Looks like Google is again taking steps to blur the visual distinction between paid and organic search results. A reader at Google Blogoscoped posted an e-mail recently received from Google about his/her AdSense account: We're writing to let you know…
Tag: Paid Search
The Value Implications of Paid Search
PSU information science scholar Jim Jansen was guest editor for a special issue of the Bulletin for the American Society for Information Science and Technology on the practice of paid search. Jim was kind enough to ask me for a…
Google inserting alternate queries – paid placement?
John Battelle reports on a recent new feature within Google search results where "related queries" get inserted within your original search results. For example, when you search for "on demand," you also get search results for "Comcast on demand." (see…
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More Blurring: Consumers Suspicious of Sponsored Links
More blurring of search engine results and advertising: A paper presented at the Sixth ACM Conference on E-commerce by Penn State School of Information Sciences and Technology professor Jim Jansen indicates that consumers exhibit a substantial measure of bias against…
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Study: Search Engines Still Fail to Disclose Ads
The blurring of search engine results and advertising is a major concern given how search engines have become the "center of gravity" for the distribution of information and the acquisition of knowledge. ClickZ reports on a Consumer Reports WebWatch study…
Blurring of Search Results and Ads
One of the things Google brags about with its Adsense and Adwords programs is the high relevancy of the ads placed alongside its search results. Their logic is that the more relevant the ads are to the search, the less…
Beal on Users Confusing Natural and Paid Search Engine Results
Andy Beal at Search Engine Lowdown notes this report of the Pew Internet and American Life Project's study which suggests that only 18% of search engine users can tell the difference between paid and natural search engine results. Beal seems…
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