makemetop - 2:10 pm on Nov 25, 2009 (gmt 0)

Yes, in those far off days I remember on one popular search platform in the UK the first truly organic results on Page 14!

Then came paid inclusion and even "organic" positions could be enhanced by paying for inclusion (although this was always strongly denied).

As above the fold is such valuable property on search it was inevitable that Google will capitalize on that fact and attempt to monetize the results while still trying to give the user a useful experience.

Why would they just give that revenue away if people are willing to pay for those clicks and they produce good revenue for both partners in the deal (plus the searchers who find what they want).

The mess up will come if it truly does negate the user experience - but, IMHO, this may not happen if they do manage to enhance things for the average user.