When searching on Google for "move·com", an exact domain, an ad for a confusingly similar domain appeared — "move-man·com".

Move·com (Move Inc.) is an American real estate company, but the ad is for house removals.

The first result is often trusted and often visited, and at first glance appears to be what we want, but it is not. In the first screenshot the screen is filled by the first result — the ad — so you can’t see the real result for Move·com without scrolling, as shown in screenshot 2.

In the third screenshot we performed a new search and we received two ads before the official website.

This instance is concerning because we asked for an exact domain and conflicting ads obscure the official result. The internet is underpinned by domains and the Domain Name System (DNS), so web searches for domains should return unambiguous results. Some may argue entering the domain into the address bar, which gets you there directly and avoids ads and bad results, but the domain might have changed ownership and may now be malicious, so it makes sense sometimes to search a domain before visiting it directly. Also, many web users perform navigational queries in search engines to get to websites rather than address input.