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I recently spent the day writing 2 400 word+ articles and have submitted them to x1 article directory. I want to know if it is ok to submit the same articles to more article directorys?

I have just been looking at a competitors links and have discovered some of the links they have obtained dont actually exist when clicking through to the directory or blog in question, although still appear in opensiteexplorer. Is this common? and is it just a sign of bad link building practices?

I have recentely submitted an article with a couple of links back to my site and although the article directory has included this in their site (after around 7 days, for approval purposes) it doesnt show up in opensiteexplorer. How long do new links take to show up in opensiteexplorer? on average??