Directory Spy

It’s been a while since I posted anything on DirectorySpy. I have been busy working on some ideas for directory mods, but they are not quite finished. However, I do have something useful for you to help combat directory spam.

For the last month, I’ve seen a growth in directory spam for my directories using phpLinkDirectory. The spam contains the usual rubbish about drugs, etc. They seem to be using discussion forum tags to get the links such as:

[url=http://www.somewebsite.com]buy these drugs[/url]
[url=http://www.somewebsite.com]and these[/url]
[url=http://www.somewebsite.com]and these too[/url]


I started banning ip addresses, but quickly found that the ip address changed for every submission, and there was no pattern to them either. Because I didn’t want to ban the whole of the internet, I started looking at filtering content. I started looking at the Smarty Form Validation code, and realised that my code would quickly become very complex due to requiring some very involved regular expressions. So I thought about a simpler solution… and I found it.

What we want to do is identify spam, and then prevent the spammer from submitting any data. Because its likely to be a spam bot behind this, a quick and dirty solution is absolutely fine. My solution? Check for typical spam data, then send a 403 Forbidden header if detected.

So, in submit.php, I added the following code after the code that uses strip_tags:

// Check Description for SPAM
if (preg_match("/\[url=/i", $data['DESCRIPTION']))
{
Header("HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden");
return;
}

After this code:

$data['DESCRIPTION'] = strip_tags($data['DESCRIPTION']);
$data['TITLE'] = strip_tags($data['TITLE']);
$data['OWNER_NAME'] = strip_tags($data['OWNER_NAME']);

So if the “[url=” text is detected in the description field, we basically send the bot a 403 Forbidden message and a blank page (caused by the return statement).

If you have a sense of humour, you might want to replace the Header() statement with the one below, which will send the user to the spam page on WikiPedia.

Header("Location: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(electronic)");

I am now using this code on all of my directories. Rest assured, there will be a fuller mod at some stage in the future! If you find this tip useful, please leave a comment! I really want to know!

The phpLD PageRank Updater is a standalone application designed so directory owners can update the PageRank on all their links remotely. My own phpLD PR Update Tool is installed on the phpLD directory itself, and accessed in the admin area. The phpLD PageRank Updater is a MS Windows application that accesses the directory database remotely.

The phpLD PageRank Updater tool has been designed for scheduling the PR update of the links in your database. Some people have experienced some problems with my phpLD PR Update Tool due to Google blocking PR value retrieval from certain services, something that doesn’t occur with this tool.

Anyway, have a look at it, as it may suit your needs!

For those who don’t know, its a large problem to promote adult websites using white hat techniques. This is because most websites do not want to link to adult or pornographic websites, so that they remain family friendly. Web directories are a popular way to promote websites to increase backlinks, but again, they usually do not permit adult-related site submissions.

Therefore this post is a collection of directories that exist that do permit adult-related web directories. They vary between being general directories where adult sites are permitted, to adult niche directories that only contact over-18 content. I do hope that these resources help you to promote your sites!

• Adult Niche Directories
  • Buddyweiser Directory (Free)
  • Nocturnal Links Directory (Free & Paid)
  • Adult Connect Directory (Paid)
  • Adult URL Directory (Paid)
  • Adult Addict Directory (Paid)
  • e-Sensual directory (Free & Paid, No Porn, Adult OK)
• General “Adult-OK” Directories
  • Stormy Directory (Free)
  • Girls and Gambling Directory (Free)
  • Diablo Directory (Paid)

I have a new phpLD mod that I have been working on that I want to beta test with a few people. It’s a phpLD statistics mod for Google Personalised Homepage so that you can see what state you directory is from Google! Screenshot attached!

I only want 2-4 testers, ideally experienced directory owners (and I know who you are). No benefit to you other than my gratitude (perhaps some green rep) and a chance to see a new mod.

Please PM or respond to my thread on the Digital Point Forums if you are interested!

There’s a growing trend in the directory world at the moment, and that’s to sell a spot as the template’s sponsor. Typically prices range between $100 and $200 (USD). The idea behind the sponsor spot is that the sponsor gains a site-wide link on each directory that uses that template. Therefore a better template will be used on more directories, and therefore gain the sponsor more links. It’s a great way to earn some extra cash for individuals with graphical talent. It’s a smart way to get backlinks from a number of different directories, assuming of course that the template is popular and well publicised.

I do wonder if the directory world is quickly becoming saturated with short-lived directories. Therefore this kind of link purchase might be slightly risky. However, make your own mind up, as there are a number of solicitations for sponsors on the Digital Point Forums, here, here here, and also here!

Having run a directory for a while now, I’ve certainly come up with a few ideas on the best way to maintain a directory. However, I wondered what other directory owners did to keep their directory in excellent shape. I’ve collected a number of the ideas together that were posted on the Digital Point Forums in a “What’s your top tip for running a directory?” thread.

These tips are not in any particular order, but represent the ones that I agree with most for my directories.

britishguy (Forplex Business Directory):

Running a Directory is not ‘a part time pastime’ it is a Full Time Business

olddocks (Best Paid Directories):

The most important technique for processing links, is make your visitors to submit them in the most appropriate category. For example, in my directory I normally don’t allow people to submit without selecting a particular directory at the main submit page. I make people who submit, work in selecting a required directory, as otherwise most of them are lazy and throw their submissions from the main page. Because i make them work, I am amazed that people picking good suitable categories and submitting there. While reviewing links its very easy for me and cuts most of my time in picking suitable categories and placing links there.

Obelia (Stiff Upper List):

If you own a niche directory, word filters can be very useful for sorting out the inappropriate submissions. They will never be able to catch them all, of course, but certain keywords tend to come up time after time. Sending them all to the back of the queue, or to a page where they can all be deleted at once, is very handy.

YMC (Craft Tips)

If you have any sort of paid listings, just because someone pays for a link doesn’t mean you must list their site. If the site would have been unacceptable as a free submission, it should be unacceptable as a paid listing.

The biggest way to turn away potential submitters and link purchasers is to allow your categories to get off topic. Always keep the categories on topic. If a site is submitted to an inappropriate category, move it to the right one, create a new one or simply delete the link.

Sabian1982 (Voisd Webmaster Directory)

I think my top tip is use your .htaccess effectively.

Firstly I’ve always found that the majority of spam I get comes from a select number of IP addresses. Using your .htaccess file you can ban those specific ip’s from accessing your site and hence stop the spam!

Secondly you can (I think) use the .htaccess file to stop people from accessing your submit page directly. Implementing this will obviously help to reduce submissions via completely automated submission software.

Bernard (Strongest Brands Business Directory):

publish your submission qualifications and guidelines - and yes, they are two separate conditions. In addition to publishing qualifications and guidelines, be consistent in applying them. If published listings obviously violate them, no one will heed them. phpld owners using a 3rd party template should edit any stock guidelines to reflect their own parameters (It’s disturbing to see directories listing phantom limits on description fields).

use symbolic categories - help your visitors find what they are looking for when topics could logically be found in multiple places. It helps folks understand how you are organizing information and where they should submit if they have a site.

Blogmaster (FrogEngine Web Directory):

I think that you need to follow your instinct, simple as that might sound. You can’t accept just anyone because they pay for inclusion. The best way to run a directory is to look for value in the sites that are submitted. If you find none, then don’t accept it in. Look at things from the end user’s point of view. If you can’t provide any quality or value for the end user, your directory is worthless and will go downhill eventually.

Thank you to everyone for their great tips. For further reading, I thoroughly recommend reading the Internet Marketing Blog article about running a directory.

The IndexU Directory aims to categorise directories into their niche and their geographical region. The concept is simply that you submit your niche directory to the relevant business category or your local area. To make browsing the directory easier, each category features a list of keyword tags, or you can see the most popular tags on the index page.

You can see very quickly that the site has been well-designed and thought about. If you look at any listing in any category, you get plenty of detail about the site, more than any average directory. You get a description of your directory, a list of categories that it applies to (which you choose), pricing packages for inclusion in the directory, hits, page rank, user ratings, and finally a nicely sized screenshot.

The directory is free, and has sponsored payment options too. Until I did this review, I didn’t realise how good the directory was. So I will soon be adding my niche directories I think!

The Directory Ranking Project is a novel techique based on a similar principle to many Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) contests that try to get a particular site highly ranking in the search engines.

Here’s how it works. You submit a listing for the Directory Ranking site to your directory. The project then uses the search engines such as MSN, Yahoo and Google to determine what directories rank at the top for entries relating to the Directory Ranking site! It really is that simple.

It’s a really interesting project that I am going to keep a close eye on. I’d be especially interested to see who reaches the top of the rankings, because it has very little to do with Google Page Rank. And since Google Page Rank can be manipulated to an extent, this challenge is very fair.

I found this quite randomly when working on link exchanges, and its a complete list of free phpLD templates for a range of different phpLinkDirectory versions.

It’s the first time that I’ve seen a list of phpLDTemplates in a single place, and I’m glad that someone finally thought about doing it. If you’re starting a new phpLD directory, make sure you have a look at my Category Dumps, my phpLD PR Update Tool mod and then use this great list of phpLD templates to spruce it up!

You can also find another list at blueraccoon.org. Both lists are maintained by different authors.

The Directory Contest is a new competition where you list the directory contest URL (www.directorycontest.com) in your directory. The top 10 directories that appear on Google when the URL is typed in will win a prize. The closing date is February 6th 2007, 10 AM P.S.T.

The top 3 prizes are quite substantial, namely:

• 1st Prize: $1,500 in cash
• 2nd Prize: $400 in cash
• 3rd Prize: $200 in cash

This is a very clever competition. The top 10 directories, the competition owners and the sponsors all gain something in this competition.

The main blog gains a vast number of backlinks from directories with virtually no effort. The sponsors gain permanent links on the site. Due to the large number of backlinks, the domain will gain a good Google Page Rank. The site will also get a large number of blog posts about it (just like this one) since its a unique competition in the directory world. The blog can then offer links on the site when Google has assigned a PR value, and they can made a nice income from that too.

With such large prizes and a simple way to enter, I strongly recommend you try your luck (and skills)!