David - you've touched on a whole new subject there. The '1984 Effect' with regards to Google is something that's been banded about for a while now. The Google Toolbar is used to send data to Google on search queries and user behaviour - one of the reasons why you have chosen to uninstall it. Of course, Google's main aim is to provide relevant, quality search results to the end user. But at what cost? Is the aspect of web behaviour tracking a fair compromise for increasingly qualitative search results?
Directories are easy links. It's for this reason that Google has been increasingly devaluing free directories. There are, of course, some directories of a much higher quality and authority, and these are still valuable resources for those hunting high-quality links. Yahoo and MSN still place a fair amount of value on directory links and I can see those trends sticking for a little while yet. However, far too much attention is given to the perceived value of directory links. When all is said and done, it's just another one of the hundreds of techniques at our fingertips. Personally, I don't submit to tons of free directories. Some websites require the attention that the larger, quality directories give but it certainly isn't a priority of mine.
As for the Yahoo Directory, I would certainly suggest sticking with it if not only for the extra attention you're bound to receive from Yahoo. If the three main players have extraneous technologies and resources which will raise their awareness of your website, it's good practice to take advantage of this
