I think the author has missed something. The first result wasn't a typical organic link. It was a Google+ enhanced link i.e. it mentions "this person in 30 Google+ circles".

From my personal perspective when I see a link like that I won't click it. Because I assume that it is going to a Google+ page which like Facebook pages will have general and not context-specific content. That and the fact that showing a person's photo makes it seem like it is a "one man" operation as opposed to a successful company.