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it should be referenced in Brett's Google update thread. I would try looking for it but I know looking for "google update" brings about a million results of false start google updateS! :)
There is not much to reference anyway, we maybe shouldnt read GG's statements word for word too much, as sometimes it has been noted that their are small nuances in consistency "sort of thing" ;)
The thread said something along the lines of "linking to bad neighbourhoods may get you banned"....and the way I perceived this - is he meant that if you link to sites that are "obviously" banned and have PR0...then your site may be labelled alongside the sites you link to.
I doubt it is a "touch and go" situation....ie if you have a link directory with a few PR0's situated within it....I doubt you will get banned
That is heresay though, but I can tell you that his quote about the neighbourhoods was on one of the Spring/Summer Google updates of this year
1) Linking to a recognized link farm or similar might get you zapped.
2) Linking to some PR0 or penalized sites won't hurt. Possible exceptions might be if these links were unusually high in either percent of total links or in absolute number.
3) Crosslinking patterns are a known risk factor; if some of these are penalized sites, the risk might be even greater.
It should be noted that you have no way of knowing for certain which sites are penalized - there has been lots of discussion here of penalized sites with low PR - PR4 on the home page, and PR2, 1, or 0 on internal pages. If you don't know the history of the site, a visit with the toolbar on won't tell you whether the site is just lacking in good linkage or whether it is carrying a penalty.
Some of the sites that were obviously penalized aren't even recognizable any more, since some PR was restored. It's almost impossible without knowing the history. It can take a lot of time digging through backlinks and the site's navigation to even get a clue.
