Link Types and Issues Surrounding them

Do google and other engines follow /*area href*/ links the same as /*a href

[x3nos]

I have been optimizing sites for google, msn and the likes for a few years and am a very basic designer for the most part. I have recently, however, run into a situation where I need to map links on an image. Does Google in particular, and Inktomi as well, follow the href attribute of area tags the same as anchor tags <a>?

[skipfactor]

Google & Ink both follow image maps and credit them in backlinks. Additionally, well written alt text (think anchor text) seems to help.