Though it's been heralded as a way to boost earnings, the pay-for-play concept has drawn fire from consumer groups and trademark holders, who claim it can lead to customer confusion. Diet pill maker Mark Nutritionals sued four pay-for-play sites two weeks ago, alleging they were aiding trademark infringement. The company claims the search sites are breaking the law by listing links to competitors' sites when a person types the phrase "body solutions" into the search bar. Google is actively trying to avoid running into the same trouble by clearly marking the search results that show up on the right-hand side of the page as ads. Unlike Overture and for-fee listing service FindWhat.com, which incorporate paid listings into their main search results, Google is allowing pay for placement only along the right-hand side of its search page. In addition to pay-per-click ads, Google sells "premium" sponsorships on the top of its results that are targeted to keyword searches. The paid placements sell for a flat rate based on the number of impressions, or ads, delivered. They cost between $25 and $80 per thousand impressions. News.com's Stefanie Olsen contributed to this report.
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