ACCC takes on Google

[Rich Tate]

It looks as though Google is in some hot water with The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission who allege that Google is using misleading and deceptive conduct with the way they display sponsor links.

The case concerns links listed as search results. The ACCC says consumers are being misled because there is no distinction between "organic" results - which Google sorts - and "sponsored links", or paid advertisements. The case, believed to be a world first, will be watched by other search engine sites.

 

[jpcahn]

Attention socialist/communists. Google is not in business to save humanity. They are in business to make a profit. The links are shown seperately on the right side of the screen and it says Sponsored Links right above them. You cant get something for nothing. I have been going to Google since before anyone knew who they were for one reason: they provide a search that seems to magically direct me to what I am looking for with little or no wasted time. This was NOT the case before they came along and nobody can compete to this day and I have tried using the NEW MSN search and others. They still suck. Remember the good old days of Atlavista with 50k results and the one you want is number 48,575. Get off Googles back I am sure there is another profit making company that is actually doing something like Enron that you commies can bring down instead. Before anyone says it I knnow Australia is not commmunist but enither is the US but there are plenty of socialists here too that hate capitalism.

 

[The Red]

Attention socialist/communists. Google is not in business to save humanity. They are in business to make a profit. The links are shown seperately on the right side of the screen and it says Sponsored Links right above them. You cant get something for nothing. I have been going to Google since before anyone knew who they were for one reason: they provide a search that seems to magically direct me to what I am looking for with little or no wasted time. This was NOT the case before they came along and nobody can compete to this day and I have tried using the NEW MSN search and others. They still suck. Remember the good old days of Atlavista with 50k results and the one you want is number 48,575. Get off Googles back I am sure there is another profit making company that is actually doing something like Enron that you commies can bring down instead. Before anyone says it I knnow Australia is not commmunist but enither is the US but there are plenty of socialists here too that hate capitalism.

I actually like Google, and I believe in social democracy... socialist is only a dirty word for the close-minded, McKarthy worshiping dimwits who buy into unrestricted trickle-down economic schemes and Reganomics that no matter how many times they fail will be adhered to with religious fervor by those who make the decisions not on facts but adolescently-ingrained bias. You should also note that communism is spelled with 2 Ms, not 3.. but I'm not the grammar police..

Despite whatever Google is doing with making its money, their ads are non-intrusive, their interface is clean, and I do actually manage to find the cheapest prices online using their search software. If I wasn't able to find the cheaper prices, only then could it be called stifling competition. Which is, exactly what your commie-hating rhetoric actually supports through your endorsement of the propagation of unrestricted capitalism.

I cant think of anything to make online companies compete more than being placed side-by-side in price comparisons compiled honestly by a search engine that WILL display the lowest price. And don't presume that people don't understand that the advertising in Google is just that, advertising... it gets the name out, but most people do understand that being in a Google ad does not make one the best bang for the buck. Perhaps such conclusions could only come to easily-assuming closed minds, but the majority is smart enough to decipher advertising.