The ranking of a website on a search engine results list that is due entirely to the search engine's algorithms evaluating the site rather than from a paid ad. Also called an "organic impression" or "natural search result."
The websites of companies that pay for ads are ranked either on the first page or very high in the results list. However, without paid ads, websites are ranked based on their popularity and the content of their pages, the latter often manipulated by optimization specialists who try to trick the search engine (see
page ranking and
search engine optimization). See
vertical search engine and
search engine.