Yahoo! Directory Listings and Google

Every so often you read a discussion at one of the webmaster forums regarding the benefits of a Yahoo Directory listing and the advantages or disadvantages in Google.

The first complaint I always hear is the pricing – a $299.00 annually recurring fee for review. As Yahoo’s directory is professionally edited, unlike the Open Directory Project which is edited by volunteers, it’s not surprising that there is a fee.

In order to maintain a listing in their directory, your site is subject to an annual review, and someone is paid to review your site. From checking our log files, it appears that Yahoo editors perform a much more thorough review than the volunteers at the Open Directory Project.

Personally, I can live with the fee if I can’t get a site accepted for free. Yes, Yahoo does add sites for free.

The second complaint always heard is that the listings aren’t spiderable and don’t pass any PageRank because the directory uses redirected links. It’s also mentioned that Google doesn’t count the directory listings as backlinks because of this.

Fair enough guess, but totally incorrect. From looking only at the directory link it’s easy to make this assumption. But you should really look closer before deciding that the above is correct.

For one thing, why would Google suggest that being listed in the Yahoo directory would help them to find, index and rank your site?

Webmaster Guidelines
Submit your site to relevant directories such as the Open Directory Project and Yahoo!, as well as to other industry-specific expert sites.

Ever consider that what you see is not necessarily what Googlebot sees?

Think about this – Yahoo’s directory by default is ordered by popularity as opposed to alphabetically. How does Yahoo determine the popularity of the listed sites? By using redirected links to track the click throughs in the directory and the search results.

Simple enough. Now let’s take a closer look; check Google’s cached version of the category page where your listing is or would be. Mouse over the links – no redirects, just a straightforward static link. Pretty good chance that your link has been crawled, credited as a backlink and you’ve probably gotten a little bit of the juice as well.

You can also spoof your UserAgent and visit the directory and you’ll see static links for all of the listings.

Another consideration is that when you are accepted to the Yahoo! directory at Yahoo.com, your listing will usually also appear on the following Regional English versions of the directory:

• Yahoo! Australia & New Zealand
• Yahoo! Asia
• Yahoo! Canada
• Yahoo! Hong Kong*
• Yahoo! India
• Yahoo! UK & Ireland
• Yahoo! Singapore**

* Listings are not always included in this version.
** Depending on category – this version uses a different category structure.

Yahoo! will also consider and list your site in more than one topical category, as well as relevant Regional categories if applicable. I’d say that the possibility of 8 or more directory listings from an authority such as Yahoo! was worth the annual recurring fee of $299. Where else can you get quality directory listings for approximately 10 cents a day?

Update (Sept. 5, 2006)
Over the last couple of days, I’ve noticed Yahoo! Directory listings are no longer using redirected links.