EngineWorks

Yesterday, Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land, reported in his article titled ‘Google Blurs The Line Between Paid & Unpaid Results Again’, that the world’s largest search engine is now allowing businesses to have Sponsored Links (i.e., paid listings) appear within their Local Business Center (LBC) results.  Google’s LBC listings, also known as the “Seven-Pack of Local Listings”, appear at the top of their Natural search results, typically along-side a local map and directions information.

As most readers of this blog are aware, Sponsor Links within Google have traditionally appeared to the right of the organic search results, having been triggered by relevant keywords from users’ search queries.  Now, however, sponsored listings can be found in LBC results throughout Google.  As shown in the example below from Danny Sullivan’s article, these paid search listings are designated by a yellow marker and the word “Sponsored”.

Here is Google’s response to Danny’s inquiry into this new development:

Enhanced listings are a new feature in the Local Business Center that enable business owners to let potential customers know what they think is most important or unique about their business. The feature enables LBC users to choose one of the following enhancements: photos, videos, website, coupons, directions, menu or reservations. We are currently running a limited trial of the feature in San Jose and Houston.

To be clear, enhanced listings have no impact on the ranking of LBC listings.

What I find intriguing about Google’s statement above is that it sounds very familiar to the other major search engine’s defense of the now-almost-defunct Paid Inclusion services offered over the past decade.  Google touted its supremacy in that it would never allow paid listings of any sort to be included in their Natural search algorithm.  To which Yahoo!, and the other Paid Inclusion engines, retorted with the fact that Paid Inclusion listings have no impact upon the rankings of Natural listings.

Let me know if you perceive that, with this development to allow paid listings into the Seven-Pack of Local Listings, the G-Men and Women from Mountain View have violated their golden rule.