So what are we calling these new "footers" on newer sites that are unusually tall and content heavy?
Good example. Scroll down.
I think they're effective. The good ones I've seen are designed like the rest of site yet starkly contrast of some way. In the linked example, it almost inverts. Notice that it's just continuing the header, though. So it ties in well.
Then also, along with the general feeling/design being almost opposite, my linked example has very different content in it from the site's main content are. It more tabular, just data, statistics, etc. This makes it logical to separate it from the rest of the site. The distinction is obvious of users, they can get what they want fast and with little confusion.
What are your observations?