I have read a bit that paid directories tend to be of better quality and that the benefit from submitting to them is much better. My question: Is this really true? Have even some of the paid directories suffered much from the latest Google updates and are they just as vulnerable as free directories?
In the last update my directories are better than before. But some directories are badly hit by penguin..
Not so, it depends on the PR of the domains that are backlinked to the directories. If PR of 1,2,3,4 & 5 falls and your site is linked from these 5 only, then your PR will also fall.
No Paid directories have not suffered as long as my experience in the field is concerned,btw on what bases you raised this question ? if you make it clear than may be it provide me a topic to do research on ...
I raised this question out of curiosity because I have seen it mentioned a few times on this forum that paid directories are much better than free ones. I would like to know what are the reason why.
I have found very few paid directories affected by Penguin. The vast majority were very poor directories that were part of networks or had no original content.
The paid vs free argument has been around for longer than I've been running my sites, 6 years now. I think it started when a few paid directory owners thought they could promote their own sites by bashing free ones. After all, why pay for a listing when you can get one somewhere else for free? The truth is not that clear cut. There are great paid directories and great free directories. There are also useless paid directories and useless free directories. Granted there are probably more useless free directories than there are useless paid directories but the payment model far from guarantees quality or provides a window into the latest Google update.
I think after penguin there are just a lot more useless directories overall. But there are definitely still some good ones out there.
Various reasons. Quicker approval, better quality directory, fewer links on the page so it passes more link juice, etc.