I once owned an article directory. I eventually canned it because the script was free and easily exploited. But it struck me, I was making some nice Adsense income for very low effort. I wish I could start again and set up 10x directories instead. So is this the same for link directories. Are they pretty easy money? Sure, when I had the article directory, it did take a little time to approve new articles. But I did no more than 5 minutes of promotion for the site - I found that I got added pretty quickly to big lists of article directories and quickly got lots of traffic. Is this the same for link directories?
There are a LOT of directories out there. If you're willing to put the time in advertising and promoting, it could pay off in the end.
Compared to some options the money dont come easy with directories, but compared to some other options it does come easy with them.
Don't expect to make much Adsense income with directories. Expect close to none. Webmasters don't tend to click on ads and webmasters will represent the majority of your traffic.
Making a directory for a quick buck is a bad idea. Creating a huge general directory or a focused niche directory with good content and a high standard of links is a better way forward.