anallawalla - 4:02 am on Aug 7, 2010 (gmt 0)

first eight words within your anchor text

I have never heard of this either. A Google search only found some scrapers who have picked up this thread. It's not a good number for an algorithm because most anchor text has a lot fewer words.

Since when is linking using 5 words 'natural'? It's not - at least not commonly.

"Natural" is what happens in SEO-indifferent content. I often link 5-6 words when I don't care about the destination site's SEO, e.g.

<a href="http://www.example.com">Here is a link to additional information at Example Inc</a>

I see others doing this. When I see laser-targeted words leading to a page that is optimised for that phrase, I see "SEO" written all over it.

Hence "Consumer guide to green widgets" is a nice variation for anchor text. That is what a non-SEO would use, making it look "natural". It might not be the killer anchor text, but it would also benefit searches such as "guide to green widgets", particularly if the word "guide" were prominent on that page.