Andrewkss writes: Greetings all,

I come in peace as an SEO provider who has interacted with a lot of PHP Link Directory owners over the last couple of years while dealing with link removal requests and what have you. Full disclosure, our firm participated in a lot of directory submission in the past, and I honestly don’t see why a site like the Yahoo Directory or DMOZ should be considered so high quality while thousands of other directories get categorized as SPAM.

However, Google does what they do, and we can’t control it. The reality is, a lot of the listings for many websites use “money keywords” in the anchor text, or are listed in de-indexed directories that look suspect to algorithm filters like Penguin. As a result, sometimes these listings must be removed. Before you suggest using the Disavow Tool, I will tell you that we already use that tool extensively, but that the results are much faster and more effective when links are physically removed. That is based on our data, and not on anything I have read, so take that as you will.

So to get to the point, I think paying for link removals is okay. Given that it requires a little effort for the webmaster to remove the links, charging a couple bucks is no issue.

My issue is with guys like Rohan/Vikas Kumar who proudly boast to own 4,300 directories, all powered by phpLD. I have clients that are listed in as many as 600 of their directories, and these guys insist upon $5 per listing removal.

I have a couple of issues with this:

1) The link ID token is identical for the listings across a high percentage of the directories. This leads me to believe that maybe the links were not individually submitted but instead added in bulk by the site owners themselves across their network. Is this not a suspicious thing that the link ID’s all match or is there a legitimate explanation for why this would be the case?

2) It would seem that there would be a way to bulk remove listings when you own that many directories, rather than removing them one by one. In the case of a client who has as many as 600 listings, $3k (at $5 each) is a preposterous amount to quote for removal of listings.

Ultimately, I appreciate web directories and I think when managed right, that they add value to internet eco-system. I also don’t mind paying for removals when the client legitimately submitted the listing and it will require some effort from the directory owner to remove.

However, I feel that the way Vikas/Rohan Kumar conduct their affairs with their directories is more like extortion, and I’m curious to know how other members of the PHPLD community feel about such tactics.

It’s nice to see the two previous commentators post, as I believe that they are both using the mod I created specifically for the purpose to allow listing owners remove listings for free. The mod is exceptionally easy to install and once done, requires no involvement or time by the directory owner. What’s more, I even provide the mod completely free.

Therefore, there is absolutely no excuse for any webmaster to charge for listing removals for ANY reason other than pure greed. I certainly would never submit any paid listings to any directory that would subsequently charge for removals

Bruce

animan writes: Glad to hear from the other side of the link business, I constantly get removal request although this has slowed to a trickle lately.
I remove listing for free but it has been talked about on here several times with many different opinions some charge some do not.
I have a system in place on my site where the site owner or original submitter can remove the links automatically. Butt still I get requests to remove links see if you can spot my removal button/links it on every page 3 times, but some cannot see it

bruleo writes: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Charging for listing removals is in my opinion, highly unethical and ultimately does nothing but harm to the entire directory industry by living up to the poor expectations some people have about it.

andrewkss writes: Thanks for the responses guys. I think that everyone who posts in this community seems to “get it”. I actually don’t really take issue with webmasters charging for link removal although I think anything more than about $2 to $3 is a bit excessive.

I wish there was a way to easily obtain the full list of all 4,300 directories these guys own… I would create a script to scan their directories for a particular domain name that would then generate a disavow list.

I come across these characters on just about every single link removal project I’m involved in.

David writes: I wrote a pretty lengthy article on this topic
The Google Way or the Highway
Both phpLD and a link removal mod have legitimate uses.

I’ll add that many of these directories are using pirated phpLD, and they have methods to install phpLD with one click, so on any given day there will be 100 new phpLD instances setup. I do still try to send out DMCA notices and that helps some, though there are a few hosts in counties with lax copyright laws that I cannot take down. That said, generally those types of servers are filled with junk, and Google knows that.