Consumers unaware of paid placement results.

[kidekat]

Long, but interesting reading.

False Oracles: Consumer Reaction to Learning the Truth about How Search Engines Work

[consumerwebwatch.org...]

Reports an experiment on how people use search engines which found that most searchers had no idea that some of the top results they were clicking on were paid placement results.

[SinclairUser]

Interesting. Especially the bit about people distrusting the first page of search results after they became more aware of how search engines use sponsored listings.

[Shak]

continued here...

[webmasterworld.com...]

Shak