internetheaven - 8:44 am on May 7, 2008 (gmt 0)

The "switching" in and out of #4 is most likely a side-effect of the algo trying to fit Universal search properly into the results NOT the much-bandied-about-and-still-3-years-off, idea of Goog incorporating analytics-testing-AI into the algo.

I agree that we are getting the two concepts confused but I don't think they are exclusive. I agree that the #4 switching thing has to do with the universal search system. But, it is also fair to assume that this spot is also being used to gather intel on upcoming sites that would normally not be in that area of SERPS (i.e. AI ranking rather than purely algorithmic).