Don't Go Looking for Trouble...

http://sunbeltblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/breaking-massive-amounts-of-malware.html

I thought it was a minimal but visually arresting article - enough information to make sure you don't stumble into the dark areas of the web - or at least know what to look for.

By seeding all sorts of sites (blogs/trackbacks/comments) with their infernal site links they try to fool search engines into listing their URL at the top, or at least at the middle of the search results. Unwary users will no doubt not bother to CHECK the URL before clicking it, and what happens next should not be surprising: a whole lot of popups for installing malware/rootkits/password stealers, and of course, the maddening ads.

Here's my suggestion:
When you search for anything, first make sure you check the URL to see if it's a nonsensical mix of meaningless words. If yes then stay away.
You could also try searching your favorite sites first (such as GPSPassion/Poi-Factory for GPS stuff; ExpertsExchange for technical questions; dpreview for camera questions etc). You get the idea.

Be safe!