Traffic Flow SEO

There has been a lot of speculation and apparent confirmation (as per Shoemoney's recent blog post that Best of the Web Directory (BOTW) may be buying the Open Directory (DMOZ). This would be a big deal that could catapult BOTW into the position of being the Internet's largest web directory (bigger than Yahoo's Directory). This would make sense as AOL currently owns the DMOZ and financially they have been in trouble for quite some time, so why not dump it as it is not a direct revenue generator and it does require a lot of resources to maintain. BOTW is a very successful online web directory and could assume the responsibilities and make it into a profitable venture. This possible merger leaves a lot of questions on the table.

- Will the DMOZ now charge for site reviews (for inclusion)?

- Will Google still use the DMOZ as their resource for their Google Directory?

- Will Google still value the 'link juice' that the DMOZ provides (BOTW was not hit with the Google web directory penalty as many of the other web directories were, so it is possible that Google may still value these links)

- Will the two directories be run as two separate entities or merged?

- Will all current listings remain? Will they be updated? Will the structure change?

- Will there actually be customer service and less corruption (DMOZ is notorious for corruption and lack of customer service)?

There are a lot of questions that will be very interesting to watch as they two giants possibly merge and what new opportunities/repercussions this will provide the SEO community.

For additional information check out this article on WebProNews - Rumor: Dmoz Selling To BOTW