econman - 1:52 pm on Sep 17, 2006 (gmt 0)

WRT to the comment about benefits from lots of inbound links, regardless to quality -- in my niche the major players have not yet pursued this tactic intensively.

The issue I'm still struggling with is whether it makes sense to adopt this tactic. In particular, I wonder how much risk there of "overdoing it" -- if a site that only has organic links wakes up one day and starts rapidly accumulating unnatural inbound links, will a dramatic increase in inbound links trigger filters or penalties which either damage the site, or make the exercise a waste of money?

Assume the site is not willing to take any risks with outbound links, so there would be no change in the historic pattern of only having useful, relevant outbound links that are interest their users.

Any insights would be appreciated -- especially if they are backed up by actual experience.