Yet further blending of Adwords into the general search results. Too bad they don't publish how each of these changes effect CTR. Between this, instant search, and the little triangle now pointing to the top Adwords bid I am sure their PPC numbers are going through the roof.
Schmidt keeps raving about how "successful" instant has been. I am sure they blend to the point of risking getting flagged by the FTC
"Google wants people to have success converting visitors so that they will continue to spend on PPC. And Google does not want people to have success with organic SEO, so that they will continue to spend on PPC."
Google is optimizing their pages for ppc ctr, just like we do. But there does seem to be a squeeze play happening regarding organics on several fronts.
"...[W]e're sometimes left questioning whether or not Google really has its users' best interests in mind.
One such example of this happened just within the past few weeks, when Google decided that they would no longer allow full access to their keyword statistics. Nope, now a keyword has to be deemed "commercial" in nature (whatever that means) by Google's algorithm before you can view search statistics for said keyword."
http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/2010/10/google-hates-you/
While we're talking about squeeze plays, have you looked at the new G Places serps?
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/place-search-faster-easier-way-to-find.html
"I am sure their PPC numbers are going through the roof"
I agree - definitely seeing this in some areas.