mvandemar - 3:45 am on Feb 16, 2010 (gmt 0)

Guys, they're not selling position. The skateboard shop in the article was already #1 for it's listing, the $25 just buys a yellow highlight, to make your already existing listing stand out. It's *not* an AdWords listing.

The results in the local box, btw, are sorted by distance from the center of the search. Regardless of where that guy shows up he gets his highlight. For instance, if you repeat the search but shift it a little to the west, he drops down about 5 spots (which, again, I am sure he did *before* he paid his $25), but the highlight is still there:

[google.com...]