Okay, here's more of the scoop on Search123 and its bidding process, as I understand it. Say you're a credit card company that would love to get more customers (what company wouldn't?). To increase your share of online traffic to your web site, you figure you'll need to show up first, or at least second or third, in any search result listing. It's like putting an advertisement in the yellow pages -- it can make all the difference.
With Search123, Overture and other pay-per-click search companies, you can bid for placement in those top search slots. At Search123, specifically, you can bid on packets of keywords. Say there is a packet of keywords that usually are punched in by people looking for credit cards. (Words like "low-interest APR," "low-interest credit card," "no annual fee," etc). You want to make sure that your company comes up highest in the list when a person types those words into the search box. So you sign up with Search123 and make this maximum bid: 30 cents, every single time a person clicks on the link to your company. If you are the top bidder, your site is listed at the top whenever those keywords are punched in.
Aside from the issue of whether this corrupts search engines (a highly worthwhile question), there is another interesting aspect. Think about it. Keywords as objects of monetary value. Words for sale.
5:44:58 PM 
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