Hmmmm.... Me thinks she's been duped about having top rankings.
I think by "top placement" she has signed up for one of those nefarious malware (scumware) programs. These companies tell you that you need to have the latest version of Internet Explorer, but in reality you are downloading a spyware/adware plugin.
If you have the plugin on your PC it looks like a special window at the top of the page when you search on Google, Yahoo, or MSN. Only infected computers see the window.
My PC was infected with one of these junk programs and it took me the better part of the day to figure out how to get rid of it. Adaware, Spybot, and other programs couldn't find it. In fact, the only way that I found it was by viewing the source of a tiny image in the ad window. Once I traced that URL, I was able to find a site to tell me how to remove it.
If it's working for her there must be a lot of infected PC's still out there.