is paying for links rearly beneficial. i set up a site once and paid for links and didnt link anywhere else just to test it and i didnt get no link popularity results improvement at all
Depends on the links you purchased. Were they high PR, low PR or PR0's? How many links did you purchase? You have to purchase the links and KEEP them. If you can't afford to do so, then use the co-op. Age of the link is the only thing that will really benefit you. I have had good luck with paid links. My site went from PR0 to PR5 in one update. Should be a PR7 in the next. Just got out of the Google Sandbox. My link count is over 40,000 in Y!, 50,000 in MSN, and 1780 in Google.
Give AdWords a shot... I know it isn't the links you are talking about, but it returns decent results.
For me, really well with some sites and poorly with others. I think it all depends on your industry and what type of consumer you have...
True .. it makes no sense if you buy links for a hobby site .. but it would be bring you some good income if you are selling things or doing affiliate programs