Skip to main content

FTC tells search engines to improve ad labeling practices

search engine adsSearch engine companies such as Google, Bing and Yahoo have been given a rap on the knuckles by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for veering away from guidelines laid down in 2002 that instructed them to distinguish clearly between search results and ads (including paid search results) displayed on their webpages.

In an effort to better protect consumers, the commission said on Tuesday that “failing to clearly and prominently distinguish advertising from natural search results could be a deceptive practice.”

Recommended Videos

Updating the guidelines for the first time in 11 years, the FTC sent letters to seven general-purpose search engines (AOL, Ask.com, Bing, Blekko, DuckDuckGo, Google, and Yahoo) as well as 17 of the most popular specialist search engines that focus on areas such as shopping, travel, and local businesses.

The commission said that the updated guidelines emphasized “the need for visual cues, labels, or other techniques to effectively distinguish advertisements, in order to avoid misleading consumers.”

The FTC pointed out to the search engines that it had observed, increasingly, that background shading used by many companies on their webpages to distinguish ads from genuine search results had become “significantly less visible”.

In addition to clear visual clues such as shading, the FTC insisted all search engine companies use “large and visible” text labels to indicate ads on their webpages.

It also brought attention to the increasing use of so-called ‘top ads’ located immediately above genuine search results. “A recent online survey by a search strategies company found that nearly half of searchers did not recognize top ads as distinct from natural search results and said the background shading used to distinguish the ads was white,” the FTC said in the letter.

The commission also pointed out that the results returned from some specialized searches can be based in part on payments from a third party, in which case the consumer should be made aware.

In a related issue, the FTC last year investigated Google over allegations that it had altered its search algorithm to give favorable placement to its own products and to companies paying Google for more prominence in results. The FTC in January cleared Google of any wrongdoing, though suggested the company made a number of changes to its search/ads business.

Following the issue of the FTC’s updated guidelines on Tuesday, the Mountain View company said, “Clear labeling and disclosure of paid results is important, and we’ve always strived to do that as our products have evolved.”

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Topics
How to change margins in Google Docs
Laptop Working from Home

When you create a document in Google Docs, you may need to adjust the space between the edge of the page and the content -- the margins. For instance, many professors have requirements for the margin sizes you must use for college papers.

You can easily change the left, right, top, and bottom margins in Google Docs and have a few different ways to do it.

Read more
What is Microsoft Teams? How to use the collaboration app
A close-up of someone using Microsoft Teams on a laptop for a videoconference.

Online team collaboration is the new norm as companies spread their workforce across the globe. Gone are the days of primarily relying on group emails, as teams can now work together in real time using an instant chat-style interface, no matter where they are.

Using Microsoft Teams affords video conferencing, real-time discussions, document sharing and editing, and more for companies and corporations. It's one of many collaboration tools designed to bring company workers together in an online space. It’s not designed for communicating with family and friends, but for colleagues and clients.

Read more
Microsoft Word vs. Google Docs
A person using a laptop that displays various Microsoft Office apps.

For the last few decades, Microsoft Word has been the de facto standard for word processors across the working world. That's finally starting to shift, and it looks like one of Google's productivity apps is the heir apparent. The company's Google Docs solution (or to be specific, the integrated word processor) is cross-platform and interoperable, automatically syncs, is easily shareable, and perhaps best of all, is free.

However, using Google Docs proves it still has a long way to go before it can match all of Word's features -- Microsoft has been developing its word processor for over 30 years, after all, and millions still use Microsoft Word. Will Google Docs' low barrier to entry and cross-platform functionality win out? Let's break down each word processor in terms of features and capabilities to help you determine which is best for your needs.
How does each word processing program compare?
To put it lightly, Microsoft Word has an incredible advantage over Google Docs in terms of raw technical capability. From relatively humble beginnings in the 1980s, Microsoft has added new tools and options in each successive version. Most of the essential editing tools are available in Google Docs, but users who are used to Word will find it limited.

Read more