Should I build links using article directories? Maybe No say Matt

If you've worked in the SEO industry for more than a couple of years, you probably remember the days when article directories were all the rage. You could write a quickie article, submit it to literally hundreds of article directories, link it to your site, in hopes others will publish it on their own sites to add content.

Nowadays, with duplicate content filters and link penalties, article directories definitely fell out of favour for many webmasters. That said, there are many article directories that are still actively soliciting articles and publishers who continue to republish that content.

What is Google's official stance on article directories such as Ezine in 2014 – good or bad? This is the topic of Matt Cutts' latest webmaster help video, which begins with a history lesson on the rise of article directories:

Over time article directories have gotten a little bit of a worse name. So just refresh everybody's memory, an article directory is basically where you write 3-, 4-, 500 words of content and then you'll include a little bio or some information about you at the bottom of the article, and you might have three links with keyword rich anchor text at the bottom of that article. And then you'd submit that to a bunch of what are known as article directories, and then anyone can download them or perhaps pay to download them, and they'll use them on their own website.