Sometime in the last week, it seems that Google has lowered the standards for sitelinks.  I've seen them for the (only) 2 sites I manage, and Ann Smarty has seen sitelinks for a client for whom she has not done work in 3 months.  I was talking to someone at SMX West (name withheld for privacy reasons) and he said the same thing.  It seems this has taken effect across the board.  Does anyone have any data supporting the fact that Google may have lowered the standards for sitelinks?

A short history of my activity in the last month:

• 4 Weeks Ago: I realized the sitemap I submitted in Google Webmaster Tools (G.W.T.) was incorrect (the sitemap generator was not functioning properly. I took the sitemap out.
• The Next Day: I realized my potential sitelinks in GWT had disappeared (they never appeared in the SERPs).
• 3 Weeks Ago: I added a manually created sitemap to GWT.
• The Next Day: My potential sitelinks came back in GWT (not in the SERPs).
• 3 Days Ago: I realized I had sitelinks in tje SERPs.

I have very little data, so the point of this post is to allow grounds for a discussion on this topic.  I suppose an alternate possibility where Google only publishes sitelinks at distant intervals.

What are your thoughts? Everyone is welcome to chime in!