The recent Google pronouncement on paid links opens up a whole can of worms. What we need from Google is a definitive definition of what is and isn't allowed.
I've spotted a rival website to a client of mine. They pay millions to sponsor a major TV show in the UK. Along with the TV bumpers (the sponsor slots pre and post ad breaks) they also get sitewide links on the pages that refer to the TV show on the TV company's website.
ITV Heartbeat
After the BBC, ITV is the biggest media company in the UK with about 35% of the terrestrial TV audience. So you can imagine the benefits of these links on the ITV site. Now the links haven't been bought directly - they come as part of the TV sponsorship package - but are they paid links under Google's definition?