Ways to earn from free directories

I was wondering how do free directories earn? Most have adsense ads in them but I doubt they are making a bundle out of this since directory conversions are even lower than forums since 99% who are viewing and submitting sites are also webmasters.

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Mostly by selling ad spaces all over the place. The higher the PR, the more people are willing to pay you. I think you also have to cleverly place your ads so people click on them.

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They might be earning from 'feature links' etc....

Free directories do not make much money, if any. After they get some PageRank, 10-20% of these free directories will turn into reciprocal directories within one week of a PR update.

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i used to have one and it helped me improve the ranks of my other websites.
after a year i managed to get about 7.5$ from adsense.
you shouldn't only look at it in ways of making money directly, in such a case try to sell sitewide links to 1 or 2 sites.

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It helps to build a site around the directory and stay in a particular niche. I have a site with a directory as part of it. So I can link articles through out the site and get more adsense clicks.

I also want to offer free submission to directories which are actually free directories. However, I have no confidence in this and I believe most webmasters are still skeptical with free directories.