The purpose of this paper is to review the scientific literature on direct load control (DLC) technology in the context of a smart grid (SG). This study synthesized and compared various articles from the literature with the aim of conducting a comprehensive analysis. This study aims to provide a detailed understanding of the landscape, recent advancements, and the relationships among various aspects within this field. The evaluation is conducted through a systematic literature review, examining recent advancements in the field. A survey of over 200 papers published between 1983 and 2022 is classified based on appliance information, aim/objective, constraint, management method and tool, implementation, and publication status. In the DLC application, the study identifies the type and population of appliances used in and the aim/objective and constraint considered. It also determines whether forecast, prediction, and estimation structures, optimization and control algorithms, and specific structures are employed. The practical aspect of the study examines various perspectives, including the modeling and presentation of the research. This involves identifying the validation methods, time period for implementation, solver, program, software, toolbox, and platform structures used during validation. Additionally, the characteristics of the database used for implementation and the location of the implementation are detailed. The publication year and the countries of the authors are also provided. Comparative relationships between these elements are presented based on the aforementioned information.