In a short video yesterday, Google's Matt Cutts told webmasters and SEOs not to use article directory sites for link building strategies.
Well, he kind of said not to use it and hinted to it at the end by saying:
Here is the video:
Free Directory List, Free Article Directory List, Free Social Bookmarking Websites List, Instant Approval Directories..
Today, we are taking a first step of many to improve categories that merchants can use to represent their businesses. Specifically, we’re adding over 1,000 new categories in the new Places dashboard. These categories are available globally and translated to every language Google supports.