Among Gross's most exercised critics were Brin and Page, who found his methods repulsive. In their seminal 1998 paper describing Google's search algorithm, the two graduate students blasted the paid search model for creating a problem not easy to detect. “Search engine bias is particularly insidious,” they wrote. “It is very difficult even for experts to evaluate search engines.” Mixed incentives were the enemy, and that is precisely what being in the pay of advertisers produced. For this reason, search, the men believed, should be transparent and dispassionate.

Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, loc. 879