CainIV - 7:15 pm on Dec 13, 2009 (gmt 0)

But if the only place that links to the profile URLs is created by the link builder themselves, they gain no external value

I don't think this is what the poster or I am saying. What is being said is that gaining inbound links by way of profile page propagation is something that some people are doing because they see results from it. Others further are reducing the direct risk to their websites by pointing the profile urls instead to a single article, and then pointing links from the article to their important pages.