I noticed that google groups is showing up more and more in organic search results, and was wondering if anyone has had any luck participating in them to get your site rank up.
I've had pretty "mixed results" there on numerous occasions. Several of the posters there seem to relish in your misery and provide nothing but conflicting advice our outdated strategies that they taut have worked successfully for them in the past. Occasionally a poster with a nice big G next to their name will come in and provide some relevant feedback but for the most part, don't expect much.