Rodney - 11:57 pm on Dec 22, 2004 (gmt 0)

That's true only if the searcher wants to buy blue widget books. If the searcher is looking for reviews or information about blue widget books, ads that are disguised as directory listings (as they're all too likely to be on "made for AdSense" sites) are just a worthless and fraudulent drain on the advertisers' accounts.

Yes, I guess I was thinking more along the lines of a commercial directory for widget sellers.

At the same time though, if the searcher is looking for reviews and they see adsense ads above the listings, it says "Ads By Google" which classifies it as an ad. Also, the wording of the actual adwords advertiser seems like it would lead the searcher to understand that that link contained information on buying widgets rather than a widget review.

Wouldn't the searcher only click the link that was relevant to what they are looking for (whether it be paid or a regular listing).

I also think the line is being blurred between a regular directory (where webmasters manually submit their sites, like Yahoo or Dmoz on a smaller scale) and a made-for-adsense scraper site where webmasters have no control over what is shown on the site.