Last week I reviewed the new Yahoo! search engine. However, some new information has come to light in both the Wall Street Journal (paid subscription) and the New York Times (free registration). Says the Times:

"Yahoo said yesterday that it would start charging companies that want to ensure that their Web sites are included in its Web index from which research results are selected."

"The practice, called "paid inclusion," has long been a part of many search engines including Microsoft's MSN search function and Ask Jeeves. But Google, which last year surged ahead of Yahoo to become the No. 1 site for searching on the Internet, disdains the practice as misleading."

Whatever you think about the underlying search algorithm, this news means that Google is going to remain my search engine of choice — at least until Yahoo starts indicating which listings are paid. After all, I use the Yellow Pages and I look at the display ads; but I know that the size of the ad doesn't reflect anything more than the size of the company's ad budget. Until I can determine how the payments affect the listings on Yahoo, I'll put more trust in Google's listings.