How’s Your Luminosity?

Back in 2002, the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection sent a letter to search engine websites, advising them on how to avoid deceptive advertising practices.  Over ten years later, they just sent websites a short refresher course.

The Bureau recently sent another letter reiterating its commitment to supervising search engines and the ads they display.  Weary of consumer confusion, it wants these websites to clearly separate natural search results, based on relevancy to the search, and paid advertisements.

In complying with the letter's guidelines, search engines, websites with search functions, and other web-based platforms should take note of two major design elements for their results page: visual cues and text labels.