C-Los, inlinks are still the be-all for Google. Everything is tied to them. I think over the years Google has given less weight to quantity over quality. The PR (page rank) of a site is what determines the quality. Relevance is probably next on the list.
Think of it on a points grading system. If I have a link coming from some deep subpage directory (example
www.joesdirectory/companies/pa/homeimprovement/painting) that has a zero page rank, that may be worth .05 points. A link coming from say the UAMCC's front page with a PR3 (which Google knows is a pressure washing authority) may be worth 4 points. To get that same "juice", I would need 80 links from various directories. I may need 300 forum signature links to get the juice.
The Panda update is more of a filter than a guideline. Carlos, if you remember, your rankings dropped in some areas. My thought was your content is too keyword stuffed. Here is from that article describing things Google is doing with Panda:
• Unnatural language on a page including heavy-handed on-page SEO (‘over-optimization’ to use a common oxymoron). Eg unnatural overuse of a word on a page.
• Low or no quality inbound links to a page or site (by count or %).
• Page content (and page title tag) not matching the search queries a page does well for. (title tags are another huge one I have mentioned a bunch of times)
Its pretty much the same thing it has always been with Google. One cannot pick any single factor and hope to rank. If I had to pick the top 3 things that will make a site rank.. in order its:
1. Relevant in-links
2. Page Title
3. On site optimization made legible for real people, not bots.
Simple thought to remember.. Google ranks on relevance and authority. Authority requires in-links from trusted sites.