The search engine's double standard on advertising.

Have you ever noticed that with the proliferation of toolbars, one of their main functions is to do pop-up blocking? That's one of the main feature of toolbars. No matter who provides it, it's to block pop-up ads as well as search. People got sick and tired of pop-up ads so much, they ran to get toolbars that could block it. They eagerly installed them to get rid of this evil ad menace. The search engines readily agree that pop-up blocking is a good thing and it should deter this kind of advertising.

But what about search engine's own advertising? Aren't they becoming just as bothersome as pop-up ads ever were? Let's face it, they're taking up too much space on the page and most people only go to paid ads out of desperation. What if search engines offered ad blocking for those people who really don't want to see it or toggle results between natural results and natural results with paid ads? Shouldn't people be given a choice. Searchers aren't always looking to buy something, somtimes they just want information.

If search engines thought that pop-ups ads were bad and they could solidify their searcher base by providing a block, then why won't they block paid ads from their very own results? I'll tell you why and you already know the answer. Without paid ads, their business model doesn't work. Their paid or contextual ads are real okay, while those wicked pop-ups are evil. What's the difference? When you get down to the basic essence of it, there is no difference. I'm not against paid ads, I think they're fine. It's just that every stinking search is getting too crowded in with paid advertising and it's cluttering the web and making search engines look bad.

Subscribe to this RSS news feed.