Network of quality sites for interpromotional purposes

[MWpro]

I sell products related to the topic of Widgets.

Right now I currently have two websites currently hosted on the same server as add-on domains:
1) The business website where I sell the products
2) Separate message board for adsense and also to promote my products

I would like to build a 2-4 more separate quality information-based websites full of content about Widgets. This would be to get more adsense revenue but also to promote my business website (free advertising).

My question is this: I heard that Google frowns upon linking between your own sites. Is this true? My sites would be quality sites with a lot of traffic, not just link farms for the sake of adding links to my site.

What do I need to know about how Google will treat my sites before I proceed?

[tedster]

If each site has a dedicated business purpose, and develops a strong following of its own with a distinctive backlink profile, then some additional cross-linking with your own properties is not a problem. It's a question of balance and the purpose of the sites. If it smells like a network created just to boost rankings, then you may well get nailed.

[MWpro]

tedster, thank you for your quick reply. A few follow up questions, if you don't mind:

1) Does it matter if all of these sites are hosted as add-on domains on the same hosting plan?

2) Should I build up the new sites for a few months before even thinking about linking to my main business website?

3) I have established contacts with about 10 other high PR sites, and if I ask for links to my new sites they will gladly link to me. Question: will google care if all of my sites have such a significant overlap of links going to them from these high PR sites?

[tedster]

1. You can definitely host on the same plan if you're not doing anything manipulative. It's pretty hard to hide common domain ownership these days, anyway.

2. I would launch with a link or two in place. Be completely up front about the connection between the domains. These days, I think adding the cross-links later on is more likely to cause trouble.

3. Significant backlink overlap is not likely to help all that much and might even hinder you. I'd suggest working to have relatively discrete backlink profiles. Some overlap would be natural if the topics are related, but not a majority of backlinks.