@brad_jonesOct 28.2016 — #It is funny that the referenced article says they are not used (for the most part), but that they can have a negative impact. You would think that positively or negatively they are either they are used or they are not....
Ultimately, the best stance to take in an ever changing world is that anything in the coding of your page (HTML, script, CSS, etc.) could be a factor in its ranking. Equally, the best stance is to consider that anything could be used positively or negatively in the ranking depending on how you use them.