jay5r - 2:45 pm on Aug 7, 2006 (gmt 0)

Google sitemaps are simply an option for people who don't trust Googlebot to get the job done without help from an outside source.

No, it's more than that... It's a way to set page priorities (including, I would think, if it's not in the list it's not important), it's a single place for Google to check to see what's new and what's changed.

All in all it's a pretty great tool for those of us with dynamic web sites - and that's the only context I use it in. If the site rarely changes (e.g. a brochureware site), I don't know that it would be all that valuable.