"The presence of a link to a retailer has no effect on the decision outcomes Hunch proposes. Within a given decision topic, it's likely that some result pages will link to an online retailer, and others won't. Some topics don't have these sorts of links at all."
What book should I read (linking to Amazon). What song should I listen to (linking to iTunes)..
sounds fair enough - if they can stick to it.
(to clarify - If you are being sponsored/monitized by the retailer and not the manufacturer - then some recommendations would be pretty legit (you'd have incentive to suggest the best song/book)) Remembering though that any attempt to ask "where should I buy my books / music - will then conflict with that relationship with apple/amazon/etc.
What should I eat for lunch?
A. McDonalds (sponsored by McDonalds)
B. You get the picture...