buckworks - 11:50 pm on Feb 14, 2011 (gmt 0)

wondered if Google doesn't give a small boost to validated code

I've never seen evidence that Google gives any actual boost to validated code, but on the other hand I've seen situations which strongly suggested that bad code was holding a site back in the SERPs.

Cleaning up validation errors could be compared to scraping barnacles off a boat hull. It reduces drag and helps the boat get better performance out of whatever wind is blowing.