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And searching for any company name almost always returns an ad for the company in the first position.

This generates revenue for Google with virtually no added value.

Recently there's been cases where searching for a company name will actually return an ad for a competitor. Companies are being forced into a bidding war to win back the top position for exact searches on their own name.

See: https://twitter.com/jasonfried/status/1168986962704982016 and the SS in the reply: https://twitter.com/webiyo/status/1205534848192045056?s=20

"Forced how"? Because otherwise a web user might buy something "better than Basecamp" and that's unfair? If Basecamp can't sell to a prospect who knows their name unless basecamp is top search result, why does Basecamp deserve the sale?

Basecamp seems to generate more free advertising from playing the victim in the media than they lose from whatever they complain about.

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