Google disavow DMOZ/ODP spam sites?

[droo]

Hello

Looking into links to my one of my sites (over 10 years old) I've found that along with some bad spammy links, around 80% of my inbound links are from directories that are exact copies of ODP. Should I be concerned about / asking for removal / disavowing these links? Normally I would be trying to get rid of low quality links like this, but since they are ODP clones I'm not sure it's worth the effort. The sites openly state that their data is from ODP (Open Directory Project), but does this mean Google ignores them? I could spend my whole life swatting these links.

Thoughts?

Edit: I'm hoping for suggestions that specifically reference the ODP clone site situation. I did not create these links, I guess I should have made that more clear.

[RyanKent]

**Is your site under a manual penalty or impacted by Penguin? Have you participated in manipulative link building? **

If the answer to these questions is no, then Google has clearly stated you should not be using the Disavow tool at all.

**Have you contacted these sites via multiple methods (WHOIS email, email address on site, contact form from site, phone, mail, social media, etc) requesting the links to be removed? **

If not, you may be wasting your time. Google has clearly stated they expect site owners to use the Disavow tool as a last resort when all other methods fail.

I've found that along with some bad spammy links, around 80% of my inbound links are from directories that are exact copies of ODP.

If your rankings are being suppressed by Google due to manipulative links, then any manipulative directory links should be removed. Google likely devalues all those links, but they must be addressed in order to remove a penalty.

[droo]

So, what I'm getting from this is even though I didn't create these links (and therefore I was not participating in manipulative link schemes, unless getting myself listed in ODP/DMOZ in the first place was "manipulative"), I should try by any means necessary to get the clone links removed because they look manipulative to Google.

[RyanKent]

For you, yes. For most site owners, no.

Based on your interpretation, I am going to assume your site is manually penalized by Google or you have your rankings are being suppressed by Penguin. If that is the case, either you or an agent (employee, "SEO", developer, etc) acting on your behalf has built manipulative links to your website. If that is the case, you intentionally tried to cheat the system.

To be clear, no laws were broken. It does not mean you are a bad person or anything on that level. Rather it means there is a process which everyone who desires to rank well in search engines should follow, and that process was intentionally broken for your site. So yes, there are negative consequences to cheating and getting caught.

The overwhelming majority of site owners are not negatively impacted by the links you mentioned. Google simply devalues those links and that is it. In your case, it is different based on your manipulative activities.

I know that may be hard to hear so I will try another analogy. In California, if anyone drives with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08% or above they are violating the law and can be arrested. Most of the public does not have a DUI on their record so they can drive with a 0.07% BAC and not worry about a DUI; however, if you are convicted of a DUI then you are likely on probation for several years. During that probationary period, you may not drive with even a 0.01% BAC you can be arrested. The point being the rules are not the same for those who have been caught breaking the rules and those who have complied with them.

The links from 99% of general directories are indeed manipulative. Whether those links were built by the site owner or, in the case of a DMOZ clone site, a directory owner, the links were built with the purpose of manipulating search engines. Sometimes a new directory is attempting to fill up with some data to give visitors the illusion it has numerous in the hopes they will pay for service. Others attempt to earn money with AdWords. Either way, they are manipulative links.

[droo]

"In your case, it is different based on your manipulative activities. "

You seem to really want the scenario to be one in which I'm manipulating links either directly or indirectly. I read some of your other posts and I see that's your niche, fixing manipulative links, so it's understandable but it's not necessarily useful for this bias to colour every answer. You may or may not remember that 10 years ago it was considered desirable and normal to get listed on ODP. Google was barely more than a search provider to Yahoo then.

For the record, the site I'm referring to is not commercial, nobody has ever worked on it for me so nobody was building links on my behalf. I have not received communication from Google about a penalty (never on any site as a matter of fact), and this particular site's traffic has never been high enough to notice a drop in traffic in April. I was just wondering if it was possible the scraped sites and their links to me were diluting my site's rankings and if I should but a bunch of effort into having them removed and/or disavow.

Anyway, thank you very much Ryan, I managed to filter out an answer to my question

[RyanKent]

Hi Nelson,

I am glad your question was addressed.

I apologize if my perspective has become hardened over time. I actually work with many aspects of SEO but manipulative link issues have consumed the majority of my time this year. When my phone rings it is often a client who has an issue related to manipulative links.

To be clear, I am not passing any judgment here or taking sides. I do understand Google did not enforce their guidelines in the past with respect to manipulative links. Many topics arise during this conversation about what Google should do, can't do, perceived abuses, etc. In order to best service clients I focus on a single question - - - what steps need to be taken to restore site rankings so they are not artificially suppressed.

Once we clear the air and reach that point, we can move forward productively. I want to help you and other site owners impacted by this issue which is why I share my time here. I hope you are able to receive complete and accurate information, then put it to use.

Best of luck.

[Llanero]

What is best way to get rid of bad inbound links in your opinion?

[RyanKent]

Contact the site owner and request removal.

More specifically, make every possible attempt to locate the site owner. Use the following:

WHOIS e-mail address, e-mail address from website, contact form on website, social media pages, and phone number, physical mailing address. Make a sincere effort to reach each site owner.