Back when I first learned how to glass bed a rifle I was told to always add a couple of layers of black tape (or something similar) to the base, sides, and the front of the recoil lug. When examing some factory rifles I noticed there is no clearance around the recoil lug anywhere.
What are the current thughts on how to bed around the recoil lug?

Your method is still the one I prefer. There are some very accurate commercial rifles out there but, usually they are better when bedded properly and I have never heard anyone say that completely bedding all surfaces of the recoil lug made their rifle more accurate.

If you never remove the barreled action from the stock after glass-bedding, then the clearances mentioned are not needed. Having them makes it much easier to remove and reinstall it. Having clearance below the lug also lessens the chance of debris falling into the lug recess and preventing reassembly.

What Glen71 said, ditto.

It might get rained on and need to be taken down.