[js1138]

Google has results above the line and results below the line. Above the line results are paid.

Aside from that, there are companies that can move your site higher in the rankings by manipulating the way google searches.

Google ranks sites by the number of links to a site. If no other site links to yours, you are dead. It is easy and inexpensive to set up web rings that boost each others rankings. I'm sure there are other techniques used to boost google ranking.

[antiRepublicrat]

It is easy and inexpensive to set up web rings that boost each others rankings.

That's a quick way to get the Google "death sentence," where they reset your rank to zero. They've even done it to a lot of high-profile companies.