Baidu to Distinguish Paid Search Ads
Posted: January 13th, 2009
While most Internet users of the world are accustomed to seeing paid search ads clearly labelled as “sponsored links” or some variation thereof, such has not been the case for users of China’s Baidu search engine. Pay-per-click advertisements are completely integrated… err… hidden… into the organic listings in the SERPs, making them indistinguishable from organic search results.
As reported in the Wall Street Journal,
Following criticism from Beijing, Baidu is facing pressure from Internet users to clearly differentiate sponsored links from unpaid search results, which, unlike Google, it doesn’t do currently.
Deviously amalgamating paid search ads and natural search results together has likely boosted Baidu’s bottom line, but it’s at the cost of the user experience.
The WSJ goes on to say that,
The company has begun testing a new model for advertising that will place paid advertisements on the right-hand side of its page.
Profit vs. Reputation
It will be interesting to see what Baidu values more: profit or; its reputation. Is this new advertising model just a public relations exercise for appeasing the mob, or is it a genuine step in improving the user experience? When will we see this model being implemented system-wide throughout the search engine?
Baidu Policies Are Still Behind
The issue of open disclosure between paid search ads and organic listings is not a new one, and has been addressed as early as 2002 by the Federal Trade Commission (in the United States).
Below is an excerpt of an article written by Paul J. Bruemmer in July of 2008, entitled “FTC Wants Clear Ad Disclosure in Search Results.”
Eight major search engines were accused of “placing ads in search engine results without clear disclosure that the ads are ads.” Implications were that search engines valued commercialism over editorial integrity.
The FTC went on to recommend some key changes for using paid placement of ads in SERPs, including:
Tags: Baidu, pay-per-click, user experience1) Clear delineation of paid listings, whether separated from, or integrated into, the non-paid listings. Paid listings can be made clear and conspicuous by prominence, placement, mode of presentation, and proximity to explanations or qualifiers.
2) Clear descriptions on how sites are selected for inclusion in search engine indices, located where consumers can easily find these descriptions and become aware of the impact of paid inclusion in their search results.
I also just got special ‘newyear gift’ form...
Definitely a move in the right direction, Just imagine the furore if Google decided to hide paid listings amongst the natural ones. I already find plenty enough irrelevancy in their listings as it is.
I’m pretty sure they’ll go for the long term success vs the short term from this point onwards. I love Baidu and its search returns, regardless of whether I’ve ended up on a paid/free result.