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ithkuil
I've tried "oldest pub in limerick" and it gives me no ads, but it has a google map box on the right side, not sure if it counted as an ad.
calciphus
The right-hand side stuff isn't available in most countries yet, so it likely wouldn't have shown up in a real-world use.
VikingCoder
It's not like this is hard to check. Set the custom date range, and do the query yourself:

https://www.google.com/search?q=oldest+sweet+shop+near+mochi...

No ads shown. If you want to be sensationalist, then please start by trying to be accurate.

powertower
What about the other 99.999999999995% of search queries?

I think the OP's point is they are mis-representing what they are offering.

eli
"pizza" is whole different kind of query than the one shown in the ad. "Best toy store near dupont circle" has no ads.

The worst you could accuse them of is picking a type of query that doesn't usually have ads. I don't think that's lying.

powertower
I'm not sure how I'm going to convince you that Google's business model revolves around monetization of search results and showing ads.

But if I did, you'd see that any search query to Google is nothing more than a potential ad space.

For your search query examples, it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.

VikingCoder
You're missing the biggest part of the whole equation:

Google shows ads, because by every metric Google knows how to throw at it, people who search on Google WANT to see those ads.

Google tries very hard to show only high-quality ads. That's a win-win-win. It's good for the users who find what they're looking for, it's good for the businesses who get a sale, and it's good for Google.

It's like you're pissed there are ADS in the YELLOW PAGES.

Yes, AT&T would list businesses with a vanilla entry, or a business could pay to show up a bit more prominently. The difference is, AT&T didn't give a crap about whether people found what they were looking for, or how high quality the ads were. It wasn't really their fault, there was no feedback loop.

Google, fundamentally, is the largest feedback loop ever invented. Every human who uses it teaches Google how to help other humans find what they're looking for. A lot of the time, ads are the most relevant result.

powertower
> people who search on Google WANT to see those ads.

I doubt that very much.

> A lot of the time, ads are the most relevant result.

And there I though search results were supposed to be relavant - and that's why people started using Google.

The normal CTR is now about 0.2 or 0.3 percent? That kind of contradicts what you are saying.

VikingCoder
> And there I though search results were supposed to be relavant [sic]

Google loses, if the ads aren't relevant. They KNOW that. More than you realize.

> The normal CTR is now about 0.2 or 0.3 percent? That kind of contradicts what you are saying.

What's the CTR on organic results? Telling us the CTR on ads by itself tells us exactly nothing.

eli
I understand how Google works. I think I even agree with some of your underlying points... but my complaint is that the headline of this post is just flat wrong. I see no evidence that Google lied or used adblock.
ColinDabritz
I wonder how this affected the value of buying ads for the keywords used in the google campaign...

Currently it appears there are 'no ads' there, but could there be if you bought keyword ads?

kissickas
Is the image displayed just an ancient one? I forgot about that sidebar on the right, and I can't replicate that or get the black bar on the top outside of Google Translate.