Brand X site with "powered by Google" search

Google partner or renegade?

[mayor]

I ran into a site (but won't post the URL ... stickymail me if you want it) whose home page is the Google search window. In tiny text are the words "powered by" followed by the colored Google logo followed by a search window and a search button. There are other Google look-alikes on this page, like tabs for 'web', 'images' and 'directory' and a link for 'advanced search'.

So this site's home page content is a Google search window. The SERPS it generates are Google SERPS in a non-Google format, presented on a page branded by the site name, that leads off with the Adwords listings (these are in the standard format of the page, not in a box in the right margin).

Well, this seems like a good idea. Get newbies returning to your site to get quality Google searches instead of going to Google.

Excuse me for being naive, but are sites like this a form of Google partners or are they some form of renegade? If partnering, do they get paid somehow for clicks on an adword link? If this is a legitimate form of partnering with Google, how does one apply to become such a partner?

Also being a bit naive, I'm wondering if a search setup like this could be used to stuff one's affiliate code into SERP clicks going to an affiliate merchant's site, although I don't see evidence of this happening on the site I ran into. It does look to me like having the potential for this form of abuse.

[Brett_Tabke]

Sure, you can purchase Google search results. There are more than 100 sites carrying Google results now.
[services.google.com...]

Sounds like the setup you mention though, isn't legit.

[john316]

you can also get more info by using the google update tool.

3x3 surfer [webmasterworld.com]

#1 serp....hand tweak?

Hey....maybe someone should get some affiliate revenue.