Some feedback (!) from the forums re Google. As J Whalens approach so far has been based on being paid to get people free high rankings esp in Google I think she is talking Bull*hit.
Google & The Bad Guys Newsletter 077 -> High Rankings Search Engine Optimization Forum: "Does Google care about how a site gets to the top, as long as when it gets there it is relevant? That's what I want to ask them.

I used to think that they cared how one got there, but I'm not so sure any more. They either do care but can't do anything about it yet, or they really don't care as long as their users (the searchers) are happy.

As a searcher, I'm very happy with the Google results. I still think they're tops in that department. So, I guess that's all that matters.

As to all the Webmasters losing money because Google let's spammy results in, well that's not my concern and not Google's either. Any Webmaster whose business model depends on the free Google results for their livelihood, deserves whatever they get."