Treatment of domain names in content that are not actually a link

[bjalc2011]

From PR activity we've found that lots of newspaper sites will include reference to a domain name in an article but not actually make this a link through to the domain. For example we will see text like:

For further information read the full report at www.bluewidget.com

Of course we make attempts to contact the newspaper to request they make it a link but this doesn't always achieve a result.

So the question is, does Google place any value for the identified domain in a case like this?

[EGOL]

I believe that these "domain mentions" are valuable.

I believe that some manufacturers benefit from them enormously.  Let's say that I manufacture the Egol Widget and wholesale them to lots of other websites.  When those websites publish pages selling the Egol Widget, google sees my product and my brand being mentioned on lots of retail and review sites in my industry.  I think that is a powerful signal to Google that there is a lot of interest in my business and its products.  I think that these domain mentions cause my content to perform better in the search results.

This is all opinion.  Just sayin'.   Maybe someone else agrees.

[MickEdwards]

Yes I absolutely agree with EGOL. If the domain/page authority is good I would rather have a do-follow link.  But on the other hand if that is not possible and the brand/domain is mentioned in context then I would be happy that is a signal for Google.  Maybe small but still part of the mix.