Well if it counts for really good looking people, then it counts for really bad looking people too. I think it always counts for SOMETHING, often times not much though.
When you take looks, race, personality, education, obedience to corporate interests, history, and many other such things all into consideration though i think there is a very large component in any judge's decision that does not necessarily have much to do with the physique.
For example people want to see champions continue to win and build records that seem almost heroic -- perhaps a big fact in dorian winning his last olympia?
I'm sure plenty of white people want a champion they can relate to more than a black man -- perhaps this factors in somewhat largely to the haney / yates / coleman / cutler racial tug-of-war?
Another example: could you honestly ever see sergio taking the throne back from arnold once he got on a roll? No matter how good he got, in my opinion he would have never been able to win the olympia again on account of Arnold's rapidly growing fame.