According to a recent study from Maryland-based, Context-Based Research Group, three of five search engine users can not tell the difference between a paid listing and the traditional un-paid listings. In May 2002, the US Federal Trade Commission developed voluntary guidelines for search engines to follow that were supposed to clarify for end-users which ads were paid and which were organic, (or free). According to the study, the guidelines have made it even more difficult to distinguish paid ads as people seem not to notice the words sponsored links or featured products. When told that the listing they had selected was a paid advertisement, many of the study participants expressed negative emotions, saying they felt somewhat duped. In response, ConsumerReports.Org will be releasing a set of their own guidelines for search engines to follow when displaying paid advertisements.
Recent Posts
Featured Posts
- Secrets Behind Building a Successful Website
- Could StumbleUpon Advertising be an Overlooked Treasure?
- Why Having a Strong Google Profile Will Soon be Critical
- Google Questions & Answers from Matt Cutts Live Q&A – Sept 2011
- Interview with Google Places Guru Mike Blumenthal
- Interview with John Mueller, Senior Google Webmaster Trend Analyst
- SEO Questions and Answers from July’s Web Marketing Meetup
- Competitor Analysis for Link Building – Tutorial Video
- MySpace’s Rise and Fall – A Timeline of Highs and Lows
- Google Penalties – Questions and Answers by Ross Dunn
Tags
Acquisition AdWords Algo Analytics AOL Articles Ask Bing blogging Blogs Building Links Conferences fun Google Holidays Industry News Industry Trends Interviews Lawsuit Links Marketing Matt Cutts Microsoft Mobile MSN Other Engines Overture PageRank PPC Press Releases Privacy search market share Security SEO Answers SEO Questions SEO Tips SEO Tutorial Social Social Media SPAM Stepforth Tech News Video Web Marketing Tips Yahoo
WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck and Luke Morton requires Flash Player 9 or better.
Authors
- Anita Sperrer (7)
- Ashley Melsted (7)
- Dr. Philip Michael Zeman (3)
- Guest Author (4)
- Nathan Marcon (5)
- Ross Dunn (478)
- Scott Van Achte (268)



