I ran a particular query in Goolge and saw that the site appearing at the top is also their inside the Sponsored Links. Don't you think it looks odd! If there was some filter or check to stop showing the Sponsored Link if it is already there on the SERP, then it would be good.

Anyways, can the site owners do anything on their part to stop this?

I never used AdWords program, that's why asked here...

__________________
my web wings

I monitor my SERPs. If one of my keywords is performing in the organics, I decrease my bid in AdWords. I don’t know of any automatic service that does this for you. I just try and check it at least once a week for my top performing keywords. Hope that answers your question. Just my 2-cents!

[Link deleted by Mod Webnauts]

Well, the only real reason to have an ad on a page where you have a natural result is to double up your "importance" to the visitor. However, this is a job of your team to know what terms you rank well for and avoid spending $$ for the ads for those terms.

This can be done easily by seeing what terms are guiding visitors to your site from the search engines via your analytics package.

__________________
We offer a total eCommerce solution with eCommerce Web Design using Pinnacle Cart

So that is the only way, thanks for your inputs.

__________________
my web wings

Forgive me, but I can't help being reminded of the "penny wise, pound foolish" saying.
If you're appearing in both the organic and sponsored resluts, you should be tipping your hat to Google. It means you're good enough to be noticed twice -- when the overwhelming majority of site owners would be willing to give their eye teeth to turn up just the once. (See, for example, innumerable WPW posts to this effect.)
Shaving your AdWord budget would be a mistake. There is, you can be absolutely assured, no connection between the organic and sponsored results. Your double showing is sheer coincidence.
But nickel and diming Google could cost you a bundle. For example, how do you know whether the clicks you're getting are because visitors realize how good you are? They might well have decided that you gotta be worth a visit if you're showing wherever they look on the SERP page.
To put things another way, let me quote another saying: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Duncan

__________________
Acts as an Exclusive Buyer Broker for purchasers of residential, industrial, commercial, and investment properties in all parts of the Niagara Peninsula.
http://www.duncanpollock.com
http://www.iciniagara.com

I agree with Duncan.

Tipping my hat to Google? Really? I can basically pay for placement with Google, bid high enough and for a period, you'll show as high as you'd like on the page. Long run might not be quite as true, but it is relatively true.

Why in the world you'd pay when you are naturally coming up for the term is a wild one for me? If you have a limited budget, then I would only pay for phrases that you need help in getting traffic for. Isn't that the point of PPC SEM?

I'm only paying because I'm not getting the natural clicks. That's the whole reason to pay for an ad. Perhaps I'm missing something here.

__________________
We offer a total eCommerce solution with eCommerce Web Design using Pinnacle Cart

A user has 20 choices of URLs when including paid and organic, to visit in any given search query results page. A certain percentage will click on the 1st organic listing ( I once read in an accidentally leaked report by AOL it was around 49%). The rest of the clicks are dispersed around given to PPC ads, #10 positions, and even the next page. Doesn't it make sense that if your site is in more than one place on the page, it increases the chance that a user will visit?

Secondly, as other posters have said, having an organic listing and an ad could legitimize the offer in the users mind. Much like having an article about your company by an ad in a newspaper; the chances are higher that the reader will read both. It could be what pushes him/her to click by having a 1 + 1 = 3 effect. This has been studied and reported as an actual phenomenon.

But yes, it depends on what you mean by "limited budget." You might not want to chase the top 15% with that on paid search, but there are plenty of good buys still left if you do the right kind of keyword research, measure the right successes and keep the ones converting for you. Some very profitable companies based their whole business development on PPC. They grew with their budget because of the unbelievable ROI ppc can produce. keeping it scaled and measuring ROI, ROAS, CPA, are what lets you know if it is making you money and you would have not had the business otherwise. It is not just "more traffic." It should not be looked at as cost center, but a revenue generator if you are keeping your thumb on what is working and what is not.

While working with Motorola, the marketing team insisted on ranking first for both organic and PPC searches. Rational: there is a certain number of users who will click on the first organic results, others prefer to use the paid placement. We wanted to capture both market segments. Revenue for days where the site was running PPC campaign was definitely higher. So, it might make sense even if you are ranked first for a some keywords to run a ppc campaign on these words and compared revenue.

Numbers rarely lie

Khalid

__________________
INVESP Consulting| Increase your site conversion rate | Subscribe to INVESP and win $400

Interesting feedback khalidh, for someone the size of motorola, I'm sure it's a better bet, for a small business on a limited marketing budget, I'm not sure how good of an idea it is. guess it may be worth a test to say the least.

__________________
We offer a total eCommerce solution with eCommerce Web Design using Pinnacle Cart