Are Search Results for Sale?

Sites Search for Profit

All of the major search engines are seeking sources of income other than advertising. Yahoo fares better than other sites when it comes to selflessly serving links to related sites. But Yahoo has increasing commercial interests of its own to consider.

The number two search site behind MSN, Yahoo was one of the last to accept Web sites into its listings based on money over merit. The granddaddy of Web directory listings now charges an annual fee of $299 for any company to keep its Web site listed in Yahoo's commercial directory.

Yahoo also charges a one-time nonrefundable fee of $299 to review a commercial Web site ($600 for adult sites). It can refuse a place in its directory if the site is deemed inappropriate.

The fees beg the question if--over time--a search query for "Boston real estate agents" on Yahoo could deliver a list composed solely of agents who have paid Yahoo. Yahoo isn't saying.

Like AOL and MSN, Yahoo also has cut a deal with Overture to display relevant sponsored links at the top of its search results. Yahoo's drive to monetize search doesn't stop there.

Earlier this year, Yahoo began offering fee-based premium search options for news stories and research papers. It also inked an exclusive deal with telecommunications giant SBC Communications. Yahoo says it will offer SBC customers more and better search services.

Yahoo's moves are seen by many as a departure from its original premise of creating an unbiased collection of Web sites for any Web surfer. To others, it's just the latest example of a tectonic shift in the nature of Web search.

Keeping the Faith

AOL, MSN, and Yahoo all argue that charging for placement doesn't diminish a search site's usefulness. Yahoo further emphasizes it still uses a small army of human editors to review and list commercial and noncommercial sites in its general directory. Yahoo has long declined to reveal the number of editors it employs.

Considering that people often use more than one search engine to find what they are looking for, does it matter what Yahoo or MSN do with the first page of search results? Studies suggest it does.

Eighty-seven percent of Internet users begin their online session with a search engine, and 75 percent finish their search with the first page of results, according to a recent Georgia Tech study.

Sponsored links at the top of query results aren't always easy to spot, but they are marked as such. Yahoo labels them "sponsor matches," MSN labels them "sponsored sites," and AOL calls them "sponsored links." However, making sense of what follows isn't always easy, argues Nader's Commercial Alert.

Anything that looks like a search engine and acts like a search engine but delivers ads or edited search results is misleading its consumers, the organization contends. Search engines have a responsibility to clearly disclose to consumers what is paid advertising and what are independent results, Commercial Alert's Ruskin says.

All of the search engines contend they are being forthcoming about which links are sponsored, and that customers can tell the difference.

Alternative Goes Mainstream

In contrast to the search practices of AOL, MSN, and Yahoo is the method used by Internet search service Google.

Google presents relevant text-based ads at the top of search results, like its major competitors. But its interface is clean, and its raw search results have an uncanny accuracy in directing you to the right site.

But even Google has buckled to economic pressures. Last week it began letting companies pay for top billing within the sponsored rankings. Those sponsored links are labeled as such and appear above search query results. Its policy of not editing the index of sites ranked by relevancy has not changed.

So far Google's clean interface and speedily delivered results has served it well.

In January, Google was the third most visited search site--ahead of AOL and behind MSN and Yahoo, according to Jupiter Media Metrix. That's a phenomenal accomplishment considering that all Google does is search, unlike its uber-portal competitors, notes Sullivan of SearchEngineWatch.com.

Jupiter analyst Berk says the problems with search go beyond commercial bias. He says traditional search engines have outlived their usefulness. "We've gotten great at searching and finding documents, but not finding information," Berk says.

People are still having trouble finding what they're seeking, Berk says. "The industry needs to be able get people from point A to point B. If we can't do that, then the Internet [industry] is in serious trouble."