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Bing Caught Mixing Paid Ads With Organic Search Results
By: Matthew Elshaw2011-07-26
In a very unusual move, Bing has been caught blending paid sponsored listings with their organic search results. The change is a break in tradition for the placement of sponsored listings which are typically found to the right and above organic search results.
Below is a screenshot showing the questionable placement of Bing sponsored listings.
Microsoft have commented on the change stating,
Were constantly testing and experimenting on Bing, and with that, we carefully measure user engagement and reaction to these changes. We have nothing further to share at this time.
Blending sponsored listings with organic results has traditionally been seen as deceptive because consumers may end up clicking on the listings without realising they are in fact paid ads.
As can be seen in the screenshot above, they are almost completely blended into the organic results and one could argue that any business with enough cash could pay to be listed as the fourth and fifth organic listings.
In the past, search engines have used paid inclusion programs to guarantee that content will be indexed " however this had no impact on the ranking of these results. The last remaining paid inclusion program was dropped by Yahoo! in 2009.
I havent seen something like this for a long time and I dont expect the test to last long. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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About the Author:
Matt is a marketing professional at ineedhits.com, an international search marketing firm. Matt's passion for online marketing began at university and has proved invaluable in steering product development and marketing initiatives at the company. Matt is a regular contributor to the ineedhits search marketing blog.
