What people/sites and how recently? My observation on the general consensus here, which agrees with my opinion, is that it’s not meaningful unless you’re applying to one of the ever-shrinking list of schools that require it. Among the top schools, Cal-Berkeley is, AFAIK, the only one still requiring it.
This is a significant change from 3 or so years ago, so if the sites/articles you’re reading are more than 2 years old they are out of date.
If you’re looking at top schools, and not Berkeley, there’s no need to take it. In fact, that’s why Berkeley came off my D’s list.