The complaint states that such listings "look like information from an objective database selected by an objective algorithm. But really they are paid ads in disguise."
Companies named in the complaint include AltaVista, AOL Time Warner, Direct Hit Technologies, iWon, LookSmart, Microsoft and Terra Lycos.
"These search engines have chosen crass commercialism over editorial integrity," said Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert. "We are asking the FTC to make sure that no one is tricked by the search engines' descent into commercial deception," he added. "If they are going to stuff ads into search results, they should be required to say that the ads are ads."
The complaint praises search engine Google for clearly stating and for not putting “paid ads within its search results”.
The FTC has yet to rule on the complaint, filed last month.