It should not look like a machine got the links - so 10 a day for weeks looks more suspicious (I'd think) then 30 today, 8 next week, 21 the week after etc.
Google wont do anything as webmasters have no control over other sites linking to the their websites. Get as many backlinks as you can.
Well, there is actually good evidence that new sites, especially in competitive niches, should not build links too quickly. It's part of what's called 'the sandbox'. For some reason getting that same site 'natural' links can help it avoid the sandbox. It's partly a mystery, I'm sure. Only google engineers really know the deal. I'd focus on building quality links, not quantity, for a new site.
You should be fine. The flags are for the industrial strength Link Spammers. It is HIGHLY unlikely you could get enough links to trip it. These are for folks doing AUTOMATED link spamming
hmmm .. well like many things there are (likely) a series of filters at play. I doubt if CNN gets a few thousand BLs in a day they are going to get tagged... but once it hits say 2000/day it could be flagged for another spider (spamBot) to come along and look for other factors ( dupe aggregate, boiler plates etc..) If it satisfies enough of them it would likely get passed along for a manual inspection... So an exact #? Dunno.. I wouldn't want to go over 1000 unless it is TRULY viral...
agreed, I think you are safe if you get a 1,000 a day, but to be on the safe side I would do it about every 2 or 3 days.
Even if you get 50 links a day, google wouldn't notice that you are getting 50 a day because different sites will add your link to their site and approve it at different times.