Importance of WHOIS information

[olly]

Hi

If one has a website and the WHOIS information just shows the information belonging to your webhost (along with 1000s of other domains that they have registered) can this count against you with regards to your rankings?

Does anybody have any other tips for things to watch out for in your WHOIS info?

Thanks

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

WHOIS information should include the domain name owner's name and contact details for commercial websites. Only personal website owners can opt out of the whois records.

[encyclo]

Only personal website owners can opt out of the whois records.

This is the case for .uk domains, but it is in no way generalized across the gTLDs or ccTLDs. As for the assertion that whois should include the owner's name and address, I'm not aware of any particular guidance from Google backing up this opinion.

the WHOIS information just shows the information belonging to your webhost

Is this because you are using a privacy service? If not, why is "your" domain actually registered by the hosting company?