
Google Now Embraces “Paid Inclusion” (2012) - marvel_boy
http://marketingland.com/once-deemed-evil-google-now-embraces-paid-inclusion-13138
======
bhartzer
Definitely note that this is from 2012.

Google recently updated their webmaster guidelines, I am assuming that this
also included an internal review, as well.

>> "Inclusion in Google's search results is free and easy; you don't even need
to submit your site to Google." This is directly from:
[https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/34397?hl=en](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/34397?hl=en)

Keep in mind that this article does reference Froogle, which has been
discontinued. Merchants were able to submit a shopping feed, but, in fact, now
have to pay for that.

Local businesses are able to get a Google My Business listing for free, which
means free traffic to their site, but I expect that to be a paid-for-play
option soon, as well.

------
bryanrasmussen
what kind of data was it they couldn't get by crawling, I didn't pick it up
from the article. I just noticed there was certain kinds of data?

~~~
tyingq
The article is talking about the paid inclusion model for the widgets that
Google returns when you perform certain kinds of searches, like:

\- flights from NYC to Los Angeles

\- compare credit cards

\- hotel near los angeles

You'll notice that in each of those cases, there are no organic results above
the fold. Also, if you want to see what happens when you don't pay to play,
search for:

\- flights from dallas to houston

Look for Southwest Airlines in the widget...they won't pay Google.

~~~
mayank
> Look for Southwest Airlines in the widget...they won't pay Google.

Southwest is notable as an airline that won't submit their pricing and
inventory to third-party aggregators. This has nothing to do with Google, and
is also the reason why Kayak doesn't show Southwest prices.

~~~
tyingq
>>This has nothing to do with Google

Yes, SWA does avoid pay-to-play in other situations. However, Southwest
specifically asked Google to remove prices from the flight widget.

There were there at first. There's a reddit AMA from the Google Flights team
where they talk about it.

------
jonjonsonjr
This is from 2012.

~~~
dang
Thanks, missed that one.

