What Google says about building natural links?

The best way to get other sites to create relevant links to yours is to create unique,
relevant content that can quickly gain popularity in the Internet community. The more
useful content you have, the greater the chances someone else will find that content
valuable to their readers and link to it. Before making any single decision, you should
ask yourself: Is this going to be beneficial for my page’s visitors? It is not only the
number of links you have pointing to your site that matters, but also the quality and
relevance of those links. Creating good content pays off: Links are usually editorial
votes given by choice, and the buzzing blogger community can be an excellent place
to generate interest.
Ironically Google has ignored their own rules on many occasions with apparently -little long term consequence. Big brands too have been recently hit, including (in the
UK) the BBC and INTERFLORA. Big brands certainly DO seem to be able to get
away with a LOT more than your average webmaster, and so these problems often
are often short-lived, especially if they make the news.