Menj Internet Launches Emporium-directory.com for Online Directory Publishers

Announcing Emporium Directory, we just have a PR3 for our directory after the recent Google update of our directory.

Emporium-directory.com has aim to connect webmaster and user of the internet communities under one roof and provides them opportunity to add and visit links and reprocessed items in a highly competitive & easier environment.

Emporium-directory.com helps you to find new website traffic, it is low cost advertisement to your industry, it helps you to lower your inventory level & more.

The blog feature is another way to prove that Emporium-directory.com is not just another link directory among thousands of others, but serious, trusted, and useful web resource for webmasters and website owners that offer help in making their websites popular and profitable," resumes Menj.

Emporium Directory is a general web directory containing quality and hand-picked listings at affordable rates. Submit to our directory to increase your backlinks, popularity and traffic. Our rates are USD2.99 for regular links and USD9.99 for featured. Reciprocal links are free. Prices will not last long, we intend to keep these old prices until the end of February 2007 before increasing them to reflect our new PageRank.

So do not wait now, hurry up and submit. This slashed rates will not last long so hurry before it ends :)


Tag: web, websites, blogs, internet, list, forums, menj, PHP Link Directory, submit link, payment, categories, listing, backlinks, seo, web directories

Directory Links! Useful Or Not

A recent thread ‘What is the value of directory links‘ started a captivating debate on Webmaster World over the significance of directory links.

One of the reply states, “Here’s what I would do. If you’re thinking of submitting to directories, gather a list and check them out. Do this by using the link and site operators in google to see if GOOGLE considers them real sites (counted links and indexed pages). Then, to be a little more cautious, check their ‘who is’ information to see who owns them (and also to see if one person/company seems to own many of them) and to avoid anything that smells fishy.”

Another reply states, “I don’t care what a search engine thinks… give me a link from a respected, trafficked, regularly updated and non-biased directory anyday over dmoz which sends a site single digit referrals a month - once your site has actually made it in.”

The debate further continued and another reply read, “I think niche directory links related to your industry can be enormously valuable. I also think some of the more prominent directories like Yahoo! (and DMOZ, of course) can also help you out. I have yet to see any evidence that directory links can hurt you - if so, then there would be a whole market directed at placing competitor’s links in "bad" directories.”

This thread is a must read for anyone who wishes to meliorate their understanding of directory links.

Submitting to Directories Has Emerged as a Formidable Weapon in the New Internet Marketer’s Arsenal

The importance of submitting web sites to good quality web directories is being felt like never before. As the race for achieving higher page ranks with the search engines intensifies it has become great tool especially for new comers.

As competition for ranking high with the search engines intensifies, web site owners or marketers who are relatively new in the field find it hard to scratch the ground. There is so much one can learn from the internet but at times it seems that much overwhelming. But should you wish to gain some sort of visibility on the net, Search Engine Optimization, is indispensable. You can't do without it.

Search engine optimization, both off-page and on-page, calls for specialized and thorough knowledge on that subject and mindset to implement them perfectly. One can learn on-page optimization, which is not easy I'd say but at least relatively easy to implement once you have learned, by reading various articles and listening to experts like Bruce Clay, Danny Sullivan, Jill Whalen.

But it is the off page optimization which is relatively easy to understand but harder to implement. But so much depends on off page optimization that you can't even think of skipping it. Off page search engine optimization includes increasing link popularity, writing articles, press releases and newsletters and posting them to various online resources. The most important of them is building up link popularity for your web site. Search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN evaluates your web site on the factor that how many relevant web sites have link back to your site. And here quality rules over quantity. But why on earth a high ranked web site would entertain a newbie in the arena? This is not a rule though, there are exceptions but those are only 'exceptions'.

This is where submitting web site URL to top quality SEO friendly directories has chipped in. Submitting to 100 top notch web directories in a phased manner not only will add that many bank-link to the site concerned but also fetch visitors from those Directory web sites. Suggesting your web site to directories like Yahoo directory and the Open Directory Project better known as DMOZ does a world of good to your site in terms of how the web site fares in the SERP or Search engine Ranking Pages.

Another great thing about Directory Submission is that it actually help a web site get indexed by search engines especially Google much faster than otherwise. But like all other things in this world Directory submission also has it's own rules or techniques. So before submitting to web directories it is recommended to acquire enough knowledge about the subject and proceed. Another safer option is to trust any professional Directory Submission Services like www.submitatonce.com to do the job for you.

Want an iPhone? Beware the iHandcuffs

STEVE JOBS, Apple’s showman nonpareil, provided the first public glimpse of the iPhone last week — gorgeous, feature-laden and pricey. While following the master magician’s gestures, it was easy to overlook a most disappointing aspect: like its slimmer iPod siblings, the iPhone’s music-playing function will be limited by factory-installed “crippleware.”

If “crippleware” seems an unduly harsh description, it balances the euphemistic names that the industry uses for copy protection. Apple officially calls its own standard “FairPlay,” but fair it is not.

The term “crippleware” comes from the plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit, Melanie Tucker v. Apple Computer Inc., that is making its way through Federal District Court in Northern California. The suit contends that Apple unfairly restricts consumer choice because it does not load onto the iPod the software needed to play music that uses Microsoft’s copy-protection standard, in addition to Apple’s own.

Ms. Tucker’s core argument is that the absence of another company’s software on the iPod constitutes “crippleware.” I disagree. It is Apple’s own copy-protection software itself that cripples the device.

Here is how FairPlay works: When you buy songs at the iTunes Music Store, you can play them on one — and only one — line of portable player, the iPod. And when you buy an iPod, you can play copy-protected songs bought from one — and only one — online music store, the iTunes Music Store.

The only legal way around this built-in limitation is to strip out the copy protection by burning a CD with the tracks, then uploading the music back to the computer. If you’re willing to go to that trouble, you can play the music where and how you choose — the equivalent to rights that would have been granted automatically at the cash register if you had bought the same music on a CD in the first place.

Even if you are ready to pledge a lifetime commitment to the iPod as your only brand of portable music player or to the iPhone as your only cellphone once it is released, you may find that FairPlay copy protection will, sooner or later, cause you grief. You are always going to have to buy Apple stuff. Forever and ever. Because your iTunes will not play on anyone else’s hardware.

Unlike Apple, Microsoft has been willing to license its copy-protection software to third-party hardware vendors. But copy protection is copy protection: a headache only for the law-abiding.

Microsoft used to promote its PlaysForSure copy-protection standard, but there must have been some difficulty with the “for sure” because the company has dropped it in favor of an entirely new copy-protection standard for its new Zune player, which, incidentally, is incompatible with the old one.

Pity the overly trusting customers who invested earlier in music collections before the Zune arrived. Their music cannot be played on the new Zune because it is locked up by software enforcing the earlier copy-protection standard: PlaysFor(Pretty)Sure — ButNotTheNewStuff.

The name for the umbrella category for copy-protection software is itself an indefensible euphemism: Digital Rights Management. As consumers, the “rights” enjoyed are few. As some wags have said, the initials D.R.M. should really stand for “Digital Restrictions Management.”

As consumers become more aware of how copy protection limits perfectly lawful behavior, they should throw their support behind the music labels that offer digital music for sale in plain-vanilla MP3 format, without copy protection.

Apple pretends that the decision to use copy protection is out of its hands. In defending itself against Ms. Tucker’s lawsuit, Apple’s lawyers noted in passing that digital-rights-management software is required by the major record companies as a condition of permitting their music to be sold online: “Without D.R.M., legal online music stores would not exist.”

In other words, however irksome customers may find the limitations imposed by copy protection, the fault is the music companies’, not Apple’s.

This claim requires willful blindness to the presence of online music stores that eschew copy protection. For example, one online store, eMusic, offers two million tracks from independent labels that represent about 30 percent of worldwide music sales.

Unlike the four major labels — Universal, Warner Music Group, EMI and Sony BMG — the independents provide eMusic with permission to distribute the music in plain MP3 format. There is no copy protection, no customer lock-in, no restrictions on what kind of music player or media center a customer chooses to use — the MP3 standard is accommodated by all players.

EMusic recently celebrated the sale of its 100 millionth download; it trails only iTunes as the largest online seller of digital music. (Of course, iTunes, with 2 billion downloads, has a substantial lead.)

Among the artists who can be found at eMusic are Barenaked Ladies, Sarah McLachlan and Avril Lavigne, who are represented by Nettwerk Music Group, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. All Nettwerk releases are available at eMusic without copy protection.

But when the same tracks are sold by the iTunes Music Store, Apple insists on attaching FairPlay copy protection that limits their use to only one portable player, the iPod. Terry McBride, Nettwerk’s chief executive, said that the artists initially required Apple to use copy protection, but that this was no longer the case. At this point, he said, copy protection serves only Apple’s interests .

Josh Bernoff, a principal analyst at Forrester Research, agreed, saying copy protection “just locks people into Apple.” He said he had recently asked Apple when the company would remove copy protection and was told, “We see no need to do so.”

Apple’s statement is a detailed treatise on the subject, compared with what I received when I asked the company last week whether it would offer tracks without copy protection if the publisher did not insist on it: the Apple spokesman took my query and never got back to me.

David Pakman, the C.E.O. of eMusic, said the major labels have watched their revenues decline about $10 billion since a 2001 peak; meanwhile, revenue earned by the independents has held steady. He said his service offers music from 9,800 labels, each of which has embraced downloads in MP3 format. Only four labels still cling to copy protection, even though piracy has not declined, and those are the four major labels.

Mr. McBride, of Nettwerk, predicted that in 2007 the major labels would finally move to drop copy protection in order to provide iPod owners the option of shopping at online music stores other than iTunes; by doing so, he added, they would “break the monopoly of Apple” that dictates terms and conditions for music industry suppliers and customers. Some encouraging signs have appeared recently. Dave Goldberg, the head of Yahoo Music, persuaded EMI to try some experiments last month with MP3 downloads — a Norah Jones single here, a Reliant K single there.

With sales of physical CDs falling faster than digital music sales are growing, he said, the major labels “have got to make it easier for people to do the right thing” — that is, to buy recorded music unencumbered with copy protection rather than to engage in illegal file-sharing.

IN the long view, Mr. Goldberg said he believes that today’s copy-protection battles will prove short-lived. Eventually, perhaps in 5 or 10 years, he predicts, all portable players will have wireless broadband capability and will provide direct access, anytime, anywhere, to every song ever released for a low monthly subscription fee.

It’s a prediction that has a high probability of realization because such a system is already found in South Korea, where three million subscribers enjoy direct, wireless access to a virtually limitless music catalog for only $5 a month. He noted, however, that music companies in South Korea did not agree to such a radically different business model until sales of physical CDs had collapsed.

Pointing to South Korea, where copy protection has disappeared, Mr. Goldberg invoked the pithy aphorism attributed to the author William Gibson: “The future is here; it’s just not widely distributed yet.”

MSN AdCenter - Impossible to read TOS

Based on what I've read from the AdWords experts I decided to give AdCenter a try. From what I've learned the CPC is usually lower with AdCenter, so I wont be throwing my advertising budget down the toilet quite as fast as I have done with Adwords.

The signup process was simple, and quick. But when I came to the Terms Of Service page which I am required to read and agree to, I ran into a bit of a snag.
As you can see from the screenshot above (click it to enlarge), the MSN AdCenter TOS is enclosed in a small box, approximately 1-inch wide by about 1/2-inch tall! Maybe it's because I was using Firefox and not Microsoft's Internet Explorer, but I still find it comical to the point of absurdity. I still signed up, but I wonder what Microsoft is hiding in that tiny box?

Info Vilesilencer Directory Owners Forum reaches first year milestone

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, - Info Vilesilencer, compiler of the original SEO friendly free directory list at http://info.vilesilencer.com, has just reached the 1st year milestone for their Directory Owners Forum ( http://info.vilesilencer.com/forum), a community bulletin board that allows both owners and users of directories to come together and discuss these valuable resources. The key objective of the forum is to allow directory owners to announce their directories for free on the forum, so that they can gain contact with users who wish to submit to their new resources. With a membership of just over 1300, there are scores of new directories being announced daily and the discussions have become very active within a year of launch.

The forum was originally created to alleviate the problem of new directory owners being unable to find users to submit to their directories. Essentially the forum, through the use of an Announcement and Promotions section, allows both directory owners and users to come together and form business partnerships to improve their chances of success in their mutual internet ventures.

For directory users that are looking for new directories, the forum has particular interest. Because the directory owners come to the forum, the users do not have to go in search of new directories to submit to, they can simply access the promotions forum and pick up the latest release directory sites all in one section.

More importantly, for discerning SEO's and SEM's the forum is run by Info Vilesilencer, the team who compiled the original SEO friendly directory list, and the seo-friendly criteria that is applied to all directories before they are approved for inclusion into the Info Vilesilencer Directory List. This is important because only the directories whose backlinks count in the search engines are included on the list.

The forum and the site work in conjunction, so that new directories that are announced on the forum, are put into a review queue where they are analysed for possible inclusion into the list which is then launched every month on the Info Vileslencer site. Currently Info Vilesilencer is on the eve of a critical update for December, so there are a multitude of new directories being announced and promoted on the site for inclusion in the latest update.

The directory owners forum, isn't just for announcing directories alone. It also provides a place to learn about monetizing directories through the use of Google Adsense ( and other PPC methods ) and Affiliate marketing. Directory owners looking for advertising partnerships can seek them on the forum. There is also a lot of discussion being held in the Questions and Answers forum, as directory owners share their tips and tricks or learn about how to make their resource a success.

Directory script developers and template builders are also not forgotten as there is a specific section that allows these groups to launch their latest software releases, showcase graphical skins, or seek clients for one-to-one business.

In recent times, a large Blog section has been included on the forum in acknowledgment that most directory owners also use a blog to supplement their directory promotion. Apart from general discussion, there is also appropriate sections for Blog Tools and Resources such as CMS and plugins, Blog software like Wordpress and a Workshop to tune up your blog, and discuss RSS feeds.

Only a year old, the Info Vilesilencer Directory Owners Forum has already established itself as one of the premium resources to announce directories for free, find new directories or to join a community in discussing directory resources.

What's good in Apogee Search

This is a paid review of Apogee Search. Since I am not a client of theirs and have not had the opportunity to use their services, I am only reviewing their web site here. The web site can be found at http://www.apogee-search.com/.

Upon visiting their web site, the first thing I noticed is that it is extremely cluttered. Due to this clutteredness, it is hard to determine the overall message they are trying to deliver. I’m sure that it will reveal itself upon closer examination. However, I feel that they need to simplify the home page so that whatever message they are trying to deliver jumps out you without having to read through several paragraphs of copy to determine it.

It appears that Apogee Search is a search engine optimization firm offering “search engine marketing.” The company page for Apogee states that they are one of the largest online marketing services firms in the country today and have been in business since 2001. The services they offer include paid search advertising, natural search engine optimization, pay per call management, affiliate marketing, search engine marketing training and search engine marketing analysis. According to the services page, they are offering a free analysis of your website’s performance in the search engines.

They also seem to be legit as they have several badges on their web site. They have a badge listing them as a Google Adwords Qualified Company. They have a badge showing them to be a SEMPO Circle Member. They also have a membership badge for SEOPros.org. I have heard of SEMPO, though I have not heard of SEOPros.org. I have never been a member of SEMPO, so I can’t really comment on them. I do have some idea of what is involved in the Google Adwords Qualified program. I would say completing that program would definitely make them qualified to handle your Google Adwords campaign.

The sales copy on their site emphasizes that they are about making their clients money. They claim to do this by tracking actual actions from the site that increase the bottom line, not just rankings or clicks. If I was looking for a search engine marketing company, I think I would be looking for someone who at least said they were doing that. It also seems that the goal of the site is to get you to contact a sales representative. That is pretty common for most business web sites, and it seems they are doing a good jab by having that call to action on every page. If I was giving out advice to them, that is probably what I would tell them to do.

Apogee also has an online marketing blog, found at http://www.apogee-search.com/Blog/index.php. One thing I noticed about the blog is that it lacks the same navigational toolbar found at the top of the company site. That may be fine for someone entering the site via the blog, which is probably the purpose of the blog. But since they are linking to it from their site, they should really insure the navigation is consistent across all pages. As far as the content of the blog goes, it seems they are only linking to or quoting other SEO and Google related news items rather than providing any commentary or opinion.

Finally, on their site, they have a downloads and resources page. This page mainly links to their white papers in addition to SEO tools on other sites.

Overall, I think their site does a good job of selling their services, notwithstanding the cluttered home page. One other thing I think they could do to increase the effectiveness of their site is to show some examples of success stories they have had for their actual clients.

phpLD PageRank Updater

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!

1234directory.com - Meta directory will be launch at 02/2007

At 02/2007 www.1234directory.com will be launched . 1234directory.com is a meta directory and search engine with a wide Open Directory for verity field such as eBooks and books , softwares , affiliate programs , games ,business, travel and articles resource .1234directory.com is a SPAM FREE Lifetime URL submission. So be ready for updates , at the moment you can enter the site and watch the layout and the submissions forms

Good luck for all webmasters

Free directory list with PR!

I share a list of free directories with PR!

http://www.urlshack.com/ 4
http://www.vxbox.com/ 6
http://www.wamchu.com/ 4
http://www.web-central.info/ 4
http://www.webdirectory-submit.com/ 5
http://www.webhostic.com/ 4
http://www.weblist.ca/ 4
http://www.websavvy.cc/ 5
http://www.addurl-free.com/ 5
http://www.adirectory.info/ 4
http://www.a-free-directory.info/ 4
http://www.aigam.com/ 6
http://www.allfreethings.com/ 5
http://www.axelis.com/ 5
http://www.bestbusinessdirectory.com 4
http://www.blackdhalia.com/ 4
http://www.businesspowerusa.com/ 4
http://www.myfilehut.com/resources/ 4
http://www.directory.ldmstudio.com/ 5
http://www.directorydelux.com/ 4
http://www.directoryforce.com/ 5
http://www.directoryhi.com/ 4
http://www.directoryhub.be/ 4
http://www.directory-link.info/ 4
http://www.directoryon.info/ 4
http://www.directory-online.net/ 4
http://blue.daffodil.uk.com/directory/ 4
http://directory.cipinet.com 5
http://directory.ingwar.eu.org/ 5
http://directory.kasan.us/ 4
http://directory.portalit.net/ 5
http://directory.trout.pl/ 5
http://english.hispanoempresa.com/ 4
http://search.stopat.com/StopAt 4
http://www.2space.net/ 5
http://www.2-surf.net/ 4
http://www.777media.com/ 5
http://www.directorystorm.com/ 4
http://www.busybits.com/ 5
http://www.buy-modern-art.co.uk/ 4
http://www.canadawebdirectory.com/ 5
http://www.canlinks.net/ 6
http://www.cash-for-surveys.com/dir/ 4
http://www.cbravo.com/submit.php 4
http://www.chillycool.com/dig/ 4
http://www.click2directory.com/ 5
http://www.commerce-directory.co.uk/add-url-free.html 4
http://www.comoestamos.com/ 4
http://www.consultant-directory.com/ 5
http://www.cyborginfo.com/ 4
http://www.ezilon.com/ 6
http://www.fabaroo.com/ 4
http://www.fastpaths.com/ 4
http://www.finditfred.com/ 4
http://www.findwhatwhere.info/ 4
http://www.flexengine.com/ 4
http://www.forumsindex.net/ 4
http://www.free-website-directory.com/ 4
http://www.globalbusinesslist.com/add.html 4
http://www.groovybanana.com/ 6
http://www.iconcave.com/partners 4
http://www.ilushkin.com/ 4
http://www.look4business.org/ 4
http://www.lybot.com/ 4
http://www.m431.com/ 4
http://www.mabontland.com/ 4
http://www.megri.com/ 5
http://www.netkushi.com/directory/ 4
http://www.network-room.com/ 5
http://www.nintra.com/directory/ 4
http://www.onemission.com/ 4
http://www.osy-directory.com/ 4
http://www.pedsters-planet.co.uk/ 4
http://www.pluto-directory.info/ 4
http://www.imegamall.com/ 6
http://www.indexrated.com/ 4
http://www.infignos.com/ 5
http://www.info-listings.com/ 6
http://www.info-places.com/ 5
http://www.inneedof.co.uk/ 4
http://www.jamjaa.com/ 5
http://www.jlinternet.co.uk/directory/ 4
http://www.jtrotta.com/ 5
http://www.kingoftheweb.net/ 4
http://www.klik-klik.com/directory/index.php 4
http://www.l10s.com/ 7
http://www.lambslinks.com/submit.php 4
http://www.landoflinks.com/ 5
http://www.lii.org/pub/htdocs/home.htm 8
http://www.linkcentre.com/ 6
http://www.linkdir.info/ 4
http://www.theshoppings.com/ 3
http://www.search386.com/ 4
http://www.webfusionuk.com/ 4
http://www.linketeria.com/ 6
http://www.linkheredirectory.com 5
http://www.linkhub.info/ 5
http://www.linkop.com/ 4
http://www.pop-net.org/ 4
http://www.powersubmit.com/submit.php 4
http://www.quick-silver.org/ 4
http://www.rankingdirectory.com/ 4
http://www.ranktips.com/directory/ 4
http://www.rdirectory.net/ 5
http://www.skaloosh.com/ 4
http://www.skypemedia.com/submit.php 4
http://www.somuch.com/ 5
http://www.sonicquest.com/ 5
http://www.stopat.com/ 4
http://www.stormer.net/ 4
http://www.submiturlhere.com/ 5
http://www.submitwebsite.be/ 4
http://www.sumwd.com/ 4
http://www.redjuniper.com/ 4
http://www.red-links.com/ 4
http://www.searchlook.com/ 4
http://www.searchsight.com/ 6
http://www.searchsight.com/Directory.htm 5
http://www.search-the-world.com/ 4
http://www.searchtwentyfour.com/ 4
http://www.searchwarp.com/ 4
http://www.seekabove.com/ 4
http://www.seo-links.org/ 5
http://www.seoplanet.net/linkexchange/ 4
http://www.sgtsearch.com/ 4
http://www.shophomebased.com/ 4
http://www.simpledir.com/ 4
http://www.simple-directory.co.uk/submit.php 4
http://www.sitelibrary.net/ 4
http://www.sitelibrary.net/Directory/ 4
http://www.sitesondisplay.com/ 6
http://www.surfsafely.com/ 5
http://www.the-free-directory.co.uk/submit.php 4
http://www.theglasspalace.org/directory/ 4
http://www.themedirectory.net/ 4
http://www.theseoking.com/ 4
http://www.tsection.com/ 4
http://www.tygo.com/ 6
http://www.uk-web-index.co.uk/ 4
http://www.ultisearch.co.uk/ 4
http://www.urldig.com/ 4
http://www.velendi.com/ 4
http://www.cachedirectory.com/ 3
http://www.cherrydir.com/ 3
http://www.purple-directory.com/ 3
http://www.riodirectory.com/ 3
http://directory.seohyd.com/ 3
http://www.findsites.net/ 4
http://www.zunchdirectory.com/ 6
http://lazymandirectory.info/ 4
http://www.directorynew.com/ 4
http://link2share.com/ 5
http://www.urlshack.com/ 4
http://www.pegasusdirectory.com/ 4
http://www.kingofurl.com/submit.php 4
http://www.directoryvault.com/ 4
http://www.directoy.be/ 4
http://www.dir-submission.com/ 4
http://www.dmoz.org/ 9
http://www.eurofind.biz/ 5
http://www.exactseek.com/ 7
http://www.webs-best-directory.com/ 5
http://www.websitespromotiondirectory.com/ 5
http://www.webworldindex.com/ 6
http://www.webxperience.org/ 5
http://www.worlddirectory.in/ 4
http://www.worldhot.com/ 7
http://www.worldsiteindex.com/ 6
http://www.wujekdrut.com/ 4
http://www.wura.co.uk/ 4
http://www.xland.info/ 4
http://www.yourwebloghere.com/ 6
http://www.zeezo.com/ 6
http://www.zerovis.com/dir 5
http://webslackers.com/ 5
http://www.worldwidedirectory.org/ 4
http://www.topsearchengineranking.us/ 4
http://www.gamsis.com/ 4
www.26portal.com 4

Enjoy