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  #1  
Old 06-17-2005
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Yahoo! Directory Titles No More?
In the past Yahoo! used your title from the Directory listings in the organic results, if you were listed in the Yahoo! Directory. I did a search this morning in Yahoo! and it seems they are no longer doing that.

Try it out yourself.

I posted pictures with before and after at my blog under the entry title Yahoo! Directory Titles Gone?

Please confirm.
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  #2  
Old 06-17-2005
dannysullivan dannysullivan is offline
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Yeah, I see the same if I search for "search engine watch." Notice also that your description isn't from the directory, nor is mine.

Search for "movies," and you'll see it's not completely gone. Moviefone, for example, is:

Moviefone
find showtimes and purchase tickets for all major movie theaters across the U.S.

That comes right out of the directory:
http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Ec...vies_and_Film/


Using the site title and description would be:

Moviefone: Homepage - Movies, showtimes, theaters, movie pages, reviews, trailers
Find movies, movie times, showtimes, theaters, listings, ratings, movie phone, movie pages, dvds, videos, trailers and more...

Still, perhaps they've seen the results of the proposal for titles and descriptions and are thinking of giving it a nudge.
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  #3  
Old 06-17-2005
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Very interesting.

Anyway, a move to using the title & description specified in ones source code is much better for everyone, IMHO.

If this is just a test, then I am confident Yahoo! will see positive results.

Good work Yahoo!
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  #4  
Old 06-17-2005
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This is a good move. It will help keep YST results as accurate as possible (changing directory descriptions took a year and a day).

I also think it's an example of why meta tags will persist. They really are the best way to tell the search engine what a site is supposed to be about. Once the engines are sure they can defeat spammy meta tags and only concentrate on valid ones then they'll be a great source of "snippet summary".

This will also stop us nagging Yahoo! Directory to get listings changed!
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Old 06-17-2005
Gerardism Gerardism is offline
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My website went live last summer (Aug) and shortly after I opted for the Yahoo Dir Submission, and for my own site, I've never seen the Yahoo dir title show up in the Yahoo serps. The title that I have on my index page has always shown up.

Also, I have an XML/RSS feed linked from the index page that I use for the articles that I write, not sure if that might have something to do with it (or at least partially) and I also update the content on the index regularly. Could be a combination of factors, lets hope they'll start making the move over for titles for all sites.
Last edited by Gerardism : 06-17-2005 at 11:31 AM.
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  #6  
Old 06-17-2005
Jill Whalen Jill Whalen is offline
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Yahooooooooo!

It's about time!

Hey wait...mine is still showing...at least when i typed in high rankings.

<added>The directory titles appear to be back again, at least from where I'm sitting.
Last edited by Jill Whalen : 06-17-2005 at 05:35 PM.
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  #7  
Old 06-17-2005
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I dont see directory titles, I guess they are experimenting with it.

Yahoo! listen, we dont like the directory titles.
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  #8  
Old 06-17-2005
kepa
 
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I've noticed that if you are in the Directory AND you have an RSS feed listed, then your meta title and descriptions (even a portion of your page) usually show up. Otherwise the directory titles and descriptions usually show up (a few exceptions of course). I've just added RSS to my site to see if things change.
Last edited by kepa : 06-17-2005 at 07:31 PM.
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  #9  
Old 06-20-2005
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I have noticed the results changing from meta's to directory for some time - even a few times during the day the results would change from metas to directory.

Maybe the "major" update they are talking about will settle this once and for all.
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  #10  
Old 06-20-2005
Robert_Charlton Robert_Charlton is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rustybrick
Yahoo! listen, we dont like the directory titles.
This is one of those issues I've been screaming about for years. Great news!

Quote:
Originally Posted by kepa
I've noticed that if you are in the Directory AND you have an RSS feed listed, then your meta title and descriptions (even a portion of your page) usually show up.
None of the sites I see with restored titles have RSS feeds. Inner pages of a site, those not listed in the directory, have always kept their own titles, but the default page title in the past has gotten reduced to the directory title.

Now, if maybe they'll drop the directory categories too, those sites that pay to be listed in the directory won't be at a disadvantage compared to those that aren't listed.
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  #11  
Old 06-20-2005
St0n3y St0n3y is offline
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I still see my Yahoo Directory title, but that might be because I have 301 redirect issues going on.
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  #12  
Old 06-20-2005
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Im noticing that the sites I monitor still show directory titles.

Anyone else have any information about what sites ARE getting page titles used?
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  #13  
Old 06-20-2005
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My directory titles are gone too - thank goodness. My CTR at Yahoo! already skyrocketed almost 30%!!! It's amazing what a good title and description will do in a #1 position.

Thank you Yahoo!
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  #14  
Old 07-16-2005
lobofenris lobofenris is offline
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Didn't anyone find out anything definitive on this? My site is still coming up with my directory title and description in the search results.

The other things I've always wondered, and discussed with people to no definitive conclusion, is in the background calculation to determine where you place in the search results, which is more important - your directory title and description, or your actual on-page factors like HTML Title and keyword usage? This is just for Yahoo.

Thanks for your thoughts.
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  #15  
Old 07-16-2005
Robert_Charlton Robert_Charlton is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lobofenris
My site is still coming up with my directory title and description in the search results.
This seems to have been a short term test only. Unfortunately, they've reverted back to Yahoo titles and descriptions.

Quote:
Originally Posted by lobofenris
The other things I've always wondered, and discussed with people to no definitive conclusion, is in the background calculation to determine where you place in the search results, which is more important - your directory title and description, or your actual on-page factors like HTML Title and keyword usage?
I've always thought that, in the crawler based results, the Yahoo title and description are used for display purposes only.
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  #16  
Old 07-16-2005
seobook seobook is offline
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no matter what I searched for, Yahoo! has never used their description title for my site (not sure if thats because it is a blog or because it has many links or what). they always show one of my clients though even if the search terms are not in the yahoo title or description
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  #17  
Old 06-22-2006
Micah7105
 
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Question How Do I Change my info in Yahoo?
I joined Yahoo Directory a few weeks ago. After observing for awhile, I see that my store name and the description I put in come up as the blue underlined title and the black text underneath. I need to change this-I have noticed that others put a great keyword phrase as the title, and their black text is written is much more seo friendly than mine. So do I have to try to go back to Yahoo to change this(no answers to my email) or is their another way?

Hope someone will help me figure this out. Thanks.
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  #18  
Old 07-14-2006
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It seems like all the engines are moving away from directory listings for titles and snippits, what with Google and MSN launching the NoODP tag. More control for site owners sounds good to me.
Kate
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  #19  
Old 07-20-2006
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Havent seen any changes on my title and description yet ... I guess they reverted back to directory listings ....
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