Consumer watchdog accuses search engines of deception

Commercial Alert, a consumer group founded by the legendary Ralph Nader, has complained to the US Federal Trade Commission that many search engines are engaged in deceptive advertising. The group alleges the engines instead of using objective search formulas are selling top spots in their search results to the highest bidder without telling users. Engines named in the complaint are MSN, Netscape, Directhit, HotBot, Lycos, Altavista, LookSmart and iWon