Another reason I hate DMOZ

[Jeremy]

I really hate DMOZ and I always have. This post by Jeremy S. (shoemoney) pretty much sums it up.

http://www.shoemoney.com/2007/08/26/dmoz-extortion/

[Graham]

Thats pretty brutal... I am sure it will generate enough buzz that possibly they will track down this individual.

[Randy]

Just because Jeremy Shoemoney posts something to his blog doesn't mean that it really happened. He recommends reading his disclaimer before acting on his post: http://www.shoemoney.com/disclaimer/

In particular, Shoemoney says, "You should assume everything written on this blog is a lie. You should assume I have motivation for linking to everything on this page and will benefit from it somehow."

Let's see. How might Shoemoney benefit from that post?

Bashing DMOZ makes great linkbait and is clearly working in this case.

Maybe Shoemoney is trying to bully his way into getting his DMOZ listing back.

But I for one don't believe that he was extorted for a minute. That $5000 number is all the evidence I need to think this post was nothing but bullshit, because who would pay that amount for a DMOZ listing anyway?

[JohnH]

If he did make that up, brilliant, If not, he's still gonna get a bunch of backlinks and maybe cause enough buzz to get his site re-listed in DMOZ

[SEO]

Originally Posted by Randy

That $5000 number is all the evidence I need to think this post was nothing but bullshit, because who would pay that amount for a DMOZ listing anyway?

Exactly. Nobody should take this seriously.

"How does shoemoney.com NOT belong in DMOZ??"

Because of this kind of stuff.

[Randy]

This might be worth a read too - some more skeptical comments regarding Shoemoney's latest linkbait: http://blogoscoped.com/forum/106601.html#id106669.

Jolly good for Shoemoney if his linkbait gets him a bunch of links, but I think a better approach to getting links is to say nice things about people rather than mean things. Call me crazy, but I feel so much better about myself for taking that approach than I would taking the other approach.

As far as this "maybe" causing enough buzz to get his site re-listed, I doubt very seriously that this would work.

People seem to think that DMOZ "owes" them a listing.

[PPP]

Saying dumb things can get you links, but they usually aren't very good links. In this case the guy says he got a mysterious email, but for some reason doesn't post it. He's just another liar looking for attention he can't manage legitimately.

[Jeremy]

I am probably biased because my long standing hate for DMOZ. But to think this "couldn't have happened is silly"

I'm not going to get on another useless tangent like I usually do, and I'll just try to stay on topic. Who knows if Jeremy did this just for link bait, I suppose anything is possible. But Shoemoney is a very well respected affiliate outside of our little bubble in the affiliate marketing world. It would seem like a bad PR move for his own reputation to bullshit about it. But hey there again who knows.

Considering he just sold Auction Ads for a huge chunk of money though. It just doesn't seem like a topic you would bullshit about as a simple link baiting tactic to increase your traffic and adsense revenue on one simple blog.

There is proof at archive.org that he WAS listed in DMOZ and now he is not. Perhaps he is just pissed about being removed, but if you think that a story like this about DMOZ is preposterous and simply could never happen to a fine upstanding organization like this, I hate to say it, but you have been living under a rock.

I would bet the house, the kids, and everything I own that there are isolated incidents of corruption like this at DMOZ. If I were going to try to extort someone for 5 dimes, it would probably be a big webmaster whom I knew was working with 7 figures. That's all, flame away.


P.S. Randy and PPP, can we still respect each other in the morning?

[Kyle]

In all honestly I think Jeremy S. has enough links already, and he really doesn't have a reason to bullshit about this. He has said on his radio show that the disclaimer on his site is for products he mentions, letting you know ahead of time he is probably getting a cut from anything he mentions. This particular story may or may not be true, I'm just saying he doesn't need the links.

I agree with JE on this one, DMOZ is corrupt (read: certain individual editors) and you are sleeping if you don't know it (or you just don't admit it publicly). Most people get into DMOZ the old fashioned way, but the shady stuff still goes on to some extent.

To answer Randy's question about the ridicolous price, it's simple. It's easier for a shady broke DMOZ editor to get 5k from one millionaire then 50 bucks from 100 different webmasters and almost surely lose his position. Obviously nobody would pay for it, but it wouldn't be the first dumb idea for a quick buck in the history of mankind.

[Randy]

I've never met an SEO or web marketer yet who "had enough links".

Shoemoney is the same guy who faked a flame war with Markus from Plenty of Fish as linkbait. So skepticism regarding his claim here is perfectly reasonable.

If you look at the link I posted in my earlier post, you can see that Shoemoney posted at Digital Point that he's willing to bribe an editor. That's the surest way I know of to get blacklisted and never get a DMOZ listing.

DMOZ bashing is so boring anyway. It's all been said before at this point.