Search engines and full disclosure on paid ads or inclusion.

Here's a press release from Consumer Reports WebWatch that talks about the lack of disclosure that search engines have regarding paid advertising or paid inclusion. It says that consumers could be misled not know what was a natural search or what was a paid search result. I was disappointed to see that meta-search engines were not clear on this either. I think it would be good for a better disclosure, because paid ads don't always give the consumer what they want and should be clearly marked.

From the press release:

"Consumers need to understand and remember that many search engines more closely resemble the Yellow Pages or classified ads than a library, where information is categorized according to subject, relevance and other objective criteria," said Beau Brendler, WebWatch's director. "Search engines are making tons of money selling advertising, and there's nothing wrong with that. But the majority could do a much better job making clear what is advertising, and what is not." The report also notes that some search engine marketers and many advertisers actually count on consumers confusing paid advertising in the form of search results, with real results.

Real marketing results for the web, RealWebMarketing.com

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