With all the talk about trains in recent days, reader Zach decided to do some quick Googling to check out some train ticket prices. He typed in “cheap train tickets” and what do you know? Oh, hello Delta! We didn’t know you were in the train business now. Let’s click on your link on the small hope that maybe there’s a train ticket discount or some sort of…nope, same old Delta. Zach’s letter, inside…

I’m a regular reader, but this is the first time I’ve felt the need to write in. Not because I’m mad or need to vent about anything, but because I found something you guys might find as hilarious as i did… I noticed a couple of posts about trains today on the site, and as such I thought to myself, hey I wonder how much a train ticket to Tulsa, Ok is from here(where a good friend of mine lives). Now what makes this funny to me is the Google response to my entered text of …. “train tickets”

Now notice if you will the 1st sponsored link. CHEAP TRAIN TICKETS
and where does it take you http://www.delta.com, which even against my better judgment I clicked on. Thinking maybe they have a deal with Amtrak or something, and that I would be able to look at train schedules and such, but lo and behold my amazement when I realized this was in fact just Delta Airlines site, and had absolutely nothing to do with trains.
Thought you guys might enjoy that.
Zach

We tried these searches a few times and sometimes Delta appears at the top of the main results list, sometimes not. If it doesn’t appear on the main results area, it always appears at the top of the right margin under sponsored links (pictured above.) We’re not sure whether Delta is responsible for this misdirection or one of their affiliate advertisers, but either way it’s misleading to potential ticket buyers. Come on Google, will you do anything a company pays you to do? Ok, don’t answer that. Even though they rhyme, we know for a fact that trains and planes are different, don’t try to derail our logic.

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