By Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Watch, Mar
22, 2007
Do search engines sell listings? Yes. Should searchers
fear this? Not necessarily. Paid listings generate
revenue for search engines, which in turn helps them
provide unpaid editorial listings to searchers for
free.
Think newspapers. Newspapers have both "editorial"
copy, which is not supposed to be influenced by advertising,
as well as ads themselves. You may read the paper
primarily for the articles, but there are certainly
times when you may find the advertisements useful,
as well.
How do you know what's an ad? In "old"
media such as newspapers and television, most people
can readily identify ads because they look or act
so very different from "content." Over time,
most people pick up on cues that identify whether
something is an ad or not. Occasionally, "infomercials"
or "advertorials" cut very close to mimicking
content. That's why these forms of advertisements
often have to carry disclaimers, to ensure consumers
are not misled.
In the new media of search engines, paid listings
have been commonplace since 2001. By now, most people
know what a paid search ad looks like in the SERPs.
However, that wasn’t always the case. Back in
2004, the situation was complicated due to the fact
that most search engines didn’t distinguish
between editorial and paid search results.
The search engine advertising chart below can help
you understand the main forms of ads you may encounter
on various popular search engines. This is helpful
for searchers who want to be more educated about what
they view, as well as for potential advertisers who
would like to be listed with search engines.
Types Of Ads / Chart Key
All search engines have some editorial-style listings
that are not bought and sold. Ad spend will not guarantee
a top ranking in these places. However, the space
around this editorial copy is considered fair game
for ads. So, what's available?
Paid Placement Listings
Most major search engines carry paid placement listings,
where advertisers are guaranteed a high ranking, usually
in relation to desired words. These paid listings
are usually segregated from editorial results and
labeled to highlight that they are ads. The exact
position of the paid placement listings can vary.
Usually, they appear above the editorial links. They
can also appear at the bottom or to the side of editorial
content in "Sidebar" style.
Search Engine Watch generally uses the term "paid
placement" to describe ads that guarantee placement,
but others may refer to these ads in different terms,
including “sponsored listings,” “paid
search ads,” "pay for placement,"
"pay for performance," "CPC listings"
(cost-per-click) and "PPC listings" (pay
per click). The last two terms reflect the fact that
paid listings are sold on a basis where advertisers
only pay if someone clicks on their ads.
Advertisers looking for a basic guide to purchasing
paid listings should see the Submitting Via Paid Listings
page. Anyone interested in articles that examine various
issues associated with paid listings should see the
compilation of articles on the Search Engine Advertising
page's Paid Placement section.
Paid Inclusion
In paid inclusion, a site owner pays a fee in order
to have web pages included in a search engine's editorial
listings. Does this mean that those in paid inclusion
get to be ranked tops in editorial results? No. The
major search engines offering such programs are usually
emphatic that payment does not provide any ranking
boost.
For example, someone with a brand new web site might
submit their home page through a paid inclusion program
in order to ensure that the page gets listed within
a day or two, rather than the typical two-to-four
weeks it might take for a crawler-based search engine
to find the page "naturally." Whether the
site will rank well for a particular term will remain
dependent on the various factors that search engines
use to ordinarily rank web pages (described more on
the How Search Engines Rank Web Pages and Search Engine
Placement Tips page).
In another example, someone might have a page that
changes often, such as with new products for sale.
Paid inclusion would allow this page to be revisited
on a regular basis, such as every other day, rather
than the more common monthly schedule that most crawler-based
search engines tend to follow.
How about one more example? Even the best crawler-based
search engines do not gather all the pages that a
web site may publish. Some pages may be difficult
to index because they are dynamic in nature. Others
pages may be missed simply because a search engine
can't get to everything out there. With paid inclusion,
a content publisher can ensure that all their pages
are included if they are willing to foot the bill.
Paying still doesn't guarantee placement, but being
more deeply listed can improve the likelihood of an
advertiser appearing in response to a wide range of
searches.
It is important to remember that paid inclusion provides
no boosts in ranking. While paid inclusion was popular
for a while, currently there are not many paid inclusion
programs left.
Advertisers looking for a basic guide to purchasing
paid inclusion should see the Submitting To Crawlers
page. Anyone interested in articles that examine various
issues associated with paid inclusion should see the
compilation of articles on the Search Engine Advertising
page's Paid Inclusion section.
Below are some key articles from that page
on the subject from Search Engine Watch:
Trusted Feed Listings Ranking Well At AltaVista (Dec.
2003, only available to Search Engine Watch members)
Ending The Debate Over Cloaking (Feb. 2003, read from
the XML Feed Boost section down)
Doorways Not Always Bad, At Inktomi (Feb. 2003, only
available to Search Engine Watch members)
Paid Inclusion Listings May Get Boosted At AltaVista
(Nov. 2002)
The Bumpy Road To Maximum Monetization (May 2002)
The Mixed Message Of Paid Inclusion (May 2002)
The Evolution Of Paid Inclusion (July 2001)
Paid Inclusion At Search Engines Gains Ground (Nov.
2000)
Paid Submission
Only Yahoo still operates a paid submission program.
More about this can be found on the Submitting To
Directories page, while past articles about issues
with paid submission can be found on the Search Engine
Advertising page's Paid Submission section.
Content Promotion
Many major search engines will promote an advertiser's
content or their own content on their search results
pages. This is usually done in a separate area from
the editorial results.
Banner Ads
Many major search engines have for years carried
keyword-linked, graphical banner advertising. The
chart below does not list who does or where these
ads appear, as such ads are readily identifiable.
Search Engine Paid Content Disclosure
While paid search ads are more readily identified
in search engine results today, back in 2002, search
ads were not always clearly identified, resulting
in a controversy over disclosure. Then in June 2002,
the US Federal Trade Commission issued guidelines
about how search engines should disclosure paid content,
as explained more in the FTC Recommends Disclosure
To Search Engines article from Search Engine Watch.
The level of disclosure surrounding paid placement
ads varies by search engine. Over the years, watchdog
groups have tried to raise awareness of the need for
advertising disclosure on search engines, and perhaps
today, more people are aware of the distinction between
organic and paid listings. However, research on public
awareness shows that typical web searchers generally
do not recognize the distinction between organic and
paid search listings.
Search Engine Advertising Chart
The chart below provides a guide to how search engines
display some paid content. For a combined look at
how both paid and editorial content are gathered,
see the Search Engine Results Chart.
Links to the search engines named on the chart can
be found on the Major Search Engines page. Also see
the Paid Listings Search Engines page for smaller
sites where results are generally bought and sold.
