Google Sites: not very search-engine friendly

I have been using Google Sites as the host for my domain for a while now. When I discovered Google sites, I thought it was fantastic. It’s owned by Google. It’s easy to use and setup. It’s free! And most important of all, it allows custom URL forwarding.
Eventually the honeymoon ended. I found some drawbacks from Google Sites. One of the biggest drawbacks that I found, was that every external link that I posted, automatically got the no follow value for its rel attribute.

rel=“nofollow”

I can understand why Google may have decided to implement this: to cut down on web spam, PageRank sculpting, and the like.
I think this issues should have been solved alternatively. Since Google already places a minimal footer on the bottom of every Google Site, maybe they should have added a “Report Spam” link as well. This alternative will not punish good netizens trying to give proper attribution, while providing an avenue of permanent de-listing for the offenders.

rel=“me”

This issues also is the cause for another complaint. Google Sites does not allow any custom rel attributes. I cannot link to a site, stating that it is another domain of mine. Read more about rel="me" at microformats.
This prevents me from adding more feeds to my Google Buzz feed. I like Google Buzz, but find this a hard wall to pass, but which must be surmounted to ensure my continued investment in Google products and the Google brand as a whole.

SEO Pipe Dream

Long story short: if SEO is your goal, do not use Google Sites in its current implementation.