That's not all, folks!
So the idea of paid placement (or whatever else you wish to call it) originally met with criticism, and today it hardly generates any excitement. But that's not all. As E-Commerce Times tells us:
commerce sites that consider advertising via paid search results should understand that not all search engines are created equal, and that different engines may deliver varying returns on the marketing dollar
In other words, the idea has apparently become so prevalent that advertisers (or perhaps better, promoters) not only can pick and choose on which sites they prefer to advertise, they must do this, giving tantamount consideration to where there investment will most likely best pay off. As the article tells us:
It is no wonder that search engines have become attractive vehicles for e-commerce advertisers. The audience is made up of users actively seeking product and service information who often are ready to purchase.
Okay, so maybe tens of thousands of students are out there trying to find a passable bibliography on Magellan, but they certainly can't compete with what Scott Gatz, general manager of search and directory at Yahoo! tells the Times:
Millions of commercial searches are conducted using our search and directory service everyday.
And for those searchers, paid placement probably makes perfect sense.
Go to: Seek and Ye Shall Buy.