Google Stops Showing Unofficial ESTA Ads On Search
The ESTA is very important, and companies have used Google ads to get above the official site to make money. Google has now stopped this.
I noticed some time ago when ESTA's starting come into practice, that if you searched ESTA you would get a list of company ads which offered the service of doing your ESTA for more than it costs doing it yourself. Sometimes up to £100 (it costs just $14 for an ESTA). A majority of these services may well have been legitimate, but consumers were fooled into thinking this was their only option.
When being told by your travel agent you need an ESTA to fly to the USA they often give you the exact web address, which is http://esta.cbp.dhs.gov. That's quite a mouthful, so most people ended up just doing a Google search and click whatever comes up first.
The BBC today reports that Google have stopped companies being able to place ads when people search for ESTA. So now, when you search ESTA you should get the official ESTA website come up first.
