13/08: Free Article Directory Closes

This is just a quick update regarding the free article directory that I ran for the last two years.

Unfortunately I took the decision to close the directory a couple of weeks ago. This was largely due to the fact that it was simply no longer time/cost effective to continue with the huge task of administering the site.

Spam and illiteracy and plain old fashioned abuse took a huge toll on the moderation of articles and it got so bad that probably less than 5% of submitted articles would make it to publication. It's another fine example of a good thing being ruined by idiots who seem hell bent on destroying the whole principle of article marketing and who are incapable of playing by the simple rules put in place by hardworking site owners.

I am still a believer in the effectiveness of articles, but as any directory owner, past or present will testify, spam and abuse is a very major problem. The site did bring in a regular Adsense income but in terms of time and effort involved it no longer made sense to continue.

Additionally the script was full of security holes and support was, to all intents and purposes, non existent.

I apologize to the supportive authors who contributed value to the site and thank you for your past submissions.

If you are considering running an article directory avoid Article Dashboard and find a decent script to build your site. Be prepared for a lot of admin time too.Infact, if you want to maintain quality, you may well find yourself needing to employ someone to help with the task!

tags: article marketing, articles, article directory, free article directory