Speculation on the Future of Article Marketing

I realize that a multitude of similar threads have been posted in the past on this particular subject. Nonetheless, in light of the recent changes in how Google is categorizing certain sites as "content farms" and the fact that major article directories are being, at least temporarily, associated with that set, I thought it would be edifying to ask active article marketers out there their opinion on what they believe the state of article marketing will be one to two years from now.

We've all had time to sit back and observe the effects of whatever is going on in that mystery box called Panda. With these observations and the passage of time, I am certain that many of your personal opinions and beliefs about the future of article marketing have changed at least a little.

I personally believe that one to two years from now, article marketing will be stronger and more viable than ever before. Yes, you guessed it: I don't camp with the doomsayers. Why?

I believe that with the tightening of submission processes and an increased standard of expected quality in submitted articles, many of the spinning spammers that have been flooding the directories with stool will be moving on to some other unfortunate leg of online marketing. I believe the increased standards that are already being implemented will be rewarded by Google, and those directories implementing the changes just might receive a mercy pass from being associated with the stigmatized label of "content farm."

Additionally, over time, the mass exodus of spammers will mean less "competition" for those of us who choose to provide our readers with actual content. Consequently, the number of webmasters and others searching for value-packed content will slowly begin to frequent these directories knowing that they will not have to sift through toilet paper to get a good, informative article. I believe these things will happen and that the result will be that article marketing will emerge stronger than before in terms of its traffic-generating potential.

I hope that at least some of you have been thinking about this as well. I look forward to reading your thoughts, opinions, and out right speculation on this topic. Thanks in advance.:rolleyes: