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> everything above the fold is now an ad. Is this actually true? Assuming that the top queries are still things like "mortgage", "lawyer", etc, when I search t

> everything above the fold is now an ad. Is this actually true? Assuming that the top queries are still things like "mortgage", "lawyer", etc, when I search those terms, my above the fold are a Google Maps box with local results, a Wikipedia box, and a single organic Yellow Pages link. Now, "personal injury lawyer" is indeed all ads for me, but on the whole, I feel like I'm seeing fewer overall explicitly sponsored links than was the case 5-10 years ago.

rootusrootus 8y ago
My anecdotal experience: When I searched "mortgage" just now, the first four results on the page were advertisements. The fifth and final result on the first page, of which only one line was actually visible without scrolling, was a mortgage calculator website. On the right side of the page there was another ad with graphical links to mortgage companies.
- mikepurvis 8y ago
  I guess for those queries it depends on lot on what the ad spend is in your particular locale, since you want those particular businesses to be close by. We certainly have plenty of lawyers and mortgage agents here in Kitchener, but perhaps they aren't big into advertising on Google.
  - antonvs 8y ago
    The ad targeting might be locale-specific, but the companies advertising aren't. In the NY area, I also get 4 ads as the first results for "mortgage", from lendingtree, consumeradvocate.org, mortgage-loans.thetoptensites.com, and bankrate.com. They may do geo-restriction just to reach the largest number of people with the smallest spend, or something like that. The other person's point stands though, for many searches you don't get many non-ad results on the first page.
  - rootusrootus 8y ago
    I don't think any of the advertising I'm seeing is localized. The four ads I see now are: 1. www.consumersadvocate.org 2. www.bankrate.com 3. mortgage-loans.thetop10sites.com 4. www.lendingtree.com Then there's a map. Of Seattle, because that's where Google thinks I am (it's off by a couple hundred miles), with mortgage-related businesses shown. Below that, we get to "People also ask" and finally, links that are not marked as advertisements. On the right side of the screen I have links for Annaly Capital Management, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AGNC Investment Corp, and Wells Fargo. Writing this out made me think more seriously about DuckDuckGo. Going there and searching for "mortgage" is ... refreshing.
jiveturkey 8y ago
Yes it is true. Even if you use an adblocker and don't see explicit ads, for popular queries all the top results are highly SEO tuned and have paid for this placement in a different way than buying an ad directly from google. But it's an ad nonetheless. Google Maps results - ads Yellow Pages - Yellow pages are the original local ad! "organic", sure Wikipedia - an ad for wikipedia itself Quora, stackoverflow, etc - highly tuned ads Many of those results are actually useful and don't want you to buy something from them, they want your attention. And ... we are in an attention economy today.

rootusrootus 8y ago

My anecdotal experience: When I searched "mortgage" just now, the first four results on the page were advertisements. The fifth and final result on the first page, of which only one line was actually visible without scrolling, was a mortgage calculator website. On the right side of the page there was another ad with graphical links to mortgage companies.

mikepurvis 8y ago
I guess for those queries it depends on lot on what the ad spend is in your particular locale, since you want those particular businesses to be close by. We certainly have plenty of lawyers and mortgage agents here in Kitchener, but perhaps they aren't big into advertising on Google.
- antonvs 8y ago
  The ad targeting might be locale-specific, but the companies advertising aren't. In the NY area, I also get 4 ads as the first results for "mortgage", from lendingtree, consumeradvocate.org, mortgage-loans.thetoptensites.com, and bankrate.com. They may do geo-restriction just to reach the largest number of people with the smallest spend, or something like that. The other person's point stands though, for many searches you don't get many non-ad results on the first page.
- rootusrootus 8y ago
  I don't think any of the advertising I'm seeing is localized. The four ads I see now are: 1. www.consumersadvocate.org 2. www.bankrate.com 3. mortgage-loans.thetop10sites.com 4. www.lendingtree.com Then there's a map. Of Seattle, because that's where Google thinks I am (it's off by a couple hundred miles), with mortgage-related businesses shown. Below that, we get to "People also ask" and finally, links that are not marked as advertisements. On the right side of the screen I have links for Annaly Capital Management, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AGNC Investment Corp, and Wells Fargo. Writing this out made me think more seriously about DuckDuckGo. Going there and searching for "mortgage" is ... refreshing.

jiveturkey 8y ago

Yes it is true. Even if you use an adblocker and don't see explicit ads, for popular queries all the top results are highly SEO tuned and have paid for this placement in a different way than buying an ad directly from google. But it's an ad nonetheless. Google Maps results - ads Yellow Pages - Yellow pages are the original local ad! "organic", sure Wikipedia - an ad for wikipedia itself Quora, stackoverflow, etc - highly tuned ads Many of those results are actually useful and don't want you to buy something from them, they want your attention. And ... we are in an attention economy today.