SEO (search engine optimization) musings

i just did a web search for a topic where i don't have very much context to judge how relevant / reliable the results are

of course i reflexively ignored the paid results

for the "organic" results, if it's a topic i am familiar with, i may glance briefly at the top results - mostly for entertainment value, at the ridiculous junk that manipulated its way to the top

however, with something unfamiliar, i hovered briefly over the top "organic" result, wondering if it was worth the effort to click through to see how useful it might be

given the rampant manipulation behind high ranking, i wonder how many of us also reflexively ignore the top N organic results