2008/11/26 Durova nadezhda.durova@gmail.com:
Has anyone stopped to ask whether this is really worth it to the SEO? In terms of labor and cost/benefit?
Suppose for discussion that this works. At most, it puts a very small part of an extremely well known website slightly lower in the rankings. I doubt it's a valid assumption that if some unknown site is number 3 in the rankings and WP dips down to number 4, large numbers of people who would otherwise have gone to the most popular reference site on the Internet will migrate to the unknown site.
Most people don't look beyond the first three results so yes depending on the keyword its worth it.
Brand value counts for something. When I'm browsing Google News and *The New York Times* appears fourth in the listings while a small town newspaper pops up at third, I'm still more likely to click on the *Times* article. Especially if I'm in a hurry.
What brands would you go for if looking for rather than news you were looking for info on asbestosis compensation (I understand that asbestosis is one of the most valuable keywords going)? Brand is useful yes but most SEOers don't have that so SERPs position is what they go for.