Well, I just did a site: operator search of the "Shopping" section on Google and, as expected, nothing from my main site shows up. It's an information site so things are as they should be. On the other hand, the "Web" part of the search engine (not necessarily a site: search) shows my site's pages and every other thing on planet earth including shopping results (not that that's news to anyone).
In actuality, the solution is already in place but just hasn't been implemented. We've got "Web" which is everything pretty much, "Shopping" which doesn't include information sites apparently. All we need is the "Research" option which should include what isn't appropriate in the "Shopping" area. Seems they've already made the distinction in one direction. Should actually be a simple matter to implement the other side of the equation. Also seems that doing so would make people who are searching happier (not to mention webmasters).
I'm fairly certain that the research pages would offer ample advertising opportunities for Google as well, even when people aren't in shopping mode (adverts for research sites such as major genealogy sites or information providers such as news sites). Might make the advertisers happier as well (better targeting for those trying to attract information seekers or shoppers, whichever the case may be). Just fantasizing here as a big thunderstorm rolls in.
