From what I understand, Google added a new algorithm to its search engine which severely reduced the rankings of websites with repeat content. This INCLUDES web directories. Is it even worth the effort to submit to web directories?
Yeah, if you create your own directory. But most people don't do that. That let anyone and everyone submit their repeat descriptions.
No. What dvduval is suggesting is that you create a unique description of your website every time you submit to a web directory. That way the content is always different, no? Also, good web directories vet (that means review/edit/moderate) their content. Which means 2 good web directories will look very different from each other, whilst 2 poor ones could look very similar in the content they allow. It's not "web directories" that get targeted, it is websites that don't create unique and/or useful content OR who batch-duplicate content, that get targeted. Any website model could fit into that category. e.g. Blogs. Seen a tonne that fit into the content farm category that Panda was looking to eliminate.
No, its not going to make a web directory obsolete. It's going to thin out more of the duplicate content and descriptions found in the crap directories. If anything its going to be an improvement that will help good directories and content rich sites and listers that list unique descriptions in quality directories.