Well, In the last two month I submitted a new site to 744 free directories. So far I got 18 and i say 18, mail back with approved link, 3 rejected, and all the rest are still pending. When surfing dirs, I saw some with more than 1000 links pending and i did not bother to submit. Sometimes, a featured/sponsored listing is a must if you do not have a year to waste for backlink building.
I think it can be a case of some people selling links based on the PR value of the site, i.e. I've got a PR5 directory and it's $20 a link. I remember that sometime ago now, there was a case of someone having a PR8 site (not a directory, it was before PHPLD) and had an idea of selling links from there for a lot of money. Broadcasting it around the net to get publicity and money .. and they were dreaming of millions of dollars. What happened ? Big G stepped in and stripped his PR to 0. For the life of me I can't remember the name of the site and person behind it.
expecting people to find you and link to you of their own volition is a recipe for failure. Everyone pays for links; just how the money is exchanged my differ. Some pay for the link outright, some offer free samples, some buy a television commercial which gets people talking/linking to a product, some do press releases. Everyone pays for them.
SearchKing .. I'm sure it was SearchKing vs Google http://www.news.com/Judge-dismisses-suit-against-Google/2100-1032_3-1011740.html
Nonsense. Like cdx, I have never, ever paid for a link. And yes, my sites do rank well for relevant search phrases, and they have done so consistently now for a long time (top 5 to top 10 in Google) with the exception of a couple of months during the Big Daddy fiasco.
Paid links are dying. I saw a few of my sites get a penalty due to paid that others that had no such links did fine. I have only paid for a few links but lesson well learned!
well that good for you, but in general basing the success of your website on whether or not strangers link to it is not a real sound business plan