lfgoal - 6:54 pm on Dec 7, 2010 (gmt 0)

I can "get" that a nofollow link may have value because even if a link isn't being endorsed, it's being cited for whatever reason and, therefore, it may be relevant to a topic that's being discussed or searched upon. But linkless citations...wouldn't that depend on the engine's ability to discern the name of a site. Sometimes, the url of the site and the name that's known to the site's common users aren't the same.

Are we basically saying that social media may be playing another role here: mentions of a site in online conversation, whether that be a review or a discussion in a forum, or a tweet, or a facebook post? Are we talking "branding". Didn't Schmidt talk about the importance of brands a while back?