings, I wasn't speaking of free domains.

Example- Salon.com has 689 DMOZ listings.

WMW used to have like 7 or 8, now just 4.

Mystique-magazine.com has 3.

It does make sense if a portion of the site is strong and suited for an additional category, it should be listed.

But a listing for like every other review someone does? Come on. ;)

PlayBoy has 10 listings.

Reviews_and_Previews seems an often used category to create multiple listings.

PlayBoy has a PlayStation 2 listing:

http://directory.google.com/Top/Game...PlayStation_2/

So, if I do reviews of products, games, etc...on my site it will not be a problem to get listed eventually? |shake|

Adameve.com have 3 listings. Man, http://directory.google.com/Top/Adul...Opportunities/

Opportunities? Come on.

Why is it a site cannot get a legit listing for a Web Forum under the right category? Chats_and_Forums

Google has 76 listings.

Microsoft- 932 DMOZ listings. (Just 246 Y! listings)

Amazon- 334 listings (just 39 Y! listings)

Ivillage: DMOZ: 611 listings, Y! Directory: 126 listings

MapQuest: DMOZ: 1014 listings , Y! Directory: 8 listings

So, essentially, if I add an E-zine to my adult site with quality content I should get a listing for each and every review, right?

msn.com DMOZ: 2632 listings

Each movie review gets a listing.

If I have a section in a webforum or sub domain dediciated to Adult movie reviews, i can get a listing for each review?

If one just goes down the list of sites via PR:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&i...TF-8&q=http%3A

And checks dmoz listings they all have rediculous amounts of listings across the board for the most diverse categories. If PlayBoy can get a listing under PlayStation 2 category, would my site be able to?

Having a couple thousand links replicated 100's of times sure comes in handy. :)

Oddly, joe-schmoe sites gets scruntized for everything. What's the deal with that? |santa|

AlphaWolf - actually anyone can do exactly the same thing those guys are doing - an example:
If I take a domain that has something to do with pornstars and I build the main site from the root - I can get that listed in DMOZ.
Now I take a directory and put up a little subsite about Jenna J and add two galleries of 10 pics - and then get that listed in the image galleries section of DMOZ - and can do that hundreds of times with different pornstars
Of course all the while every one of those little subsites has a link back to the main site and the main site has a good sitemap or contents page that lists each of those subsites - an easy way to naturally move page rank around and a good surf for the users
And DMOZ will list each of those subsites usually - I only say usually as sometimes you will run into someone else that has that picture set already on DMOZ :)

As far as the large sites like msn etc. - Im not sure if building a portal and submitting subpages on varying subjects would fly - but it sure seems to :) I dont think DMOZ would have a leg to stand on if they declined your subtopics and not the msns

Very important to remember - their policies dont say anything against submitting multiple sites from the same domain :)