Article Directories Dead?

Hey guys, I just realize most of the article directories are now dead.
I used to have about 20,000+ Article directories in my AMR. Usually I would have about 12k+ successful signups and about 6000-8000 successful submits.

I just did a blast again and to my surprise, most of the article sites are either dead or not accepting new articles.
I removed them and I was left with about 4,000 sites with only about 2k successful signups and 1k successful submits.

What about you guys? Damn, the Penguin didn't just kill our sites but a majority of article sites too.

You have it good. I only have 700+ successful submits with 100 more or less of PR1+ haha.

Article directories are not dead.. they have simply been nerfed to a point that it now becomes a part or a factor only in the whole SEO process.

they are not dead man i drive some good amount of traffic from article directories testing is the key.

The key is to post where real readers are now and not just another backlink method. And it does add variety to make you look more natural.