Google isn't the place to look for this though, it's not a store directory, it's a search engine. It just indexes quite intelligently the several billions of web pages currently live online, and returns results based on the search algorithm.

Until there's a well-optimised store directory site operating in this area, you won't get those sorts of results.

In the UK, I worked for several sites, one of which being www.welovelocal.co.uk. This site firstly let you search on there for local businesses, but more importantly, it ranked highly in Google for exactly the searches you list, and Google referred traffic massively outstripped direct traffic.

Spam is quite easy for Google to fish out, but until there's a decent alternative to get rid of such spam, then I'm afraid you'll get what you're given.

"SEO is the bad guy here. It is the reason that you can rarely find what you want on "commercial" google searches."

I wouldn't blame you for this reaction Tom. I mean with all the SEO wannabe companies and individuals who only knew how to cheat search engines (SE) for do lousy spamming optmization techniques, they ruin the industry's name.

But I do agree with Scott. A lot of companies here in Dubai or UAE for that matter who doesn't have an idea what it takes to have a good online presence for their business.

All they do is invest a lot in coming up with flashy good looking websites and that's it. They don't have an idea of what it is to have a good content for their readers, a friendly website structure for search engines, and an online marketing strategy for their customers.

If companies have employed at least textbook SEO best practices, rest assured they'll be on the top SE results on their respective industry searches.

I guess it's also up to us working in online media industry, particularly in the Middle East regions, to create that awareness in the importance of not only SEO but online presence in general.

I've tried to make a long comment but it does not allow me, so I just posted my comment in my blog. here is the link. http://bit.ly/4ca6s

I was trying to order flowers online - something I've done many times... through many different sites as different ones keep coming up each time...

The last time I did it, I was put through to a pretty well-made site (which looked a little bit cheap, but authentic) and went through all the processes. It then started to hang after inputing my credit card details.

I then looked for a phone number or other contact detail and found +66 was the code... and there was no way to actually reach the company.

Is there a case where Google may be held responsible for providing links to Web sites that are false or potentially criminal?

Are they liable say, in the same way tobacco companies are for cancer, corporates for injuries that happen on their premises, or McDonalds is for people scalding themselves on its coffee?

It's a lot different I know, but... shares similar logical arguments? I.e. They are claiming to offer a service, but are they doing enough to protect the user?

Google cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure, like giving credit details to a websites.

So the best thing to do is to look for some review first of the website that you're going to transact with. Try to observe and check the website like if they have proper tel #, proper address or try to call them to make sure they are legit..

Google and other search engine can only warn and advice you to watch for any false website and be careful giving personal details through the internet.

Obviously the laws are different everywhere, but in the US, where the trends are set when it comes to this stuff, right now content platforms have a kind of immunity for things that are posted by users.

This came from a court precedent back in the day, saying that telephone companies are not responsible for obscene phone calls - they provide the platform, but cannot control what people do on it. That precedent has been extended to online: first for ISPs, which in most situations cannot be held responsible for content hosted on their servers, and also for web "platforms" like Google or Yahoo, who are not responsible for things posted on their email system, discussion boards etc...

But this whole assumption is coming under a lot of testing these days. If you check the details of the Auto Admit case, female college students are suing a law school discussion board, because it let a bunch of guys post pics and dirty talk about them. They asked the site to take it down, the site told them to go away, they are suing, and seem to have a pretty good chance of winning, and setting a pretty major settlement.

Other cases are also testing this - the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DCMA) lets content owners send a "takedown" notice to internet providers, telling them to take copyrighted content off their hosted services. And the legal mess surrounding websites like Napster, The Pirate Bay and Bittorrent is getting more intense.

There are cases where Google manually filters search results to comply with local laws - not showing links to Neo Nazi sites in some European countries, etc. But I agree with Edward that it is better if people are just more vigilant when it comes to anything internet / credit card related...

Thing is this site is called Forever Florist Dubai (www.forever-florist-dubai.com) and looks pretty good from a design / authenticity point of view. It was also a sponsored link - not a random link (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=flowers+dubai+internet+city&aq=f&oq=&aqi=g2)...

There might be an angle that says this is globalisation in practise cos this seems to be quite an honest site.

But its not right that a site which pretends to be in Dubai is actually serviced from abroad, and gains credibility from being a sponsor on the world's major search engine.

Should Big-G be more choosy in its advertising partners? Maybe this is not a case of 'Browser Beware' but an unwitting 'collusion leading to consumer confusion'.

To be in sponsor section of google does not mean it's legit. but mostly if you report that in google they will penalize that website

Having an outside contact number is already fishy for me if you stay in Dubai. But of course it's always you who can decide if you want to have a transaction in this type of website.

nowadays most people are scammed by falling into exaggerated offer like free & cheap, so I suggest it's better to trust a well known brand at least you know that it's worth it and it's safe.

If you cannot find any review of the website then don't try to use it.

here is some info of some complaints for this website and some domain name which has the same content.

whois: http://www.who.is/whois/forever-florist-dubai.com/
complain with the same website with different domain:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/forever-florist-korea-c195537.html

The very first objective of having a website is to be visible online. SEO is just another important factor like having a good design or a good content.

I think your criticism is more on traditional grounds and this happens when you are not willing to accept change. The SEO is a new method of making your site visible, there is no doubt about that some SEO companies are using black hat techniques but one cannot make sweeping judgments and start criticizing everyo0ne. There are companies which are using positive methods as well and they never use unethical or illegitimate ways to get their site on the top. I think every coin has its two sides so do SEO.