My articles ranked well on Google and made pretty good money (13 articles -> $25/month). Now they got rid of the regular ehow system and now requires you write articles for their new Demand Media. Ezinearticles still ranks well for me, but it doesn't offer the additional residual income. Squidoo is mediocre for my niche; Infobarrel ranks poorly for my niche.
things change on the internet as well as in the real life too... maybe they found writing for Demand Media is more affordable.... who knows. I also liked the old Ehow website