[WEB4LIB] Re: Google Sponsored Links

[Richard Wiggins]

I've never understood the implication that ads are somehow per se evil.  Mixing ads in with editorial copy in a way that the consumer can't tell the difference -- that's evil.  Fiddling with the hit list order for $$$ without visual cues to the user -- that's evil.  And Javascript pop-ups, are at least annoying, if not evil.

Sometimes when I'm trying to buy something, targeted ads can be very useful.  Sometimes I go to goto.com, which explicitly lists the price the advertiser paid for being at the top of the hit list.  I wouldn't mind a switch that allows me to explicitly ask for Google results to be ranked by advertiser payments.  The more the advertiser is willing to pay for my eyeballs, maybe the more I want to do business with them.  It's when the ranking is hidden and unknown to the masses that it's an issue.  Back when Byte was the magazine to read, some people bought it for the ads.

And as Walt and others said, I'm all for Google making money off ads, so that they remain a viable service...

/rich

Richard Wiggins
Writing, Speaking, and Consulting on Internet Topics
rich at richardwiggins.com       www.richardwiggins.com