James_WV - 1:37 pm on Aug 6, 2009 (gmt 0)

Reno - "Have an option in GWT so a siteowner/webmaster can list ALL the incoming links to the TLD, and next to each listing, put a checkbox. At the top label the column of checkboxes "Check to have googlebot ignore these links"."

Looks like it's something Google are already thinking about - [mattcutts.com...] - the poll has finished and the options are gone, but about half way down MC says about one of the options:

"suppose you look at backlinks and see that some come from a spammy site or scraper. That option would let you say “Don’t count those links; I have nothing to do with that site.”"

Thing is, for them to put that as an option surely must mean bowling can definitely have an effect (if done correctly of course)