

Date Thu 27 December 2012 By Neil Fincham Category Bitcoin, News, ODP/DMOZ

The ODP (Open Directory Project) or dmoz.org is one of the true grandfathers of the Internet. Started in 1998 it had a simple but very ambitious goal, to organise and categorise the Internet.

Fast forward 14 years to today the ODP contains just under 5 million unique websites and is still growing but there is, and always has been an issue with the ODP and it also happens to be its greatest advantage. Every single listing is reviewed and maintained by a small crew of volunteer editors, and compared to the amount of listings the number of editors are truly microscopic.

This can lead to delays of months (or even years in some cases) to get your site listed or updated as an editor finds the time to review your site manually and ensure that it fits into a strict set of rules and guides. Once you were listed though you could expect higher priorities from search engines and more hits.

Well, things are about to change in the bitcoin category. After going through the application process quite some time ago I yesterday received a notification that I had become an ODP editor for the bitcoin category (on christmas day no less). Suffice to say, I am stoked and I promice to get submissions dealt with in a quick and timely manor (and be fair and impartial as I can).

For now I am just working my way through the listings and submissions and learning the ropes. Very soon though I plan to alter the structure of the bitcoin category from;-

- Bitcoin -- Mining

To something more like;-

- Bitcoin -- Alternative Chains -- Clients -- Data --- Market --- Blockchain -- Exchanges -- Games --- Gambling -- Merchants -- Mining --- Hardware --- Software --- Pools -- News -- Online Wallets -- Payment Processors -- Tools

But this is not a dictatorship, I would like your input (and more importantly your sites). There is a lot for me to do but first of all I need to get the categories right (if you could hold off submitting until I do that would be appreciated) so I am asking what have I missed? If your site falls under a category not listed above, or if you have some suggestions please let me know, my contact details are here (Please put ODP in the subject so I can sort them out better).

There are a few guidelines when it comes to ODP categories, a few points to keep in mind are;-

There should be 3-4 listings in each category.

The category should reflect the keywords for the listing (e.g. If it is a Bitcoin Mining Pool it should be in Bitcoin: Mining: Pools:, the is VERY important for SEO, the search engine's pick up their keywords from the category).

Gambling sites have an additional set of guidelines.

Adult sites have even more guidelines. I am seeking further clarification on these.

I am excited to get to work on this but I want to get it right so any other suggestions are welcome. Please also feel free to spread the word, I want to bring the ODP bitcoin category to life.

Update: I have posted over at BitcoinTalk if you prefer to post there.

Update 2: Added a post over at Butterfly Labs for the crowd over there.