Re:Every Google result now looks like an ad
by perl4ever on Tuesday January 21, 2020 @08:40PM
(#22113750)
Devil's advocate - isn't this a neat way of automatically being anti-incumbent and pro-competition?
Re:Every Google result now looks like an ad
by _jal on Tuesday January 21, 2020 @09:14PM
(#22113911)
It is a tax on customers. Incumbents can generally afford to pay more than upstarts, and of course will just pass that cost on.
Re:Every Google result now looks like an ad
by cldellow on Tuesday January 21, 2020 @08:54PM
(#22113821)
? I don't follow the mechanism you're thinking of here.
Re:Every Google result now looks like an ad
by hoorayimhelping on Tuesday January 21, 2020 @11:05PM
(#22114514)
No. It's a currently non-illegal way to extort businesses.
Re:Every Google result now looks like an ad
by tempestn on Tuesday January 21, 2020 @08:57PM
(#22113830)
It might be if it were more transparent. So many people are mislead by these "ads" on branded search keywords though, it really is extortionate.
Re:Every Google result now looks like an ad
by FTFYcent on Wednesday January 22, 2020 @02:04AM
(#22115273)
Wait, I'm confused. Are you saying that Expedia pays Google less when people click on the ad vs when they click on something else?
Re:Every Google result now looks like an ad
by cldellow on Thursday January 23, 2020 @10:51AM
(#22128470)
No, I'm saying Expedia pays less for ads for expedia.com than ExpediaCompetitor pays for ads for expediacompetitor.com.
This gives Expedia an advantage when purchasing ads on the search term "expedia.com".
Of course, Expedia would probably prefer not to purchase ads on "expedia.com" at all.
Essentially, the bid to be #1 is discounted by the click-through rate. If 90% of people who search "expedia.com" will click an ad for Expedia, and only 10% of people who search "expedia.com" will click an ad for travelsite.com, travelsite.com has to pay 10x what Expedia does to make up for the lost revenue.