Im in Australia and the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) is taking on Google for false advertising....of sorts. http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,23636,22064671-14334,00.html
This is bull. Google's sponsored link block above organic search results is a different color AND says "Sponsored Links" in the upper right hand corner. The ads along the right hand side of search results are also differentiated from the main results by a vertical line and contain the phrase "sponsored links" in the top right as well. If people are concerned about clearer differentiation in terms of accessibility Google could be required to add a title attribute to sponsored links that says "sponsored link". To say, however that there is NO distinction between paid links and organic results is a bold face lie.
this case should be thrown out because it has no basis. The second part of the lawsuit should be brought against the company that used its competitor's name in the title and not Google itself...... but stranger things have happened in the court system
The problem for google is section 52 of the act it specifically states "A corporation shall not, in trade or commerce, engage in conduct that is misleading or deceptive or is likely to mislead or deceive." And what that really means is even if it isn't you (Google) that is doing the misleading Google facilitated it by allowing it to happen.
I think the problem is that "The Trading Post" was using "Kloster Ford" and "Charlestown Toyota" in its sponsored links. Google should have been monitoring it as it is their system. Thats my understanding anyway