Free click, or do you charge them?
I am pretty regularly confronted with Google search results that include a paid ad for a site just one or two entries above the organic result for the same site. This presents me with a choice – a choice with actual (albeit small) Real Life Consequences. Now, in most cases, if I click on the paid ad, I’m costing the advertiser $0.10 to a couple of bucks and, at the same time, enriching Google a little more. Alternately, if I click on the organic link, I could be rewarding the site for spamming and link-farming their way up the search results.
I always think a moment before I click.
Usually, I end up clicking the organic search result if it’s really the one I want because, after all, that means the search was successful. Sometimes, though, if I have a grudge or issue or just general ill-will towards a company, or I think that their ad sucks, or if it’s obvious that their SEM is poorly optimized, then I click on the paid link.
It’s like a little spitwad I can shoot at the bully without him knowing.