What is Sponsored Steering?
You search with a goal, and the first screen of 'results' is inventory someone paid to put in your way. The ad labels shrink as the ad slots multiply.
Where it comes from
Search and marketplace ad platforms (2010s)
How it hooks you
Exploits position bias: people treat rank as relevance and click the top results even when they know placement can be bought.
What the research shows
The Markup found Amazon listings whose own source code said 'sponsored' in 87% of cases while showing shoppers no such label.
Source: The Markup, 'Amazon Puts Its Own Brands First' investigation (2021)
How to resist it
Scroll past the first screen of any search results before you tap, and hunt for the tiny 'Sponsored' tag near each listing.