Page 2 - Over optimizing.....

Over-optimization includes too much directory submission, resubmission to already submitted directories, buying lots of links in a shorter period of time etc...

Yup, have seen Gary's thoughts on the H1 tag, it just seems to me that it could be a bit random to penalise people when it could be a genuine use.

I could understand that keyword stuffing in any tag will get you penalised, but if H1 is meant as a page level header, and a header should describe what the contents of a page are about then it seems illogical to penalise it if it is used in a normal way.

I have no tests to backup this theory, would be interested in being proved wrong if someone has carried out any tests.

Some people have experienced such dips in ranking

chk http://forums.seochat.com/google-optimization-7/h1-h4-h5t-129433.html

But I agree with you on the point that just using H1 shouldn't mean over-optimization. Its when it has your keywords, then it can flag off the issue.

But again, if it's about headers..why not play safe and start with H2 with your keywords in it

Not wanting to be too much of a killjoy but I think too much is made of a so-called "over optimisation penalty" and we may be in danger of spreading misinformation if we don't remove the doubt on at least a few of these suggestions:
There is no problem with gaining a lot of links in a short period of time.
Buying links for PR purposes is against Googles guidelines (the period of time is immaterial); as for the others... I don't see how Google could possibly know when a site is submitted to a directory V's when a directory adds a site voluntarily (they don't have access to the admin part of any of my directories); besides which - this would be too easily manipulated by competitors.
Agreed... (a common reason for inclusion "in the sandbox".

As for the "H1" and "Bolding letters in the first paragraph" theories; I just can't see how Google would decide when this is a deliberate over-optimisation attempt; I suppose it would be possible when taken alongside a bunch of other optimisation "extremes" but even flagging those sites for review would be a huge undertaking!

Personally I think the so-called "over-optimisation penalty" is a bunch of crap!

I don't see why Google would penalise webmasters for trying to rank higher (except when blackhat methods are used); I think it much more likely that these forms of "optimisation" will simply be "neutralised".