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<FONT SIZE="4"><FONT FACE="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:11pt'>Rui thanks for pointing that out – I wasn’t aware of the differences in various countries.<BR>
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Just noticed that google.co.uk, google.co.in and google.com.au all carry links sponsored links in the same font at the top of search results, and IMHO not very clearly differentiated. I note google.com does not do this. So certainly more than just Australia carries this pattern, but I am not sure how widespread it is. (also note that if in Australia I type google.com it redirects to google.com.au – I have to retype to get the US site). <BR>
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I would be interested in research on the level of understanding of users of the differences where this occurs. I have seen evidence that many users place greater trust in sponsored links and when buying tend to spend more at sponsored link sites. <BR>
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Then there is the problem Parminder points out. On a search for Sony, the first result returned could well be for a rival company who paid most for the sponsored link on that keyword to get top placing. Instead of going to Sony’s site, I follow the link to another manufacturer altogether. No domain squatting rules here...<BR>
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On 7/09/09 8:48 PM, "Rui Correia" <correia.rui@gmail.com> wrote:<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT></FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT SIZE="4"><FONT FACE="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:11pt'>Dear Parminder and Ian<BR>
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Just like for Milton, when I search on google, the sponsored links ARE clearly marked, identified as such and separated from the rest, in a separate frame on the RIGHT hand side. <BR>
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What is happening is that google is set differently in different countries. I just did a quick test here looking for the same product with google .za; .uk; .au; .in; and .nz. BUT even then, my geographical location gives away where I am and google OVERRRIDES some of the display. <BR>
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At any rate, with all the domains that I tried, Australia had sponsored links above the normal links, whereas the others did not. <BR>
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Google has become a translator's tool, as translators look up the results count of different ways of translating something. As a member of three translators' lists, I often witness disagreements of the most frequent way of saying something based on google counts, as people in different countries get different counts for the exact same search!<BR>
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Even the commemorative google logos for special occasions are country-dependent. On Saturday 29 August, a member of one of the translators' lists sent a note through about the "cute" google logo that day. Within minutes there were 15 replies asking what she was taling about - they could not see anything different in the country they were writing from. Others wrote in to confirm that they could see the different logo - Michael Jackson's black shoes and white gloves, commemorating the singer's birthday. <BR>
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Regards,<BR>
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Rui<BR>
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2009/9/7 Parminder <parminder@itforchange.net><BR>
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Milton L Mueller wrote: <BR>
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You can pay to be listed in the CLEARLY MARKED and SEPARATED sponsored links, which in fact attract far fewer clicks than the regular ones. Google was the first to clearly separate them and NOT make their regular rankings depend in any way on payments, and that of course is why it won the market - it really was better for finding what you were looking for than the alternatives. That set the standard for Bing, which is actually a very good competitor now if you haven't tried it. All hail market competition! What a friend we have in....Mammon!! Genuflect to Market FUNDAMENTALISM ;-)<BR>
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Since i just need to respond to any words that Milton says on Market fundamentalism :), here it is:<BR>
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It is really not so 'CLEARLY MARKED and SEPARATED'. It started with a small box on the left side with a different background color. Not it has migrated right to the top of 'search results', in the same font, color and background, and is so prominent that it blocks two third of my browser view. So watch out for what happens next as market power of Google increases further, and regulatory powers dont take off because of a host of structural reasons. <BR>
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Worse, Google carries out, what has been called an extortion racket, to sell advertised space to rivals of any brand that gets looked up by a user in the search engine. So if you search for 'sony cameras' the top advertised positions are auctioned out, and of course if sony is interested in not having users carried to the websites of their rivals when what they really came looking for is 'sony', it can still pay a higher price that the rivals to also get the ad space.... Really, some competition this. <BR>
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Parminder <BR>
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-----Original Message-----<BR>
From: Ian Peter [<a href="mailto:ian.peter@ianpeter.com]">mailto:ian.peter@ianpeter.com]</a><BR>
Sent: Sunday, September 06, 2009 3:52 PM<BR>
To: governance@lists.cpsr.org; Avri Doria<BR>
Subject: Re: [governance] Halal Search Engine<BR>
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( a couple of people disputed this)<BR>
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The most obvious example is that on any common Google search the first few<BR>
results that come through may be sponsored links - identified as such if<BR>
you<BR>
have good eyes and bother to look, but the first results nevertheless. You<BR>
can pay to be number one on a Google search results listing, that's the<BR>
bottom line.<BR>
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Beyond that - because Google doesn't release its algorithms this is<BR>
unproven. But articles such as this <a href="http://www.seobook.com/google-branding">http://www.seobook.com/google-branding</a><BR>
do tend to suggest new factors coming into results.<BR>
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