Found this interesting article today:
http://www.realityseo.com/2005/04/google-search-algorithm-patented.html
It is amazing just how much power a company like Google can have in making or breaking sites. With a few of the methods they use to rank pages, your site can go from high ranks to the basement overnight depending on the types of ads you run or the sites to which your are linked, and possibly in the future, how long your domain name has left on its registration... Interesting..