"...the idiocy of millions who don’t understand that those blue-underlined words on the right of search results are NOT, in fact, search results at all."
Wrong.
If you're researching a paper, then the sponsored search results might not be your best bet. But if you're searching for a product you need, I would argue that the sponsored search results might be even more accurate.
Sponsored search results cost people money. Those people are not throwing their money away. There is a reason why they are paying to appear on that particular keyword. They have something you need. They are willing solve to your need for a price.
You're not an idiot if you need a new pair of shoes, click on a sponsored result for Zappos, and find what you want.
You're right, sponsored results aren't just for idiots. But the article makes a valid point too. A substantial fraction (maybe majority) of web-users are probably not tech-savvy enough to know the difference between free and paid links.
It relies on the bogus assumption people should distinguish sponsored from "earned" search results.
Objectively, the value of a search result does NOT depend on whether it was sponsored or "earned". Subjectively, some people do care, but they're economically irrational so it's unclear why one would fault people who don't care.
Agreed- remember the release of AOL search data two years ago? That may not be a representative sample, but a large number of those users seemed to have no idea what a search engine's basic function even was.
Bah, I disagree. Not giving the average user enough credit. Bit pretentious imho. Now... whether he average user cares? If it looks representative of your search, who cares if it's paid or not?
Wrong.
If you're researching a paper, then the sponsored search results might not be your best bet. But if you're searching for a product you need, I would argue that the sponsored search results might be even more accurate.
Sponsored search results cost people money. Those people are not throwing their money away. There is a reason why they are paying to appear on that particular keyword. They have something you need. They are willing solve to your need for a price.
You're not an idiot if you need a new pair of shoes, click on a sponsored result for Zappos, and find what you want.