You need to be from the United States (or have access to a US IP address) to see this ad, but Yahoo! is testing monetizing their organic search results.
An ad in the “organic” results? A sponsored shortcut? Say it ain’t so.
And that is *before* Google releases their vouchers program & other ad options which will frequently extend AdWords ads and further push down the organic search results.
A bit of home cooking for the fellow IAC company.
Not that long ago I highlighted how exact match domains are often over-stated as an SEO strategy. The above is another dimension as to why. When you have 3 or 4 ads above the organics AND in some cases the organic results are monetized too, then if you rank #2 algorithmically you might be below the fold.
If that ranking for that 1 keyword is your strategy for building your unique competitive advantage, then of course you are going to lose badly to those who are investing into building solid brand equity. They will be able to outbid you for the clicks, so you are toast.
Domainers are already getting killed by parking revenue drops, browsers that turn the address bar into a search box, and now resell values are further being diminished by search engines which are deciding to eat the ‘organic’ search results with more ads.
SEO Book.com – Learn. Rank. Dominate.