Google, Yahoo!, and Teoma do a good job of finding most information on the web.

For a while search stunk and so people gathered together under the "People do it Better" pretense.

Now each directory makes search algorithms that much better. In a sense directories aid search engines in understanding the semantical and thematical relationships between sites.

The biggest value in directory listings right now is in the effect the listings have on improving search engine rankings. One problem with some of the mid sized directories is that they do not have enough link popularity to support some of the deeper categories.

Today I submitted a buddies site to categories in JoeAnt, GoGuides, Skaffe 2, Gimpsy, Wow Directory, Allestra, and Web Beacon 2, but most of the directories did not have enough link popularity to keep the lower level categories indexed.

I think directory owners would make a ton more money from submissions if they would ensure they advertised enough to build enough link popularity so that it flowed through their sites to get the deeper pages indexed.