Matt Cutts on Directories?

Mattcutt does not want directories to sell links , whatever directories caught selling links has been penalized in google SE, Mattcutt wants to monopolize selling link business via adword. Officially he tells that directory should use rel="nofollow" for putting advertisement link, but even then directories are getting penalized.

Right, that's Google's stance on paid links. But I'm not talking about buying/selling links - I'm talking about free directories like DMOZ.

Sorry to change the topic but if that is all true, why does Google recommend paying to be in Yahoo Directory?

Where do they say that? Better yet, WHY would they say that? Google and Yahoo! are competitors, more so if the Microsoft deal goes through.

Here is one thing to look at-not 100% on point but close. Let me know your thoughts and I will look for other references. This came from the Google Webmaster Central Blog

2-3 people have asked about directories. I've talked about this before, so I'm going to include the answer that I gave at http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/how-to-report-paid-links/ a few months ago:

"Q: Hey, as long as we’re talking about directories, can you talk about the role of directories, some of whom charge for a reviewer to evaluate them?
A: I’ll try to give a few rules of thumb to think about when looking at a directory. When considering submitting to a directory, I’d ask questions like:
- Does the directory reject urls? If every url passes a review, the directory gets closer to just a list of links or a free-for-all link site.
- What is the quality of urls in the directory? Suppose a site rejects 25% of submissions, but the urls that are accepted/listed are still quite low-quality or spammy. That doesn’t speak well to the quality of the directory.
- If there is a fee, what’s the purpose of the fee? For a high-quality directory, the fee is primarily for the time/effort for someone to do a genuine evaluation of a url or site."

I hope that helps answer the question of how (say) the Yahoo directory is different from the examples I showed in my post at http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/selling-links-that-pass-pagerank/ . I hope it also answers the question of why a "bidding directory" that just gives the top slot to the highest-money bid might not be as trusted by Google.

At one time, it was posted on the Google website that it recommended being in both the DMOZ and Yahoo directories because they are both old, trusted authority sites, which Google places a high value upon. The Google Directory still uses DMOZ for its results, though I would gather few people use this anymore.

At one time, it was posted on the Google website that it recommended being in both the DMOZ and Yahoo directories because they are both old, trusted authority sites, which Google places a high value upon. The Google Directory still uses DMOZ for its results, though I would gather few people use this anymore.

Your point is well taken and it seems as though getting listed in DMOZ these days is like buying a lottery ticket.

Buying a lottery ticket is a good analogy. I also like to think of DMOZ as a long-term stock investment. You won’t know for a year or two whether or not your stock pays off. If it does, then great. If not, then buy another stock (resubmit).

What do you think of Yahoo Directory?

I think the Yahoo directory is still of some value (if you can afford it) since it does provide a link from an authority site to your website. Otherwise, I don’t think people search this directory much anymore. I was lucky enough to get a couple of websites into the Yahoo directory a long time ago when it was still free. Then I paid to get into the Yahoo directory once for 1 year, did a lot of link building during that year and didn’t miss it much when the Yahoo link expired. For new sites in search of authority links, the Yahoo directory may still be of some value, IMHO.

So ... are directories dead?

So ... are directories dead?

By that I mean the whole concept of directories ... do they have a future?

There are so many variables at work that unless methods of statistically related experiments are conducted and retested, questions just get harder to answer with authority.

I think a lot of unfocused or poorly focused directories are dead. But, I also believe some tightly focused niche directories are still alive, doing well, and providing a valuable service. One of my favorite examples is the Renewable Energy Directory (just search this phrase) where the homepage is PR 5 and many of the inside category pages are PR4. This directory has been up a little over a year and it is doing well.

Thanks for the replies :) I guess I'm always nervous that I don't know whether my directory really hurts me or really helps me. Some categories are PR6 and some categories are greybar. I'm pretty good about keeping out spam, but it's hard to tell whether any of the sites I link to (I don't nofollow directory listings) are doing any illegal seo tricks.

Hi,

Directories do hold values, as long as they pass linkjuice to the websites submitted. My personal opinion would be, getting links from High PR niche websites woulbe be more valuable from links from 1000's of non indexed page rank 0 directories. At the same time, industry specific, niche directories, hold values, as they speak thematic language.

Thanks for the replies :) I guess I'm always nervous that I don't know whether my directory really hurts me or really helps me. Some categories are PR6 and some categories are greybar. I'm pretty good about keeping out spam, but it's hard to tell whether any of the sites I link to (I don't nofollow directory listings) are doing any illegal seo tricks.

Any kind of reciprocal links scare me which is why I have not applied to your directory. Do you have any info on the view of reciprocal linking?
Thanks

I don't think all paid directories are penalised, There are some instances where paid directory listing is genuine ie in the case of specific online market places. I think in general the concept of buying directly listings purely for SEO is frowned upon not genuine directory listings such as Yahoo or other niche industry specific websites. But then again some may disagree.