Compaq Computer’s search site AltaVista will soon begin to auction off positioning at the top of search results for certain queries, according to a
published reports.
AltaVista said the paid listings will be designated as such and will appear
separate from the traditional indexed listings, according to a New York Times report.
“We want to make it clear that we haven’t changed our core index, but we want
to offer additional ways for users to find some results that are
interesting,” Kurt Lozert, general manager of AltaVista’s search service, was
quoted as saying. “We’ve tested a number of concepts so it will be very clear
to users this is not the index results.”
Doubleclick Inc., which sells
advertising for AltaVista, promoted the program in a recent e-mail message to
potential customers. “When users perform keyword searches on AltaVista, what
is the first listing they see?” the message said. “Now it can be your
company’s listing.”