> It seems like we are going back to the AOL keyword days... not a good sign.

Not really comparable in my opinion. In AOL, if I remember correctly, you had to register or pay for your keyword much like a domain name. So all keywords were owned by a central authority, could only be used within their ecosystem and had the same type of squatter issues as domain names.

What's happening today are "keywords" being associated with specific websites when, and only when, the users are actively looking for and using that website. This isn't centralized (sure most people using Google but people forget Bing is actually really good and used by many!). You can't simply pay for the top spot anymore.

You can "simply pay for the top spot". This is why the results at the very top of the Google search are paid ad placements.

I was referring to search results not advertisements. You can pay one fee, like a domain TLD or AOL Keyword, and get that spot. With those advertisements you have to constantly put money in to stay at that spot.

Sadly my parents don't know that the top yellow box is an ad, they think it's the top search result. I expect most people are the same.

Does it really matter, though? If they find what they're looking for, what difference is it if the result was paid or organic?

In most cases the ad is not what they are looking for.

Domain names are also a constant, on-going cost.

While there is an on-going cost (i.e. domain renewals), it is very small compared to the initial payment one might make to acquire a premiere domain.

> You can't simply pay for the top spot anymore.

There's ton of money being made (sometimes even by honest businesses) on the opposite assumption. Instead of paying the gatekeeper to put you higher on the list you pay some third parties to game the sorting algorithm.