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Backlinks were intentionally masked in March of 2004 by Google at the suggestion of an SEO at a pubcon conference as at that time the backlinks were being used as a purchasing decision maker for link-buyers. It was during the time that DMOZ expireds were the "big thing" as links to get a good instant boost to sites.
As far as the algo and changes - if there have been any changes to the Google algo over the last 3 years they have been very minor and almost un-noticible. The thing that has changed is the filters that are placed on top of the algo. These are adjusted on a daily basis (espcially with the new index that Google is occasionally displaying - and will be for the next two months while they play) and can have a "fun" effect on how your sites will rank.
Forgetting about Google's traffic would be in my opinion ridiculous - but then paying for SEO is about the most "out-there" concept I have ever heard of as well
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