tedster - 3:59 pm on Sep 28, 2012 (gmt 0)

I've decided to re-open this thread - because there is some truth here.

No, it's nowhere near 50% of free directories that were thrown out of the Google index - but research is showing that a number of free directories were de-indexed in mid-May, in one survey it was 16% out of 500 tested.

That doesn't mean you get a penalty because you had a link there. However, you would lose any positive effect the directory was generating, and who knows? If I were designing a Penguin, I would definitely look hard at other factors for any site that was listed in a lot of those directories.