does the sandbox prevent a site from getting credit for links, or is the credit for links just diminished? Also, can you still get to the top rankings even with a sandbox on words that aren't too competetive, man this sandbox is annoying
You do still get credit and Google can still find your links, but's a age factor on the links they're looking at. Build incoming links with varying anchor text and on established sites within your theme/niche. Even with non-competitive phrases, the sandbox won't let your site rank. You might get some REAL obscure rankings for non-competitive phrases, but its unpredictable. I'm confident the sandbox can be beaten, you just have to know what you're doing and how to do it.