The thing is, you can create a web 2.0 property, throw 20 blog comment links at it and get it to rank top 10 for a decent keyword. I know, because I've done it! The allintitle command shows 3000 competing sites as well. I must admit that my web 2.0 property has now slipped because I've not thrown any more backlinks at it, but the investment paid itself off within days and I suspect it would be quite easy to get it back on the first page (it's now on page two) with a few more blog comments.
People like Dan and Nigel will tell you that it's spam, that their method of link building is superior. I agree with them and also say "so what?" I aspire to getting merit-worthy links but at this point my site doesn't have enough merit-worthy content to deserve them. So in the meantime I'm going to employ another method to rank in the SERPs. What they don't take into account is the fact that many people on here don't have sites that will be naturally linked to by virtue of their marvellous content. So while I agree that the best method of building links is to network and get people to give you an editorial link to your site, this method is not relevant to a large proportion of the members of this forum, who simply want to promote their money making blog, their affiliate site or whatever it is. What's more, not everyone has the skill to write compelling content and targetted emails to webmasters with complimentary sites.
I actually haven't created a linkwheel, but based on one web 2.0 site I created, it seems like it could be a helpful way to give your site a boost. I'm sure that care needs to be taken to create unique and reasonable content and not to heavily interlink the sites, but I'm sure it can have a positive impact.
