Google breaks 2005 promise never to show banner ads on search results

Post by raldi » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 4:06 PM UTC

anon1385 wrote: post #102

raldi wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What 10 links would a hypothetically perfect search engine return for that query? Edit: Judging from the replies, many of you seem to think my question was "how many ads would a perfect search engine show?" Please note that this is not what I asked.

The "hypothetically perfect search" has absolutely zero ads and only shows results based on merit, not how much somebody was willing to pay. Why is that so hard to understand for Google employees? Your founders wrote a bit about this back in the day you know: Currently, the predominant business model for commercial search engines is advertising. The goals of the advertising business model do not always correspond to…

Post by snowwrestler » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 4:06 PM UTC

jeffclark wrote: post #93

mapgrep wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good to know that the company that holds my email, appointments, two-factor-auth, credit card number, and search data has the reliability of a flaky college freshman. Also good to know that there will literally ALWAYS be people willing to minimize the broken promises of corporations (when they're not insisting that no corporation would ever be so stupid as to break a highly visible promise because the outcry would be…

> Also good to know that there will literally ALWAYS be people willing to minimize the broken promises of corporations At some point, people realize that corporations exist to maximize profit and not necessarily for the good of the customer.

Post by tedunangst » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 4:08 PM UTC

Dylan16807 wrote: post #105

tedunangst wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Today I learned you can pay Google to appear at the top of the organic search results.

1. Prove it. Don't make up examples. 2. Official pages already have the ability to skip the queue, for free.

Post by tedunangst » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 4:09 PM UTC

mathattack wrote: post #74

ajiang wrote: post #72

Are we putting that much significance from a quote in 2005 by a Google executive who has since left Google? While some see it as a social utility, Google is a $350B public company that generates its revenues from advertisements. 8 years ago, the world of advertising (and the world in general), was a different place. Holding Google accountable for something so far in the past by someone who is no longer there is a see…

Indeed - 8 years is a long long time. And who is actually harmed? Would it be less evil if Google had to put banner ads up to make payroll?

Post by tedunangst » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 4:12 PM UTC

night815 wrote: post #42

The full quote is still true. "There will be no banner ads on the Google homepage or web search results pages. There will not be crazy, flashy, graphical doodads flying and popping up all over the Google site. Ever." -Marissa Mayer That "banner" is not a "crazy, flashy, graphical doodad". That is pretty much the company's logo.