It definitely doesn't surprise me, but I still bump into business owners who have outdated deep linking policies, or their terms of use statements are not in line with their online objectives.
In today's online environment where relevant content is especially important, you can shoot yourself in the foot with a policy that prohibits deep linking to your site, especially if you put resources into developing new content. Also, if you happen to be advertising online, say, with a Google AdWords account and you're not leveraging your content development regimen, your SEO isn't, well, optimized.
A three step plan to improve your performance online:
1. Develop relevant content about your market or business, make the content conducive to deep linking and publish it online.
2. Adjust your online ad program to leverage that content.
3. Adjust your site terms of use statement to allow deep linking.
Presto!