In what Google terms an "experiment" with navigation, it is diverting some traffic from Google Base links to jump pages that contain additional information and links to the final destination page, writes ClickZ. Google Base allows users to upload and categorize content, including links to their sites; the jump pages show item attributes and labels and provides links to other items with similar labels.

There are no AdSense ads on any Google Base pages, but the jump pages offer the potential of a targeted page for ads.

Although content providers' traffic might decrease as a result, conversion rates would likely increase as a result of more targeted traffic clicking through from the jump page to the content itself. Still, the "experiment" has upset some content owners.

"I hope they switch it back. At the very least, the display URL should change to show exactly where people are going," Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Watch, is quoted as saying.