[hn12]

Yes and no. You're absolutely right to ask these questions, and they're ones the article would have addressed more specifically with just a bit more depth.

Folklore has it that Google/Bing/... do give at least small bumps for correct use of microformats. SEO is such a mess--so non-deterministic, among other things--that we perhaps should leave this for another time. There is evidence for SEO, but it's generally smaller than "five spots ..."

Detection of telephone numbers ... well, I find it a challenge, especially when working across national borders. I totally accept that it might be a non-problem for you: the applications on iPhones or other leading handsets do everything you need for your US-oriented Web site.

I appreciate you giving the article a fair reading. Microformats are indeed rather foggy to figure out; do they truly matter? It sounds as though, for you, they might not, at the moment. If you're doing much internationalization, though, or working with calendars, or would benefit from automation of contact exchange, or ..., then it's worthwhile to experiment at least a little.