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I tried this, and it's true there are barely any organic results visible. 75% of what I do see are paid ads, either right bar or top bar. But I don't see how
by bpodgursky 11y ago
I tried this, and it's true there are barely any organic results visible. 75% of what I do see are paid ads, either right bar or top bar.
But I don't see how paid ads are an example of using dominance to support their business though; paid ads are just a market that both hotels and resellers bid for space in. In fact, in my results above the google-box results are
- booking.com (ad)
- expedia.com (ad)
- priceline.com (ad)
- hotwire.com (ad)
- trivago.com (ad)
- lilbarbarian 11y agoAll of those companies have to pay Google the instant you click on any of those ads. In the past (when Google was touting their "Do no evil" slogan), you would have seen at least as many or more organic results to go along with the paid ads. By pushing the organic way below the fold, Google is drastically increasing the odds someone will click on their ad. In fact, a lot of these companies are in the organic results but instead of getting their traffic for free, they'll have to pay Google for it. I'd like to make clear - I have no problem with Google doing things that it deems good for it's bottom line. They have every right to do that, but that is why regulators exist - to make sure that when someone becomes the dominant player, they don't then use that position to eliminate competitors and extort customers.