Product Placement...

Articles were scarce today, so I looked at what Google had to offer from the last 24 hours.  I got titles like:

• HIV Basic Information
• Get The Facts About HIV
• Diagnosed With HIV-1?

Those  all sounded good.  Then I wondered why I hadn't seen these before.  I found out all 3 sites had something in common.  They were all product placement sites for HIV meds.  This pissed me off.  Why the hell would commercial sites get preference over relevant information sites?

Then I noticed that my AdBlock extension had not engaged.  I reset the extension & refreshed the page.  When I did that all 3 of the above listed sites vanished.  Now, for the latest entries for the last 24 hours I see:

• HIV Latest News:  Times Of India
• HIV and AIDS News
• POZ Blogs

That was a crappy discovery.  I shouldn't be surprised, but I am disgusted.  When you're looking up info for HIV, you're hoping to find useful information, not a commercial for some med.  I know Google has to make $, but does it have to list these sites 1st?  A big thanks to the guy who made AdBlock.

The point is, commercial sites aren't usually the best sites to go to for information on anything.  They usually have their own agenda which might vary greatly from yours.   I'm not going to list any sites of preference, because they would change depending where you are in the world.  However, there are a lot of good non-profit sites & governmental ones that should provide better info than someone hocking their wares.

Cya...