Friday, June 17, 2005
Report: Online Advertising Skirts Search Results
Even as more consumers rely on Internet search engines to help them navigate the Web, they are facing a tougher time determining if their search results are legitimate or paid advertisements, according to a study released yesterday. Consumer Reports' WebWatch tracked 15 Internet search engines, including Google, Yahoo, and Oakland-based Ask Jeeves. It found that some have altered their sites in the past year in ways that make it harder for consumers, many of whom remain unaware or confused about real versus paid search results, to discern the differences.
Most sites place advertisements on the side of the page, away from the actual results, or put them in a shaded box or label them as a "sponsored link." They also provide disclosure links that explain their sponsored results. But the WebWatch report found that in the past year, Yahoo had turned its once bright red "sponsored results" headline into a light gray and removed its paid advertising disclosure links.
Ask Jeeves made its disclosure headings fainter, removed their disclosure links and made the disclosures harder to find, WebWatch also found. "People are using search engines for everything," Jorgen Wouters, the author of the study, said at a conference in Berkeley. "They have a right to know [if] is this objective, unbiased information. All we're asking for is, if it's an ad, then say it's an ad."
Some sites fared better. Google, the dominant Internet search engine, remained largely unchanged, although the report cited its disclosure statements as difficult to find. CNet's Search.com added disclosure pages for paid placement and paid inclusion.
All the while, Internet searches have continued to climb. Among the top four search engines, Google, Yahoo, MSN, and AOL, U.S. consumers conducted some 4.7 billion searches in April. Compare that with 3.7 billion searches in the month of April last year.
Internet advertising revenues altogether reached US$9.6 billion last year, according to a report by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Paid searches accounted for the largest chunk at 40 percent or US$3.9 billion, an increase of 50 percent from the year before.
"The search engine companies walk a really fine line," said Allen Weiner, an analyst at technology research firm Gartner . "On one hand, they want to serve the people who are searching out there, but in order to do that they need to derive revenue, which means they have to have ads."
"To some degree right now, but not all of them, it favors the advertisers in terms of placement," he added.
In 2002, the Federal Trade Commission sent a letter to the search engine industry recommending that it incorporate "clear and conspicuous disclosure" of paid advertisements, a request that most Internet search engines complied with. Since then, however, some of those changes for the good have disappeared, WebWatch concluded.
Ask Jeeves said in a statement yesterday that its disclosure practices go beyond the FTC's recommendations and that its sponsored links are clearly delineated on the results page. It also eliminated its paid inclusion program last year, which charged a fee to assure a site's listing in the results, a move it said ensures "our Web search results are pure and not commercial." "Ask Jeeves continues to evolve its search reply page based on usability and user preferences," a company statement said.
But many consumers still do not realize that some of their search results are advertisements, said Beau Brendler, director of WebWatch. In one of its studies, the group followed a number of consumers and observed as they discovered that the results they believed to be legitimate were not. The consumers expressed shock and a sense of betrayal, Brendler said. That could have dire consequences for Internet search companies in the future. "As consumers learn how search engines work, they're going to turn off the ones with deceptive practices," he said.
In a joint project, Consumer Reports' WebWatch and the Health Improvement Institute rated the 20 most trafficked online health sites, examining whether they accepted advertising, offered a clear distinction between editorial and paid content or disclosed that surveys were sponsored by advertisers. The best sites included unbiased, peer-reviewed reports written by health professionals. Check out the complete results at www.healthratings.org .
Excellent: WebMD, National Institutes of Health, MayoClinic.com, MedicineNet.com, KidsHealth, MedScape. Very Good: eMedicine.com, Aetna Intelihealth, RealAge, Healthology.com, Healthsquare.
Good: Yahoo! Health, About Health and Fitness, Drugs.com, Pfizer, RxList, Health, HealthCenter Online, Healthboards.com.
Fair: QualityHealth.com.
Brought to you by the Guardian eCommerce Safe Site Privacy Seal Program.
Most sites place advertisements on the side of the page, away from the actual results, or put them in a shaded box or label them as a "sponsored link." They also provide disclosure links that explain their sponsored results. But the WebWatch report found that in the past year, Yahoo had turned its once bright red "sponsored results" headline into a light gray and removed its paid advertising disclosure links.
Ask Jeeves made its disclosure headings fainter, removed their disclosure links and made the disclosures harder to find, WebWatch also found. "People are using search engines for everything," Jorgen Wouters, the author of the study, said at a conference in Berkeley. "They have a right to know [if] is this objective, unbiased information. All we're asking for is, if it's an ad, then say it's an ad."
Some sites fared better. Google, the dominant Internet search engine, remained largely unchanged, although the report cited its disclosure statements as difficult to find. CNet's Search.com added disclosure pages for paid placement and paid inclusion.
All the while, Internet searches have continued to climb. Among the top four search engines, Google, Yahoo, MSN, and AOL, U.S. consumers conducted some 4.7 billion searches in April. Compare that with 3.7 billion searches in the month of April last year.
Internet advertising revenues altogether reached US$9.6 billion last year, according to a report by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Paid searches accounted for the largest chunk at 40 percent or US$3.9 billion, an increase of 50 percent from the year before.
"The search engine companies walk a really fine line," said Allen Weiner, an analyst at technology research firm Gartner . "On one hand, they want to serve the people who are searching out there, but in order to do that they need to derive revenue, which means they have to have ads."
"To some degree right now, but not all of them, it favors the advertisers in terms of placement," he added.
In 2002, the Federal Trade Commission sent a letter to the search engine industry recommending that it incorporate "clear and conspicuous disclosure" of paid advertisements, a request that most Internet search engines complied with. Since then, however, some of those changes for the good have disappeared, WebWatch concluded.
Ask Jeeves said in a statement yesterday that its disclosure practices go beyond the FTC's recommendations and that its sponsored links are clearly delineated on the results page. It also eliminated its paid inclusion program last year, which charged a fee to assure a site's listing in the results, a move it said ensures "our Web search results are pure and not commercial." "Ask Jeeves continues to evolve its search reply page based on usability and user preferences," a company statement said.
But many consumers still do not realize that some of their search results are advertisements, said Beau Brendler, director of WebWatch. In one of its studies, the group followed a number of consumers and observed as they discovered that the results they believed to be legitimate were not. The consumers expressed shock and a sense of betrayal, Brendler said. That could have dire consequences for Internet search companies in the future. "As consumers learn how search engines work, they're going to turn off the ones with deceptive practices," he said.
In a joint project, Consumer Reports' WebWatch and the Health Improvement Institute rated the 20 most trafficked online health sites, examining whether they accepted advertising, offered a clear distinction between editorial and paid content or disclosed that surveys were sponsored by advertisers. The best sites included unbiased, peer-reviewed reports written by health professionals. Check out the complete results at www.healthratings.org .
Excellent: WebMD, National Institutes of Health, MayoClinic.com, MedicineNet.com, KidsHealth, MedScape. Very Good: eMedicine.com, Aetna Intelihealth, RealAge, Healthology.com, Healthsquare.
Good: Yahoo! Health, About Health and Fitness, Drugs.com, Pfizer, RxList, Health, HealthCenter Online, Healthboards.com.
Fair: QualityHealth.com.
Brought to you by the Guardian eCommerce Safe Site Privacy Seal Program.
