Google 101 - Sponsored Links
(Page 9 of 12 )
Sometimes, below the summary bar and along the right side of the page are short listings with small labels identifying them as Sponsored Links. “Sponsored link” is Google-ese for ads, and they are a big part of how Google makes its money. Part of Google’s allure is that it clearly distinguishes these links from your regular results.
Here’s how ads work: When you search for a keyword that somebody has paid to be associated with, Google displays their ad on the Sponsored Links list. On Google, ads always appear separate from your regular results, and they look different, too, as Figure 1-11 shows. These ads don’t affect your results in any way. In fact, a lot of terms don’t have any ads associated with them, so you won’t always see ads.
If, for example, you search for Harry Potter books, your search results might include ads from BooksAMillion, Amazon, Buy.com, and a half dozen other places that sell Harry Potter books. If you search for just Harry, you get no ads. Figure 1-11 shows you another example.
Note: Neither Google nor the people who buy the ads are tracking your searches; they’re simply displaying Web-based ads for anyone who searches for certain words.
A lot of the time, you can ignore the ads. But because they are associated with your specific search, sponsored links can be good resources, particularly if you’re looking to buy something. Bear in mind that if Google has more than eight advertisers for your keywords, the sponsored links can change on successive results pages. You also might see different ads if you run the same search more than once. So if you’re looking for something that might have a useful sponsored link, keep a close eye on them, since the one that might help you could be gone the next time you run the same search.
Note: Google’s ad program is called AdWords, and advertisers pay only if somebody clicks through their ad. The cost per click varies from 50 cents to $50. If you’re interested in placing your own ads on Google, Chapter 9 tells you everything you need to know.
Other things that can show up: news links and spelling suggestions
If you’re looking for something timely—like the latest trial scoop on a deposed CEO—Google often gives you a link called something like, “News results for Martha Stewart,” which takes you to Google’s own news service. Clicking such links does the same general thing as clicking the News tab on the summary bar. Below that, Google gives you a few direct links for related news stories on media Web sites. (Google News is explained in depth in Chapter 3).
The other thing you might find under the summary bar is a big question in red letters: “Did you mean: xyz?”
XYZ is an alternate—sometimes corrected—spelling of your search terms (see Figure 1-12). For example, if you searched for “blue suede shoos,” Google asks if you meant “blue suede shoes.”(On the other hand, if you searched for “blue suede shoes,” Google assumes you know what you’re doing, and it doesn’t offer another spelling.) If you click Google’s suggestion, it runs your search again with the alternate spelling.
Warning: Because Google recognizes so many terms, it’s not such a hot idea to use the feature for impromptu spell-checking, even when you don’t care about the search results. For example, if you wanted to find out how to spell “careful,” and you tried a misspelling that’s not a word, like “cairful,” you’d wind up in trouble: Google doesn’t give you an alternate spelling.
The Stuff at the Bottom of the Results Page
The important links at the bottom of a Google results page, shown in Figure 1-13, are those that let you click through to the next page of results. The big blue arrow, the Next link, the number 2 (on the line labeled Result Page), the first “o”in the word Goooooogle, and the“le”at the end of the word all take you to the next page of results. Click each of the subsequent “o’s” or any of the numbers under the looooooogo to jump ahead to that page of results.
At the bottom of the page, you get another chance to retype your query if your first attempt didn’t work. Once again, you can narrow down your search by clicking the “Search within results” link, described on page 21.
Note: The Google logo at the bottom of the page grows extra “o’s” when a search has more results. The maximum, however, is ten “o’s,” even if a search has more than ten pages worth of results. (Links to pages 11 and higher magically appear as you click through the first few pages).
Below the search box is a link with a question: “Dissatisfied? Help us improve.” The link takes you to a form where you can tell Google what you were looking for, why you were disappointed, and whether you wanted to find a particular URL. You’re not likely to hear back from the company, but they say they read their mail.
Gem in the Rough: When Misspelling Is Your Friend
Runnng a misspelled search can sometmes be to your advantage. Because anyone is free to misspell anything
the Web, a lot of pages can wind up left out of a search you check only the correct spellng. Proper names are particularly worth checking a few ways. For example, nearly 7,000 Web sites mention Arnold Schwarznegger, although the governator spells his name “Schwarzenegger.”
And names that orginate in another aphabet (Hebrew, Arabic, Cyrillic) almost always have several valid translitera-tions. “Mohammed,” for example, can be spelled dozens of ways in English. Unfortunatey, Google doesn’t ofer alternate misspellings. If you search for Mohamed Atta, you get nearly 40,000 results and a suggestion for the spelling “Mohammed Atta.” But if you search for Mohammed Atta, Google doesn’t suggest “Mohamed Atta” or any other variation on the name.
The bottom line? If Google doesn’t give you an additional choice, you have to get creative with spelling.
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