I (and some others) very rarely submit to directories that use image validation because time is better spent submitting to those that don't use it. No matter how easy the image validation is (and some are quite bad), it takes more time to submit to directories that use it than those that do not. For those of us with a lot of submissions to make to each directory, it is very inconvenient and a waste of time since the time can be better spent on submitting to the many directories that don't use image validation. There is certainly no shortage to keep us busy. Since image validation does not even block the spam methods anymore, there's no reason for it. All it does is make it more time-intensive for people to submit, especially if you happen to get a digit wrong. With some of the image validation, I have typed it 4 times, maybe more (don't remember offhand).