I agree! Thank you for your response. I wanted to make sure I gave an appropriate answer.

Yes that was something I explained. And thats not all the description said, it was just an example of how the url would be listed in the description.

I wanted to see how other SEOs would respond. I myself have not done this so I wasn't sure what the right answer would be when I was asked if this was something that could negatively impact the site. Nor have I read much about it. This was brought to my attention by a co-worker whose client has a firm that practices this. I'm curious what others thought and how they would respond.

The meta description just includes a listing of the homepage. For instance

Description: Visit www.blah.com today

Title: Savings on Blah | Blah.com

URL:www.blah.com/savings-coupons

Obviously the description doesn't include a hyperlink to a different page, but can list a different URL than what the actual page URL is.

So my question is, can listing a homepage in the description of an internal page have a negative impact on a site? The reason I thought more of Penguin is because Penguin deals with links where an anchor text is overly optimized. So would Google see this tactic as keyword stuffing/over-opitmized if my brand/keyword is in the title and URL?

Today I was asked if using a domain url in your meta description can have a negative impact on your website. This description includes a list of the homepage url, but directs visitors to a different internal page of the website.

My concern fell with directing visitors to a different page of the site, but promoting the homepage in the description/snippet. With Penguin 2.1 release on the 4th, I'm very cautious of my links/urls.

What are your thoughts behind this? What are the possible, if any negative impacts this could have on a site?

This URL does have a brand name as so the Title.