I don't know if there's a definitive answer on this, since it's effects wouldn't be easy to measure, but if you think about it, it makes sense that it should be taken into account to some extent, and if not, at least users would be able to learn about your site.

Off course, as regular links do, I guess it would depend on the context, relevance, and reputation of the page where the mention takes place.

Also, from a branding point of view, it would be positive (again, depending on the context), it seems one of the functions of the new SEOmoz Fresh Web Explorer is precisely to find out about mentions.

Check out this post where they carried out an experiment about the subject and also cite Matt Cutt's reponse to the question (although very old): http://dejanseo.com.au/seo-experiment-with-non-link-references/

They are looking for pages that contain the terms "login.aspx", "register" and "retrieve password" in the URL structure (inurl command) and the term "employment" in the body of the page (intext: command).

You can find more about Google's search operators here: http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators.html

In this case it seems they are looking to access an ASP.NET source file, it could be that they are searching for a web to hack..

If you exchange links with quality sites, relevant to your niche and in a useful manner from the user point of view, you should be on the safe side and could probably benefit from it.

Check out this video for more info: Whiteboard Friday - Sitewide, Reciprocal, and Directory Links

Hi Gina, If it isn't clear enough in the comments, check the first video I posted and the sixth point in this one:

10 Myths That Scare SEOs But Shouldn't

Cheers!

You could try this one: Google XML Sitemap for Videos

It seems that it only includes posts that contain (or link to) videos in a file called  sitemap-video.xml, so you'll probably need your regular sitemap plugin too to generate a full sitemap.xml file.

Excellent, it does make a lot of sense!