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Google use Universal search to bolster PPC income?

8 January 2009 by admin
Filed under Google

Despite their gargantuan status as the dominant search platform, Google have not been impervious to the effects of the credit crunch.  Over the past few weeks we have seen various attempts by Google to shore up advertising revenues, including the reintroduction of sponsored advertising for gambling as well as allowing advertising to bid on hard liquor related keyterms.

Now it seems that the big G is using Universal search results to push natural listings down the page in an attempt to encourage / force those at the bottom into spending on PPC.  Now you might think these blended search results are an important part of offering users a selection of results e/g video, news, images, local business listings which is correct of course.  If I type in “Titanic” I might want a Wikipedia result, an image and/or a video about the vessel.  But if I query “loans” am I really looking for news about “loans”?

And in anycase if I wanted financial news, would I type in “Loans” surely I would look either on Google news, bloomberg, forbes etc etc.  This looks like a blatent attempt to cajole companies into PPC?  With these results positions 4 and 5 are below the fold on a standard browser.

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