A spokesperson for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said the guiding principle behind its research is ensuring that consumers aren't being misled.
The revelation comes in the wake of news that the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has urged Web directory operators in North America to tighten distinctions between paid content placed in search results and non-paid lisitngs.
Last year, US-based Commercial Alert asked the FTC to look into the practice of paid placement in Web searches, and specifically into whether it violated laws mandating disclosure of advertising content.
The original complaint, filed in July 2001, named AltaVista, AOL Time Warner, Microsoft, LookSmart and others.
Local search and directory operators that spoke to ZDNet Australia claim they already comply with the FTC's recommendations.
The distinction between advertising and neutral content delivered by their search services, they said, is clear enough to prevent consumers being deceived.
"We've been very clear about what's paid and what's not because that's what people want," said Yahoo spokesperson Anna Featherstone.
AOL-Seven chose not to comment on the FTC's recommendations but said, unlike its US partner site, its search facility doesn't support the placement of paid content.
Taking a similar line to Yahoo, AltaVista Australia said its service wouldn't need to change as it has been listing its sponsored links above its neutral search results for months.
However, a spokesperson for AltaVista hinted that the company is considering altering the way it labels sponsored links returned by its query service.
LookSmart couldn't provide a spokesperson to comment on the news.
Reuters contributed to this article.
