IP Addresses

[Seekz]

I have seen people talking about a site's IP address affecting the site's Google rank. It seems a link from a different site on the same IP address does not count, or counts less. I have also seen people talk about the same thing but with whole IP blocks.

Does anyone know any concrete information about this? If I have a dedicated server with 5 IP addresses will my website links to each other count if they are on the same server?

Also, since Google became an ICANN accredited registrar, people have been talking about the possibility of Google using whois data, like contact information, to determine if the site belongs to the same person. Does anyone know any concrete information about this? If I own two domains on completely different IP blocks, but the whois data is similar, or the same, will the links count?

If I use one of the many whois privacy options available from various registrars, will they penalise it?

[SEOJaimie]

As far as links, I would not hesitate that much to believe that if all links are from the same IP it might raise a red flag:

as in those law firm sites where they register 50 domain names with different cities and link them all to each other with spammy content:

notaurl.springfield-personal-injury-lawyer.someurl - "Welcome to your springfield personal injury attorney. We specialize in springfield personal injury cases."

notaurl.manhattan-personal-injury-lawyer.someurl - "Welcome to your manhattan personal injury attorney .... "

... etc., etc.

If I were a black hat, I might be scared. If they're legitimate sites, I wouldn't worry, though.

As far as the private registration stuff? No clue.