Bye-bye to Self-Promoting "Tips"

The brouhaha started December 18 when the Google Tips function went live. When searching for certain terms, such as “calendar”, “blog” or “photograph”, a line promoting a Google product, couched as a “tip”, appeared above all other links.

...[a popular blogger commented]
“Google is predicated on the idea that the democratic structure of the Web will push the cream to the top,” wrote Ross. “These ‘tips’ then can only be a tacit admission of failure: either the company does not believe in its own search technology, or it does not believe its products are good enough to rise to the top organically.”

....By January 3rd the tip function was off the website. Watson said that decision “was based on user feedback and relevance considerations” but did not say whether the company would bring back the tips.

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