canuckseo - 10:28 pm on Dec 30, 2012 (gmt 0)

I think too much emphasis is place on 'links as the answer'

I totally agree with you. I'm just not sure what would replace links? Social signals have been around a while and don't seem to have much impact in Google, although I noticed my articles rank more quickly and for longer with authorship, but outside of that social doesn't seem to be the answer yet either, at least so far.