It has always seemed to me that, besides links and good content, one of the ingredients necessary for good ranking on Google was / is simply: having been around for awhile. The below article offers suggestions on how to deal with the phenomenon, and also goes on to mention that Yahoo and MSN do not delay, or penalize new sites.
Google's Aging Delay for New Sites: "Plan Ahead for New Sites
If you are launching new sites for clients, make sure you set the expectation that it is likely to be 7-8 months before the site achieves any real results in Google.
We used to keep a site under wraps and launch it once it was 'perfect.' Now it makes sense to get a few pages up for your new site as soon as you complete them. The sooner Google is aware of the domain, the better.
As soon as you have a domain name, get the hosting set up, put up a temporary page and link to it from another site in Google's index to start that clock ticking."

This article offers some interesting tips on how to creatively get good quality links.

Let's Talk About Links: "First, start with submitting your website to the appropriate categories in the major directories like DMOZ.org, the Yahoo! Directory, and even Business.com. There are more specific topic-related directories for just about every topic, so searching for an 'automotive directory' at your favorite search engine would be appropriate if your site is about cars. You can go to your favorite search engine and search on the keyword phrase, or phrases, most relevant to your web site. Then go to the 'Search within results' feature (available on Google) and type in 'add URL'. This will get you a list of all the sites that are indexed for your keyword phrase and who offer and encourage reciprocal links. Based on my recent testing and opinions from other SEOs that I respect in this industry, reciprocal links are still being counted as links by the search engines (i.e., link credit is being passed to both sites). There's been rumors floating around that reciprocal links aren't being credited, but as it stands now that's not the case. "

Checking backlinks in Google (search for the following):
link:www.domain.com

Checking backlinks in Yahoo!:
link:http://www.domain.com

Checking backlinks in MSN Search Beta:
link:http://www.domain.com

"Suggest link" +"your keyword(s)"
"Suggest a link" +"your keyword(s)"
"Suggest site" + "your keyword(s)"
"Suggest a site" + "your keyword(s)"
"Suggest URL" +"your keyword(s)"
"Suggest a URL" +"your keyword(s)"
"Suggest an URL" +"your keyword(s)"
"Add link" +"your keyword(s)"
"Add a link" +"your keyword(s)"
"Add site" +"your keyword(s)"
"Add a site" +"your keyword(s)"
"Add URL" +"your keyword(s)"
"Add a URL" +"your keyword(s)"
"Add an URL" +"your keyword(s)"
"Submit link" +"your keyword(s)"
"Submit a link" +"your keyword(s)"
"Submit site" +"your keyword(s)"
"Submit a site" +"your keyword(s)"
"Submit URL" +"your keyword(s)"
"Submit a URL" +"your keyword(s)"
"Submit an URL" +"your keyword(s)"
"favorite links" +"your keyword(s)"
"recommended links" +"your keyword(s)"
"cool sites" +"your keyword(s)"
"cool places" +"your keyword(s)"
reciprocal +"your keyword(s)"
directory +"your keyword(s)"
directorys +"your keyword(s)"
directories +"your keyword(s)"
exchange +"your keyword(s)"
resources +"your keyword(s)"
links +"your keyword(s)"
"your location" +"add url"
"your location" +"suggest a site"
"your location" +"submit site"
"your location" +links
"your location" +"reciprocal links"
"your location" +directory

The power of the web:

Yahoo! News - Romanian couple name their son Yahoo: "Romanian couple name their son Yahoo

Thu Jan 13, 5:56 AM ET

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - A Romanian couple has named their son Yahoo as a sign of gratitude for meeting over the Internet, a Bucharest newspaper reports.

Daily Libertatea said on Thursday Cornelia and Nonu Dragoman, both from Transylvania, met and decided they were meant for each other following a three-month relationship over the net.
They married and had a baby this Christmas, whom they decided to name after one of the worldwide web's most popular portals.
'We named him Lucian Yahoo after my father and the net, the main beacon of my life,' Cornelia Dragoman was quoted as saying. "