Here is another patent narrated by SEO By the SEA – patents are a good way to determine what might be in Google algorithm. Nevertheless, the except below provides intresting reading.
Google was granted a patent yesterday on Blog Search, and how the search engine might filter blog posts out of blog search based upon a number of factors. The patent was originally filed in 2006, and it’s the first patent filing I’ve seen from Google that uses the term “splog.” The screenshot from the patent below shows some of that potential filtering process
What I found interesting in the above article is that link proximity to the top of post could have a postive factor. That means links, tags and related posts that is usually at the bottom of a post, have a lesser value. Additionally, there might me a detection for affiliate outgoing links, popups and adult sites that again may have a negative bearing.