Yeah, it had to happen sometime, I suppose.
The mass number of advertisers flocking to Google’s pay-per-click program are forcing the search giant to add up to three Sponsored Links at the top of certain results pages. Google’s competition regularly serves up three ads or more, so this isn’t too much of a shock. However, it is a bit sad to see them bending to market demands.
Here’s an example (Sponsored Links are the ones in the blue highlighted area):
Even job-related searches such as "nursing jobs" now include three ads instead of the typical two.
I know, on the surface, not a big deal. However, it does 1) represent a step forward (or backward, depending on your worldview) for Google to give more ad real estate among their organic results, 2) offer insight into the growing demand for pay-per-click advertising, and 3) prove that demand for certain job-related content is on par with iPods, notebook computers, cars, flatscreen TVs and, um, Halloween costumes.
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