Fred Thompson's Webmaster Doesn't Know Dmoz

By David A. Utter - Wed, 08/08/2007 - 8:02am.

The potential Presidential candidate's campaign doesn't know why a Google listing for his official website has a description they didn't write. We know what happened.

A Knoxville TV station reported the confusion at the Thompson camp over what Google has to say about the candidate's I'm With Fred site:

Type the phrase "Friends of Fred Thompson" into Google, and the first link returned by the search engine describes the Web page as the "Official site of Fred Thompson for President Exploratory Committee."
An exploratory committee would be a major step between Thompson's less formal "testing the waters" committee and an official bid for the Republican nomination for president.
But spokeswoman Linda Rozett called the description inaccurate. Rozett said she doesn't know how the description got on Google.

We're pretty sure we found the reason why, and our readers probably figured it out too. On the Dmoz Open Directory site, take a look at this page about Thompson, particularly the starred entry near the top:

I'm With Fred - Official site of Fred Thompson for President Exploratory Committee.

Google has pulled the description seen in its search results from Dmoz. The 'I'm With Fred' webmaster doesn't seem to know this little bit of HTML-fu, which will help the campaign stop this from happening: <META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOODP"> That tag will keep search engine crawlers from using the description on the Dmoz Open Directory. If the candidate is feeling grateful for this help, he can offer me the position of Ambassador to Tropical Places if he is elected.

News Tags: Open Directory, directory, blogging, Webmaster, DMOZ, Birthday, Fred Thompson

About the author:
David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Follow me on Twitter, and you can reach me via email at dutter @ webpronews dot com. Why not Mixx this article while you're here?

Comments

Submitted by Don Jones (WPN reader) on Thu, 08/09/2007 - 11:53am.

I need a suggestion from u

I was long out of school when puters came to be. I do OK but there is so much I don't know at age 75. Now I can tell you about crystal sets. Blue Gillette razor Fox Hole Radio's. and stuff that was when i was young. Here is my problem.

My website MyManFred.com is just that. A website. I use a sitebuilder and with the help from support I attached mymanfred.com/blog so I could be interactive.

It is just a plane jane thing and looks like I am going to have to spend lots of time in study hall learning.

So I have thought about a separate stand alone blog and just link. Is that an OK idea? Next where is a good DIY blog that is flexable like a website. Photo's etc.

Or should I just get a website/blog that is out there, (I see the ad's but forgot the name) and dump the website. I just love the website builder and hate to quit using it.

Don Jones

Submitted by David A. Utter on Thu, 08/09/2007 - 12:37pm.

I'll vote for blogging

Hi Don,

I think you'll find the blog management tools for products like WordPress and MovableType among others are user friendly. Since blogs are so easy to use to put up content, you might want to go that route.

Comments are another matter. You'll despair at the state of humanity when spam, junk, and outright useless ones hit your blog. Give some thought to allowing them before you switch them on.

david

Submitted by FRedStates.com (WPN reader) on Wed, 08/08/2007 - 4:18pm.

What's the difference?

As was pointed out on the great DraftFredThompson.com Website... there's no difference between an exploratory and testing the waters phase... this is according to the FEC...
http://www.fec.gov/pdf/record/1999/aug99.pdf

Organizing a Testing-the-Waters
Committee
An individual may organize an
“exploratory committee” or “testing-
the-waters committee” for
exploring the feasibility of becoming
a candidate. Such a committee
is not considered a political committee
and does not have to register or
file reports as long as its activities
are limited to testing the waters and
it does not engage in campaigning.
The name of the committee, and
statements by committee staff, must
not refer to the individual as a
candidate. For example, an exploratory
committee could not be called
“Sam Jones for the House,” which
would indicate that Jones had
already decided to run for federal
office. Instead, the committee could
be called “Sam Jones Congressional
Exploratory Committee.”

So I guess this article could be renamed... "WebProNews doesn't know FEC"

FDT 4 POTUS

Submitted by Tom (WPN reader) on Fri, 08/10/2007 - 9:27am.

Fred's birthday is coming

Fred's birthday is coming up. Maybe he'll get a staff that reads the FEC rules. (Actually, I see he's just hired Bill Lacy.)

Meanwhile, why is this article kicking ODP for publishing an accurate description? It's what they're supposed to do, as opposed to relying on the (occasional) webmaster spin.

Submitted by David A. Utter on Fri, 08/10/2007 - 11:12am.

Kicking?

Just pointing out where Google grabbed the description. If that's kicking, I'd have to say some people are just a little too sensitive these days.

Comes from playing games where they don't keep score, I'd imagine.

Submitted by David A. Utter on Wed, 08/08/2007 - 5:37pm.

Meh

It's WebProNews, not FECProNews. Besides, it's Fred's campaign complaining about the Dmoz description. We're just doing a little reporting/public service.

Submitted by Anonymous1 (WPN reader) on Wed, 08/08/2007 - 2:53pm.

Updated Description

The ODP description for the Friends of Fred Thompson website has been updated to correct this misunderstanding.

WebProNews