Anatomy of a Netscam?

[Julie Mangin]

There was an interesting article in the Washington Post yesterday, that 
relates to a discussion we had here a few weeks ago.

"Anatomy of a Netscam: Why Your Internet Search May Not Be as Honest as
You Think." Washington Post, July 7, 1996, Outlook Section, page C5.  By
David Corn. 

This article reports that Iron Mountain Global Information Systems has
purchased the words "elections," "Republican," "Democratic," and several
other words on the Yahoo site.  What it means is that whenever you search
one of these words, your retrieval list will include a banner ad that
says, "Top Ten Political Sites."  Here is a quote from the article: 


  "What is a bit sleazy is that this "top 10" listing is not based on any
qualitative or quantitative measure.  It is not the 10 most popular
political sites with cybersurfers. Nor is it an expert's judgment of the
10 best political sites. It is, in actuality, a listing of 10 political
sites that are willing to pay IMGIS to be included on the list. IMGIS
charges $3,000 a month for the display space at the top of the Top 10
page; spots further down go for less. And on Yahoo! -- the most popular
search engine -- the initial banner that directs a consumer to the Top 10
site is not even labeled as an advertisement. The bottom-line: IMGIS is
buying up key words in order to push Internet traffic to its clients'
sites." 

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Julie Mangin                            Depository Library No. 0092
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