Did you know yahoo pollutes search results with ads?

So, I just saw an ad that really bugged me. Yahoo is suggesting "you can't find stuff on Google" however, they are the *only* search engine where they show ads inside the search results themselves, that you can't distinguish from normal results.

Did...

you know that? Or is this "secret" of Yahoo Search still largely ignored by the general public, and known only to "search geeks" like myself?

Here's an example: if you search for digital cameras, only *six* of the ten results they display are there because they are relevant. The other *four* results are advertisements, and you can only tell because the link to the 'cache" of the page is missing. Is this news, or does everybody know this already?

news to me... but I never get on yahoo... ^_^

Haha!! Didn't know that in particular, but I am learning many things that surprise me, amaze me and then... make me wonder why I thought Yahoo would be honest and up front about what they do. I do know not to download any new updates for Yahoo's tool bar and not to trust their products without a lawyer present.
Seriously, I do know I don't use Yahoo search by itself because I am never satisfied with the results I get.

Wow and I thought I was pretty net savvy! I did not know that! But this is probably because I've been a loyal Google user. I've also used Yahoo or Dogpile during my college research years but I've never really noticed the hidden ads! Cheers for the tip off

Here's the proof (they hide the page, so it takes some clicking to find it:
http://searchmarketi...

I've always thought Ralph Nader had the right idea when he was trying to pressure the FCC on this particular issue, MSN stopped doing it, so did Ask Jeeves, but Yahoo has kept right on plugging.

The replies here convince me more than anything what I've believed for years, even when I worked there: people can't tell the difference between the ads & the "natural" results...which means, it's essentially deceptive advertising.

Ah the link didn't work, but from that tiny info I Googled for "searchmarketing yahoo" and found what you meant

So I'd just tried the Yahoo search out (mine automatically uses Yahoo!7, the Australian version), and my search for "toy trucks" came out pretty innocent, actually. The two 'sponsored results' are under a blue background in the top, and the other links were all Cached, except for a .PDF file in the list.

Could it just be a US Yahoo thing?

I'm surprised for that I don't use yahoo search.
If you're trying to search something, it sounds likely that the adds will get in the way. I'm better off with google.

I didn't know that, but, recently while researching some election issues, I noticed that their results on things I searched seemed biased. For instance, almost everyone in the search about Obama, was against Obama. The same sort of thing happened when I researched the pro-life/pro-choice issue. I was trying to find a variety of answers and instead, I got the opposite. Well, I decided against getting an account, and perhaps I was having a paranoid moment, however, I don't get those "moments" on Google or Ask.com.

Thanx for the tip! BTW, do you know if that is entirely legal re: the ads in the search?