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Search Engine Payola

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the trust-but-verify dept.

Cranial Dome writes: "The top four portals -- MSN, AOL, Yahoo, and Terra Lycos -- all have search results tainted by their acceptance of money for listings, according to this article in the Washington Post. Of the top search engines and portals (including Alta Vista, Inktomi, and Lycos), only Google has vowed to NOT accept money from companies for guaranteed placement in search results. Another reason to love the Google thang."

2 of 282 comments (clear)

  1. Decisions by quantaman · · Score: 2, Redundant

    That's because eBay and Amazon lately have been top bidders for the George Bush "keyword," offering 11 cents and 10 cents, respectively, for each click-through a search engine delivers.

    So by clicking on these repetedly we can cost eBay and Amazon loads of money!! However doing so supports the search engines whom have sold search placements....

    To click, or not to click, that is the question.
    eBay
    Amazon

    --
    I stole this Sig
  2. Reply From An Overture Employee... by wdavies · · Score: 2, Redundant

    Exactly :-)

    That is exactly what Overture is. We aren't a traditional Information retreival search engine, and that is exactly what Google is trying to muscle in on.

    Look at the results on Earthlink now from Google -- and compare with AOL...

    For what its worth I use Google constantly when I'm doing research - but for items I can buy, services I need, I'd prefer Overture.

    Compare and Contrast:

    Earthlink Web Search DVD Players

    AOL Search for DVD players (Overture)

    Winton