Torpey's story will end on a happier note, though.

As it turns out, Torpey wasn't sure whether he searched for an Olevia LCD TV on Google Products or PriceGrabber, which also hunts for low prices on a variety of merchandise. Interested to find out how word of YourDigitalElectronics had circulated so quickly (the site was launched on Halloween) I contacted Sean Kane, a vice president at PriceGrabber.

According to Kane, the site vets its relationships with merchants very carefully, and, in fact, had no relationship with YourDigitalElectronics.

Here's the classy part, though: Kane agreed to work with one of PriceGrabber's partners to allow Torpey to buy his LCD TV at cost, rather than pay a markup. It might be a small favor, but it does three things: a.) helps ensure a future customer; b.) restores some of the lost confidence a consumer might have in buying online; and c.) indicates that PriceGrabber might do a better job weeding out dodgy merchants than Google does.

And why were those merchants on Google Products, anyway? That's an excellent question, and one I'm working to get Google to answer. "Do no evil" doesn't quite go hand-in-hand with potential fraud, does it?