Do the linkbacks improve rating on Google?

Or do they in any other way help the SEO process?
Or is that just a neat feature for the members?

it's supposed to provide a 'circle' of links around the web. I don't think it's very useful in terms of SEO. it is nice to see who;s linking to your threads nice and easy though.

I think that is one of those questions where you will get a lot of different answers. Google does take the authority of links into consideration when it spiders your site is my answer.

Good authority sites should also be linking out to other authority sites.

I would not be approving any low value LinkBacks. However, as Brian said, I still like to keep track of where links are getting added.

Remember that the LinkBack system works "outbound" for you as well. It sends out pingbacks/trackbacks for any other site you link to that is equipped to handle them. Of course, it depends on the policy of the site/admin whether or not they get published. But (keep in mind) even when not approved, you are also getting the admins attention when he/she sees your linkback coming in!

Yes, LinkBacks are important for google ranking, but the most important factor is which site you are linking back. The site must be relevant to your site. And the site has to be having some good reputation over the web. backlinking to non relevant site can hurt your google ranking.