Tuvel Communications Blog: Report: Surfers Can't Differentiate Search Results from Sponsored Ads

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January 25, 2005

Report: Surfers Can't Differentiate Search Results from Sponsored Ads

This comes from Potomac Tech Wire. Is this a surprising report? That surfers can't tell the difference (on a search engine) between search results and ads?

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Jan 25 Report: Surfers Can't Differentiate Search Results from Sponsored Ads

Washington, DC -- Only 18% of adult U.S. Internet users can tell the
difference between actual search results and paid ads on search
engines,
according to a survey conducted by the DC-based Pew Internet and
American Life Project. Such paid, or "sponsored," search results, which
appear on Google, Yahoo, MSN and other engines, are typically placed
above or to the right of actual results, often in a different-colored
box.
Forty-five percent of those surveyed said they would stop using search
engines if they thought they weren't being clear about offering some
results for pay. Overall, the survey found that 38 million Americans
use a
search engine each day, more than half of the U.S. Internet population.
The average user spends a total of 43 minutes a month conducting some
34 searches.