Study: [Some] Search Engines Still Fail to Disclose Ads

[Kevin]

Study: [Some] Search Engines Still Fail to Disclose Ads
Full story at:
http://www.clickz.com/news/article.php/3511576

"Of the top search engines, AOL Search, Google, and Yahoo! Search Marketing were given good marks for disclosure, but showed minimal change over the year before. Ask Jeeves and Yahoo! Search were downgraded for making headings less visible, and removing hyperlinks to disclosure statements. MSN Search was the only major search engine to show improvement, largely because MSN discontinued its paid inclusion and content promotion programs, giving them less to disclose.

"Wouters insisted that WebWatch is not on a mission to abolish paid placement or paid inclusion, but rather wants engines to fully disclose that certain results appear because of a paid relationship and not necessarily because of the site's relevance to the user's search query.

" ...

"The first study, done in 2002, showed that more than 60 percent of consumers were unaware of search engines' paid placement programs, which give preferred placement in search results to sites that advertise. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cited the report in a letter to search engines calling for "clear and conspicuous disclosure" of paid placement and paid inclusion in search results. The FTC's letter was prompted by a 2001 complaint by consumer advocacy group Commercial Alert."

Search engines have become such an important mediator of information access, it seems to be important to keep them honest! And to keep a level playing field between the more and the less honest...