tedster - 5:26 pm on Jan 14, 2011 (gmt 0)

Yes, if a site is a "big" brand, then a lot of Google's advice doesn't seem to apply, or at least not in the same way. However, the smaller site is wise, in my experience, to at least consider Google's advice before putting any plan into action. There is often an underlying technical reason for the advice and it is essentially there to help.

You may decide that the advice doesn't apply to your site - and that's fine, it is your site after all.