Paying for Inclusion in Directories and Search Engines

It seems that everywhere we turn these days, we are constantly hearing the phrases pay-per-inclusion (PPI) and pay-per-click (PPC). There are now a number of ways that the search engines and directories are collecting funds from people trying to get their Web sites listed.

The most important thing to note when discussing this topic is that money spent on PPI programs goes solely towards getting your site into the search databases, and that's it. You can pay them all you want, but PPI is not going to give you a higher ranking. Remember this before you fork over your hard-earned money.

Paying for Directory Listings
If you have a business or any type of commercial site, you have to pay Yahoo! just to consider your site for inclusion. Once reviewed by their editors, they'll add your site only if they believe it's worthy, but keep the fee regardless. (Yahoo!'s review fee is currently $299 per year.) According to their Terms of Service (TOS), they hold all the cards and you are at their mercy. That said, Yahoo! is fairly good about adding most submitted PPI sites as long as you're not trying to deceive them somehow. (Deception includes, but is not limited to, submitting duplicate sites, doorway domains and other sites that add no value to their directory.)

Once an editor decides that your site is up to their standards and adds it to the database, you get no special treatment in the rankings department. This is why it's necessary to prepare a carefully crafted and extremely succinct keyword-rich description before you submit. If you're not happy with the description you end up with (they often change it), you should send in an email appeal detailing why their description is inaccurate. Depending on the scope of changes requested and the reasons behind them, they may or may not make your changes. After your one appeal, what you see is what you get. (It's possible that with Yahoo!'s new annual-fee program you will be given a chance to edit your listing at renewal time. This wasn't laid out very clearly in their current TOS the last time I checked.)

As far as your rankings go, it appears that the more popular a site is on the Internet in general, the better chance it has for a high ranking in Yahoo! also. So once again, it's important to make your site the best it can be! (Please also read my article "Submitting to Directories" for more information on this.)

With the LookSmart directory, the situation is even more convoluted. In fact, their latest change to a combination of PPI and PPC is so outrageous that I don't recommend submitting to them at all anymore. With their new business model, it doesn't appear that many sites will see a worthwhile return on investment from them at this time. Plus, LookSmart has a habit of changing their terms of service any time they feel like it, and therefore can (and do) take your money and add your site, then remove it at a later date. If all that isn't bad enough, their clickthrough reporting does not appear to be accurate (at the time of this writing) when compared to actual server log statistics, and therefore it's possible that you'd pay for clicks you never actually received from them. All of these things add up to a company that I personally want nothing to do with. Don't take my word for it, however; please take a look at their product offerings and decide if it makes sense for your business. Just be sure to read their TOS very carefully, and remember the old adage, "buyer beware"!

The Open Directory (ODP aka DMOZ) does not offer a PPI program, and both business and non-business sites can be submitted for free. I know of no plans for a PPI program at this time.