Google has just released a 22 page PDF document outlining recommendations for basic web site optimization principles. The guide covers a number of basic elements, such as titles, meta descriptions (yes, meta tags are not dead), no follow link attributes, and more.
Download the PDF here: http://www.google.com/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf
and read the full release info on the Google blog here: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2008/11/googles-seo-starter-guide.html
Google has pushed back on this type of information for years, and overall, I think it validates value of what a good SEO can do for a web site, and it validates the practice overall. Good SEO not only helps webmasters be found, it helps the search engines identify relevant content.
