Article Submission services are in theory the same idea as an automatic tool, but they are not exactly the same.  Article services are usually companies who provide submission to all of the major directories via manual submission instead of an automated tool.  They do the submission for you.  You dont have to lift a finger. There are positives and negatives to both approaches:

POSITIVES

The benefit to using a company for a service is that you don’t have to do the submission yourself.  Even though submitting articles with an automatic article submission tool does not take very long, it can still save you some time.  Basically, all you have to worry about is handing over the article.

Another benefit is that these services claim to manually submit your articles.  Although I have a hard time believing it, this is what they claim.  Because of the manual submission, you have a better chance of having all of your articles accepted into the directories and hence, receiving more links.

NEGATIVES

As I stated before, it is difficult to know exactly what these companies are doing with your articles because you are not in direct control of it.  The best way to choose an article submission service is through word of mouth from someone you trust.

The other negative is the price.  You will pay MUCH more and often per article to have them submitted.  This can add up over time.  In contrast, article submission software packages allow unlimited submissions because you own a license.  These business services have to charge you per article.  I have seen some even charge up to $30.00 per submission.

The only article submission company I have seen that is professional enough for me to recommend is Submit Edge.  I like them because they are a “real” internet marketing company and they also submit unique versions for every 100 directories.  They are a little pricier than buying a piece of software, but if you want white glove service and dont want to do ANY legwork, this is the solution for you.