Search Engines told to make paid for results clear

26 October 2004

Until recently, most search engines gave the consumer an unbiased list of results relevant to the search criteria. For some search engines, the listings at the top of the page were the most relevant to your search criteria; for others, however the top listings were the advertisers who had paid the most money to the search engine and it was not always clear to consumers that they were essentially clicking on an advertisement

General website content is not subject to the ASA's administration of the CAP Code but it became clear that the links were paid-for-space like any other overt advertisement you find on a search engine's listings page. It should, therefore, be clear to the consumer that the hyperlink is sponsored by the owner of the site to which the link clicks through. In June, the ASA upheld a complaint against a search listings results page that did not make clear enough the search results were sponsored links and, as such, search engines and advertisers alike should be made aware that all sponsored links should be clearly marked.  Click the link in the Adjudications box to read the ruling.

Since the ASA adjudication, almost all the more well-known search engines have changed their search results pages to comply with the ASA adjudication, with commendably swift action. They have usually and commonly employed one of two ways of making the consumer aware that results are sponsored. The first is by splitting the search results into two columns; one is headed 'Sponsored Link' and is separated from the search results based on relevance to the search criteria. The second is by placing the sponsored links first in the list and labelling them as 'Advertisements'. Examples of this are Google and Yahoo!.

If you want to find out how clearly sponsored links should be identified consult the CAP Copy Advice team on 020 7580 4100, by fax on 020 7580 4072 or by e-mail at copyadvice@cap.org.uk.