It seems that recently, Google has been held to a much higher standard than Yahoo, MSN and Ask. To me, this seems a bit unfair, as they are all competing for the very same market share, and ad revenue. As proof of this statement, Google has been blasted on many techi blogs regarding their practice of marketing Google services, in the search results pages, as “tips”. This practice on its face may seem unethical, but the other big 3 search engines and AOL for that matter all do the same thing. However, Google is the only company being called out for the practice. As an other example, when the click fraud law suits were settled, Google settled its suit in a much greater position for the claimants than Yahoo did. However, Google was the one who was blasted for taking advantage of its name brand and competitors, while Yahoo was just conducting business as usual. Again, this seems unfair to me.

The rub in all of this is that Google itself seems to have come to expect this sort of treatment and even has sent out its messenger to the world, Matt Cutts to comment on this from his blog postings. Matt Cutts wrote recently,

“Whether it's fair or not, it's a fact that people expect more from
Google than other companies. People compare other search engines to
Google, but people compare Google to perfection. We have such
Passionate users that they'll complain loudly if they think Google
is ever straying from the right path. If you're a Googler, it
may feel frustrating. Instead, I'd choose to be grateful, because
that passionate feedback keeps our heads on straight.

When our users yell at Google, they care and want us to do the
right thing (for their idea of what the right thing is). What other
company gets that kind of feedback? Besides, if Yahoo or Microsoft
jumped off a building, would you jump off too? :) So yes, if the
decision were up to me, I'd remove these tips or scale them way
back by making sure that they are very relevant and targeted.”

In my opinion, Google is getting a raw deal, and should be held the same standard of care that their direct competitors are held to.