Google is now showing the results for it's own products in the top search listings? I thought Google was up front and did not favor one site over another. I thought that their search results where determined by a mysterious formula that objectively ranked web pages. Now I see that Google is using the searches to advertise their books in a very nonobjective manner. I spend thousands of dollars per year on Adwords advertising I and others have worked very hard to be listed in the top searches for relevant keywords in the regular search. Now I see it is all for naught. If this trend continues I will cancel my Adwords account. I hope that this will become very public very fast and I am certain that I will not be the only one with this opinion. I also hope I will not be the only one that tells them what I think of this. I have included a web shot of the top ten listings for the search Bullwhips. It shows exactly what I am talking about. Victor Tella
No google is trying to make search more personalised that means search results will differ from person to person. Like if you have got a paypal account and are using it too often. When you search about money transfer in google you may find "Switch to google checkout" as one of the top ten result.
They don't know anything if you're not using the Google Toolbar. FYI, as far as cookies go, they can only be read by the server issuing them and the browser cache is not readable by a webpage. If you don't have the toolbar installed, the most Google can track data on you is by matching an IP with searches but that's futile because 90% of websurfers don't have static IP's.
Google also tends to be biased about several other things, like it will put wikipedia articles higher for all sorts of subjects, and that to me is just plain crap. Considering the amount of spam and useless propaganda wikipedia spreads.
I guess Google is grate, It's offering tons of web services we all need in our daily work as well as the search service witch is leading the whole search market and all of that is simply for FREE.
All of that is fine but haven't we been told for years that google is totally objective. Haven't we all been fighting to get ranked? Hense these forums. Now when a search engine makes you work your ass off just to get listed and even harder to get top ten ranking. Then they override all of that and start displaying listings for their own products we have a problem. And, No it is not because they are trying to personalize my web search. I have tried this search on 4 different computers 3 without google tool bar. The only time they can now what I have searched for in the past is if I have a google account and am signed on to it. That's what the search history thing is in the upper right hand corner. Otherwise they have no clue. It would seem they are trying to be stealthy about their misuse as well by showing these listings in the early morning hours. This is a very alarming trend. How long will it be before we see the top 20 results for any given search being linked to products sold by google?
and that is what webmasters and the general public need to know about google. they know far FAR too much about people then some might think.
I think, one day, Google may know my father's name, my bank account number, what I like to eat, even what I did last night. A scary Google.
vtella....I'll put this simply. You're just PMS'y just because your SEO efforts fail. There is nothing more too it.
Actually, I think what you are seeing with the bullwhip search is the effect of "universal search". Google is putting results from google/reader and google/video and, perhaps, you-tube in to general search. It is not favouring google products; rather it is including the full range of information it is indexing.