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In my opinion, what you are describing is the same business model as a plumber or carpet cleaner who operates out of his home. He serves all clients remotely - none come to his home office. So, if the client lists the home address and phone number and then chooses the hide address function, that is signalling to Google that all work is handled remotely, but that in-person contact does take place, in compliance with the guidelines.

One of the questions Google is trying to answer with fresh content is "is this site still relevant?"  If you're not updating your home page regularly because it's not necessary for your users, continuing to get new fresh links is a great way to keep sending the signal that your page is still relevant. I would definitely advise against making a bunch of random changes to your home page just for Google's benefit - but if there are ways you can include more fresh or dynamic content that would also be good for users, that might be something to explore.  Maybe have a link to your newest or most popular blog post that updates when you post?

Hi Nicola, I work with Jamie and she is out for a 3-day weekend so if you don't mind I'll jump in. You originally asked "lets assume you were to get a link from BBC or CNN how long does it take for that link to have a positive impact on your rankings?" I believe those are the benefits Jamie was referring to, positive rankings. Whether you actually see any ranking benefit depends on numerous factors. Referral traffic is another potential benefit. When you say the link would be the company name, once again there are numerous factors involved. If your company name is "SEOmoz" then your company name also includes your primary keyword focus. Google can also relate your relevance based on other factors such as the surrounding text or page title.

I agree that this would be a great addition to SEOMoz. Incidentally opened a threat dealing with the same question with some interesting insights: http://www.seomoz.org/q/competitor-keyword-rankings#post-104610

Thank you Aran I will try that......

Thanks Conell I instantly recognised that page when I clicked on the link....I obviously read this before and it was lurking in the back of my empty brain somewhere Thank You!

Thank you guys I think that gives me enough info  to make an informed decision!

What happens if I do duplicate the title tags, Matt?

These pages are indexed by google right? How about I PM you instead I wouldn't want the owner of the site to google themselves and find out I have been interrogating their site.

LOL at the dark alley remark. OK. I think you make a good case.

Hi John Thanks for the answer I think you are correct. My competitors have been advertising on these sites and I was absolutely sure they were getting some benefit from doing so (more than just brand awareness) and now I think this thread had confirmed it for me. Alot of people have websites and many of them are not interested in seo and therefore dont read up on google guidelines so it is easy to understand how these things can be missed by some web owners.