Do Dmoz Editors Ask For Your Site Password?
2 May 2007 (Wed)IS THIS NORMALLY DONE? I received an email message a few days ago from someone who calls himself/herself “DMOZ Editor”, asking for a sample/test username and password + access code to the courses on my elearning portal.
The message was as follows:
From: DMOZ Editor <xxx.dmoz@gmail.com>
Date: Apr 28, 2007 9:05 AM
Subject: DMOZ - Requesting test username/password.
Site:http://www.netcoachasia.com/
Site submitted: January 17, 2007
—————————————————— Hello,
I am an editor at dmoz.org (DMOZ or ODP) and would like to see if it’s possible to have a sample/test username and password + access code? The courses seem very interesting, but for some sites we must be able to see some of their descriptions and what they offer before we can list them.
Rest assured, this username/password + access code will be kept purely confidential, and you can delete it at anytime.
http://dmoz.org/guidelines
/site-specific.html#password -Explains how dmoz editors keep usernames confidential and why we sometimes need them. Thanks,
Anonymous dmoz editor
A GOOGLE SEARCH ON “DMOZ editors” yields quite worrying results. The first four are as follows:
Corrupt DMOZ Editor
| Sabotaging a Competitors DMOZ Listing for Fun & Profit · How to Bribe a DMOZ Editor · Corruption is Rampant - Get Yours or Get Out … www.corruptdmozeditor.com/ - 21k |
WebProWorld :: View topic - DMOZ editor wants $300 to list my site
Psssst — GIVING away DMOZ Editor Accounts! - Jim Boykin’s Internet …
The Resource Zone - Open Directory Project Public Forum
Discussion board sponsored and managed by members of the ODP Community, for discussion of dmoz-related issues.
www.resource-zone.com/ - 3k
Note: This editor asks for a password to a course. I gave him/her access to one. After a day or two, s/he asks for another course to see. I don’t understand. I’m just listing an elearning site. Why does a Dmoz editor need to view multiple courses on my site?
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Posted by J.K. in Problems | blog reactions | |
May 2nd, 2007 at 3:40 pm
I submitted my company website to DMOZ around 4 months ago. Till now, I have not received any replies and my site is not listed. But I saw my competitors’ sites listed there. Mine is a software company website, no porno or things like that.
I sort of give up on them.
May 2nd, 2007 at 5:18 pm
if your site is a membership website which required log on, then the Dmoz editor may requires a TEST account.
May 2nd, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Looks fishy to me. Anyone can represent himself as a dmoz editor and get a gmail.com account with “dmoz” in the user name - that’s not any proof that he’s in fact an ODP editor. Furthermore, looking at your site, I don’t see why a test login would be needed to review and describe your site - you can see what the site’s content is without any need to unlock the individual e-learning courses on the site. Looks like you have been scammed. Did you in fact submit the site to the Open Directory? If so, it might be useful to file an abuse complaint using the “report abuse/spam” form linked from the top of the category page (of the category where you suggested the site) on dmoz.org.
May 3rd, 2007 at 1:38 pm
looks fishy to me as well. I agree with LCf and tschild that it could be anyone and secondly why would he need to do that?
just leave it and if he needs to he will probably contact you again
May 3rd, 2007 at 3:15 pm
hmmmm…. i’ve never received an email like that and i’ve submitted tons of work websites and my own websites to dmoz.
May 4th, 2007 at 1:38 am
Thanks, all. Each one of you have articulated some of my thoughts. At the end of the day, I still don’t know what to make of this. :-p
May 9th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
The question I’m left with is Does anyone have tips on how to get accepted into DMOZ? I have an ecommerce site (PR 2) that I know would blow up in rankings if I got in, but everybody says it’s so tough. Thoughts?
May 18th, 2007 at 11:35 am
If i am you, i will change my password now. DMOZ editors DONT use Gmail accounts to send out DMOZ related emails.
May 18th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Thanks, PK, for your comment and “Contact” message. Which password are you referring to? Oh… have removed course access for that username now.
How do you know that Dmoz editors don’t use Gmail accounts to send Dmoz related messages?
By the way, fyi: your comment went to my spam queue earlier. My focus is more on learning, design and technology. Therefore, I normally link to blogs on such topics.
June 29th, 2008 at 4:28 am
Just a quick comment - I was a DMOZ editor up until 2004 or so. At that time there was a huge backlog of sites, sometimes dating back to a year in categories that were under represented by editors. As one of you previous comments stated, an editor can ask for a test account if your website is password protected. Otherwise, you are either being scammed or the editor is abusing their power.
As for how to get listed? Make sure the description is excellent, submit your site to the correct category (ie. drill down to the best category, not just top level categories) and most of all be patient. There was guidelines in place to prevent a person from listing their own site, don’t know if things change that way.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:49 pm
ahh.. that’s dmoz, you can never be sure