I know the kind of article you mean. I always exit them quickly. If that style helps in SEO, surety it is offset by people not wanting to read that kind of crap. Funny post, though.
I really don't think people do it for SEO reasons. People that do that for SEO tend to write text that is on-topic but explain simple things in drawn out ways using lots of related keywords.
I think people that write articles that start with long anecdotes (which are usually linked back to in the end) are trying to emulate the writing style you'd usually see in newspapers and magazine going back decades. It doesn't work well on the web I feel when there's an abundance of information where you're trying to filter through what's useful to read and what isn't. It's different when you're e.g. reading a magazine and have limited articles to pick from.
It doesn't work in magazines and newspapers either, but certain writerly circles (mostly American ones) consist of telling each other that this kind of fluff is a good idea.
You will find this kind of writing in Time magazine, but not in The Economist. Which is one of many reasons why TE is a better paper.
