Can Google Redirect Your Customers to Another's Website?
- by Michael Stillman
The ISBN number near the bottom of this Barnes & Noble listing is highlighted by Google to show it is a link.
By Michael Stillman
It is every bookseller's worst nightmare. You post a book for sale, on a bookselling website, or maybe even your own site. However, somewhere along the way, some insidious software redirects your customers to another site where someone else makes the sale. In an era where computers get hijacked by spyware, adware, and various pop-up windows, these nightmares are no longer beyond the pale. Such software can readily be developed and stuck on your customers' computers by unscrupulous merchants or promoters. But could it be done by Google, the epitome of online ethical behavior?
A few years ago, a program to convert copy on a website to links to an advertiser was apparently developed by Microsoft. The idea was that the software would look for terms, for example, "Rolex watches," on the site. If they showed up, the words "Rolex watches" would become a link to an advertiser who was selling them. While that might sound harmless, it becomes downright insidious when the term "Rolex watches" appears on Jeweler 1's website, but the link redirects you to Jeweler 2's page. Jeweler 1 invests the advertising and promotional dollars to bring buyers to his site, then Jeweler 2 steals the customer. Not having to invest in advertising, Jeweler 2 may even undercut Jeweler 1's price. It is downright sinister.
When rumors came out that Microsoft planned to add such a feature to their software, the response was ferocious. Microsoft doesn't carry the friendliest of reputations for the manner in which it competes. Some people believe the company shows few restraints when it comes to finding ways to monopolize their business. Nevertheless, if they ever had any thoughts of adding such a program to their software, they quickly backed down. Microsoft may be the quintessential 800-pound gorilla, but not even they were prepared to deal with the level of ire this idea generated.
So it is perhaps a surprise to see a piece of this concept sneak in the back door through Google, the friendly giant. The concept has not appeared in such a bludgeoning form as people imagined would happen with Microsoft. It has come in unobtrusively, in a relatively insignificant, totally voluntary, and seemingly harmless way with Google. However, it could be the tip of an iceberg. Whether it ever becomes more than what it is now, a small tip which will have little impact on your business, or someday reveals itself to be the hidden iceberg that can sink your business, is impossible to tell. However, it is something worth being aware of in its infancy, because no one can tell for sure how much this infant might grow.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
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Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
