From the Google Blog: Googlebombing ‘failure’
” Googler insights into product and technology news and our culture.
Googlebombing ‘failure’
9/16/2005 12:54:00 PM
Posted by Marissa Mayer, Director of Consumer Web Products
If you do a Google search on the word [failure] or the phrase [miserable failure], the top result is currently the White House’s official biographical page for President Bush. We’ve received some complaints recently from users who assume that this reflects a political bias on our part. I’d like to explain how these results come up in order to allay these concerns.
Google’s search results are generated by computer programs that rank web pages in large part by examining the number and relative popularity of the sites that link to them. By using a practice called googlebombing, however, determined pranksters can occasionally produce odd results. In this case, a number of webmasters use the phrases [failure] and [miserable failure] to describe and link to President Bush’s website, thus pushing it to the top of searches for those phrases. We don’t condone the practice of googlebombing, or any other action that seeks to affect the integrity of our search results, but we’re also reluctant to alter our results by hand in order to prevent such items from showing up. Pranks like this may be distracting to some, but they don’t affect the overall quality of our search service, whose objectivity, as always, remains the core of our mission. “
September 13, 2006 at 9:19 am
This has given Google a really bad name and a good many will not use this sight not only becouse it appears as if Google is bashing the President and appears really biased but they are so unproffesional to do it. Your reluctance may have cost you a lot of valuable contacts. It kinda goes along with the idea that google wouldn’t help the goverment with child porn sites giving up the sites not the addresses being about the only one who wouldn’t do so. You people may be on top but your ethics are going to bring you down!
September 13, 2006 at 9:46 am
The postman brought me bad news — quick, shoot him!
September 13, 2006 at 8:40 pm
This is one of the earliest examples of “creative” use of Google, it’s a couple of years old now. You’ll notice Bush supporters have worked hard to make Michael Moore number two result :)
A more disturbing one (for which Google placed a similar result) was/is the result for “Jew”. For ages the top result for this was a neo-nazi site. Rather than insist Google manually change the result (many people demanded this and Google refused), some creative people teamed up to get many people to link “jew” to a wikipedia entry. The neonazis are still number two.
Anyone with a halfway popular blog that is regularly updated can do this with obscure terms fairly easily. I personally am number one for “foreskin blog” (sometime #2 for this) and morroccan chocolate. A fun but pretty pointless game.
September 13, 2006 at 11:35 pm
It’s pretty simple really. We are to have respect for our President as long as he is in office. What makes it ok to bash the Presedent? nothing, it’s not ok. We may not agree with everything the President does, But we should always show him respect. After all he is our President the highest ranking position in the United States of America, a position that comands respect and honor. If the President were not worthy of his position , he would not be in it. I find no humor in the bashing of our President, plain and simple. In God we trust.
September 14, 2006 at 12:21 am
The truth is the truth, Bush is a failure. And I’m glad search results on google show that. I don’t have to respect Bush because he’s brought nothing but shame to this great nation. He hasn’t done anything, the only thing he’s concerned about is Oil. He has the intelligence of a 2 year old. I can’t have a 2 year old as a “highest seniority” position working for me. I need someone smarter.
The search results in Google for Bush, don’t give google a bad name. Everyone uses google, its the most efficient search engine out there. Google won’t go down.
Bush is a nincompoop and i’m glad typing “failure” in Google depicts that.
September 14, 2006 at 2:13 am
i may have considered this incidence as disrespect for almost any other national leader in the world EXCEPT for Bush. What can i say, the president and failure go together hand in hand. Failure is one thing that Bush and his administration are going to have to get used to, and its the exact word that will describe him in history textbooks in a few years.
September 14, 2006 at 2:28 am
Bad news for spammers…
Pakcar
September 14, 2006 at 2:40 am
So what if a handful of Americans stop using Google as a result of this, as Linda Strotham says? Google is by far the best search engine, so this number isn’t going to be significant anyway. Besides, this has endeared Google even more to the rest of the world, so it doesn’t matter.
September 14, 2006 at 3:43 am
Get a new theme. It is extremely irksome to read your faint coloured text as used in the subtitle, and the click words starting with ‘googlebombing’. Arty-farty minimalism is for shy, retiring, pathetic, downtrodden souls who ought to be neither seen nor heard until they acquire a feeling of self-worth and come out fighting. Or is there thing I am supposed to click to make your pastels into readable solid colours? cyquick.wordpress.com
September 14, 2006 at 4:20 am
Sorry, I just realised mine is not very much better. Grey, rather than green, is fairly good. That browny orange seems to be the least bad. Arty (rather than practical) designers are the bane of my life. I have put the case for theme designers to shape up and give us readble text on Feedback. Cy
September 14, 2006 at 7:09 am
“Arty-farty minimalism is for shy, retiring, pathetic, downtrodden souls who ought to be neither seen nor heard until they acquire a feeling of self-worth and come out fighting”
I have no sense of color, hence can’t take credit for being “arty-farty”. I chose the theme because of all the ones that are header customizable, this one had the shape I like. I have also noticed that the colors show differently in IE, which I use, and in Firefox, where they are pretty washed out.
I would pay for the upgrade to be able to customize the color in CSS, but money is a bit tight now, and I have no dental plan.
As for, “shy, retiring, pathetic, downtrodden souls who ought to be neither seen nor heard until they acquire a feeling of self-worth and come out fighting”, I would have to cop to a lot of that, at least as far as political activism.
I feel the breath of inevitable mortality on my neck, and am trying to concentrate on my spiritual life, religion, rather than politics, my urges not withstanding. I subscribe to the Billy Graham school of religious activism, which is keep state and church separate. Render onto Caesar, that which is Caesar’s and all that.
I believe that one of the main problems in society today is that of dogmatic religious fundamentalists, of ANY religion, who have wrapped themselves in a rote paradigm of religious fanaticism, who blame others for all their, and the world’s, problems, and feel self righteously enabled to pre-emptively strike those others, rather than turn the other cheek.
It is based on a bodily concept of religion, rather than on the study of the soul.
I posted the Googlebombing thing, not as a statement on Bush, but as an example of how search engines function. The response is a bit surprising to me, call me naive. I would prefer to have traffic come to me based on my original content, not as the result of being the transitory site of the latest skirmish over Bush on the internet, which, in the larger picture, is only so much dust blown into our eyes, blinding us until we have new eyes, or cry these clear.
I would like to thank Mr. Angry, for putting the Googlebombing thing into perspective.
September 14, 2006 at 7:33 am
“It’s pretty simple really. We are to have respect for our President as long as he is in office. What makes it ok to bash the Presedent? nothing, it’s not ok.”
Last time I checked, we do possess the freedom of free speech in this country. If our president is ordering the death of innocent people, taking money away from our own children to do it, systematically taking away our civil rights, etc., etc…We have every right to bash him until he’s Blue. Just because he’s president does not mean he deserves respect.
Blessings.
September 14, 2006 at 9:49 am
“Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself (or herself) stands by the country. It is patriotis to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else.” — Theodore Roosevelt
Anyone who claims it is wrong to question the government has no right to be in this country. If you were alive at the time of the american revolution you would have said that its wrong to question the government and would have supported Englands rule. If you don’t like the idea of questioning the government, Then Leave stop trying to push your totalitarian ideals on my country.
On a final note, I was always tought that respect had to be earned, never given, as soon as he does a respectable job I will give him respect.
September 14, 2006 at 11:03 am
Lisa – get a grip…if fabricating links between osammy and sodamn insane didn’t bring georgie porgie down, why would this bring down google…let it ride.
September 14, 2006 at 11:26 am
I understand why Bush supporters might be irked by this, but I don’t understand why they should be irked at Google. Google has become so popular because the search algorithms they use are very effective. The fact that W is linked to failure, whether or not it is because of google-bombing, is not Google’s fault. If they start manipulating their results to appease the easily offended, their value as a search tool will decrease dramatically.
September 14, 2006 at 6:21 pm
As a firm supporter of President Bush, I am amused by the fact that so many take solace in manipulating search results both for and against their respective positions – as if this has any bearing on reality! If this is the standard by which you determine what is true and what is false, then you are lost. You will be buffeted by whatever rhetorical wind blows. This is simply inane hubris. The results are what they are – now we know how they are generated. Apply a little critical reasoning and stop reverse engineering the world to the conclusion that you desire.
September 14, 2006 at 10:49 pm
“It’s pretty simple really. We are to have respect for our President as long as he is in office. What makes it ok to bash the Presedent? nothing, it’s not ok.”
What makes it OK to bash the President (that’s with an “I” by the way) is the same thing that made it OK to bash Clinton, Bush I, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, etc. etc. etc. The First Amendment lets you express your opinion, positively or negatively, regarding anyone.
If this is unacceptable to you, get out and go to Korea. Or maybe Iran. Or about 40 other totalitarian governments in the world. You certainly can’t bash their leaders and expect to keep all of your limbs. But you can here, because we vote for our leaders, we just happened to elect a moron. Twice. Just goes to show what a good negative campaign can do.
September 15, 2006 at 12:31 pm
And likewise, if you do said bashing, you also have the freedom to accept the conesquences. It’s like demonstrators holding up signs during the funerals of fallen soldiers. I would walk up and open palm slap every person I saw holding a sign if such a thing happened in my town. Certainly, they can express their opinion, and they can hear my opinion back.
And what are the people who said there were no WMD’s in Iraq? They were found several months ago. The media certainly never went crazy over that. “Bush was right. Oh crap! We’ll look stupid!”
To the failure and miserable failure prank. I don’t know if Google is publicly traded, but if it is and it’s investors don’t agree with this sort of thing, they can demand it be taken down. If not, well, we’ll just have to deal with it and continue our annoying return spam to google about it. Eye for an eye.
September 15, 2006 at 2:02 pm
so Bush is an IDIOT the whole world knows about this. Problem is this Idiot with help from his friends has made the world such a dangerous place
there are many beautiful people in This world that this administration
does not want U to see or know about
personally i’m tired of hearing how
bush is going to protect the american
people from the boogie man terrorists
the guys’s a flat out coward but very
brave to send our sons and daughters
to lose their live for monetary profits of evil corporations that befit the lies corruption disrespect
for human life BBBBush so easily displays amongst the world. I can’t
recall humans being so divided and so
me against you mind set than where we
are today. Educate your mind and don’t allow goverment’s like ours to control u with lies and deceit. wake
our kids future is in our hands let’s take back what this devils have taken
away from us. Republicans Democrats blacks whites browns yellows we are all looking for peace love and harmony
which this current administration is so set against.
September 15, 2006 at 6:36 pm
I bet that this got GW’s website more hits from people 14-21 than he could have possibly gotten with genuine interest from said group.
September 16, 2006 at 12:02 am
Fredo isn’t very bright. I’m a veteran. Those who are over there (with the exception of the peace time soldiers) want to be there. Unlike the uneducated fools such as Fredo, we know we have a purpose there.
Would you rather soldiers who have already accepted the fact they might die do their job? Or would you rather we sit back and let the civilians do the dying for us AGAIN?
You’re probably some hippy college student who is bothering to post this crap to impress some piece of tail you’ll still never tap.
So instead of just saying Bush is idiot, why not give some proof to substantiate your claims.
September 16, 2006 at 12:08 am
Let’s think back to what we were doing before we went into Afghanistan. The exact same thing we were doing with every other administration before this. And for some reason we were still hit on 9/11. We did nothing to provoke such an attack. And yet you cowards want to pull out and let them keep coming at us and just pray that you’re not on the next plane that comes crashing down.
And the fact remains people have always hated people. There was thing called World War II where everything from homosexuals to jews were put into these little gas chambers or thrown straight into furnaces alive. That certainly sounds like a lot of hate to me.
So how do you not recall there being more hate before than there is now. There always was and always will be. All you can do is stop the flames from getting out of control.
September 16, 2006 at 2:51 am
We never did anything to prompt the 9/11 attacks? Wow, that’s a large pile of ignorant BS! Why is it that when we bomb a town full of civilians it is our patriotic duty, but when someone kills our civilians it is terrorism? Is it because we are the self-drescribed “Greatest Country on Earth”? Is it because God Blesses us so much (as we ask him to all the time)? Why not have God bless the whole world. It is this time-honored sense that “we are the greatest” and “do as we say, not as we do mentalities” equal patriotism that get the world hating us and wanting to do us harm. Used to be Britain got all the animosity, then we outgrew them. An egotistical nation that was too much so for the greatest egotistical nation…now that’s a sight to behold. Also, I have served in two wars, proudly and honorably. I HATE when veterans speak for all the troops. I know many that are disgruntled and have no idea why they are in Irag and not Afghanistan. I know many that have persuaded themselves to believe they have a purpose. NEVER SAY AGAIN THAT ALL THE SOLDIERS SUPPORT THE WAR unless you are a LIAR or a FRAUD! There are men and women on both sides of the issue. Also, it is not cowardly to admit a lost situation and back out. That is sometimes the bravest thing you can do. Only cowards plow on in the face of their own ignorance, rufusing to admit they are wrong.
September 17, 2006 at 4:20 pm
would KRSNA encourage arjuna to fight in the war in iraq? in afghanistan? for which side?
September 18, 2006 at 10:29 am
whatever it is its fun
September 18, 2006 at 1:11 pm
Google is awesome for not caving and manually changing this. The writing is on the wall… Bush is a miserable failure. Quit whining about Google, they just give search results based on algorithms. If you don’t like they’re results, go search somewhere else! But guess what, George Bush is rightfully the #1 result on Yahoo also. Why are you attacking Google? Get your head out of your @#$%.
September 18, 2006 at 4:26 pm
[...] My friend Madhva Ghosh got this in his blog and so I thought that you guys will like this too…the original article is from here : http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/09/googlebombing-failure.html [...]
September 20, 2006 at 2:09 pm
jesse
Combat Veterans Against Illegal Wars responds:
“it is the bound duty of the people of the respective culture to pay suitable veneration to the acaryas known in their land. but it is not proper to insistently propogate the controversial superiority of the teachings of the acaryas of ones own country over those of all other countries, though one may, nay, should cherish such a belief in order to acquire steadiness in the faith of one’s own.
NO GOOD can be effected to the world by such quarrel….
those who are behaving thus, use calumny against different systems in a spirit of jealous spite and malice are out and out BRAINLESS. they do not cherish love towards their own ultimate object of pursuit, so much as towards vain quarrels and contentions.
Thakur Bhaktivinode, Sri KRSNA Sikshamrtam
September 20, 2006 at 5:05 pm
It shows you that our president is a failure !!!
September 21, 2006 at 12:28 am
I try not to get into most things like this ,but first of I thought the whole thing was very funny ,and I am very sorry for those of you that have gotten offended over the fact that we as AMERICANS HAD THE RIGHT awarded to us a very long time ago to be able to speak our minds whether anyone else likes it or not. I also know people that have served our great country, and I have not yet heard it was ok to blindly follow those above that did not have to see or do what they have to do . Correct me if I’m wrong but history shows us the last time a leader or leaders were follwed without question we had Nazi Germany . I for one had family leave Germany, because they refused to blindly follow Hitler .
September 21, 2006 at 8:40 am
“I AN NOT AN AMERIKAN!’, i am not an indian, i am not an iraqi, then why should i waste my efforts in defense of some nationalist capitalists financial interests unless maybe i somehow benefit from their exploitation of other humans with just as much right, nay, even more right than i to the oil in the ground they live in. could it be because i use my vehicle to acquire my sense gratification and that requires more oil than we can rip out of our own area of the planet?
When the atheists, after being well versed in the Vedic scientific knowledge, annihilate inhabitants of different planets, flying unseen in the sky on well-built rockets prepared by the great scientist Maya, the Lord will bewilder their minds by dressing Himself attractively as Buddha and will preach on subreligious principles. SB 2: 7: 37
“the last time a leader or leaders were followed without question we had Nazi Germany”?
the last time a leader was followed without question, we invaded iraq to bring them demoncrazy.
September 21, 2006 at 11:52 am
HOW IN THE WORLD CAN ALL THESE PEOPLE BASH BUSH WHEN OUR COUNTRY STANDS FOR THESE COLORS DON’T RUN?OUR PRESIDENT IS A GOD FEARING MAN AND TO SIT BACK AND CALL HIM NAMES AND BASH WHAT HE HAS DONE. GET THE FACTS ABOUT ALL THE THINGS YOU THINK YOU KNOW THEN LEAVE OUR COUNTRY IF YOUR NOT HAPPY HERE.IT PRETTY SAD THAT WE THIS NATION WAS BUILT ON ONE NATION UNDER GOD AND HOW MANY OF YOU CAN’T SEEN TO SEEK GOD FOR ALL YOUR ANSWERS.PRESIDENT BUSH HAS DONE WHAT PRESIDENT CLINTON SHOULD OF DONE BUT HE WAS TO BUSY SHOWING OUR NATION HOW TO BE AN ADULTRER.GOD BLESS OUR NATION AND OUR NATION SHOULD BLESS GOD.THE BIBLE CLEARLY SAYS OUR PEOPLE PERISH FROM LACK OF KNOWLEDGE.
BRIAN SMITH
September 21, 2006 at 4:29 pm
dear american,
“get the facts”, okay, we’ll try….
“these colors don’t run”
“love it or leave it”
“our president is a God fearing man”
these are not “facts”, they are “opinions”, at best and border dangerously close to “jingoism”.
facts are, in defense of our insatiable need for petrol to run these dinosaurs, we allow a handful of capitalist business men to manipulate the mass of lower than sudra electorate into thinking all the useless items they pursue will give them real pleasure. they can’t. the material condition is not one of acquiring pleasure, through nationalism, patriotism or whatever. it is to develop a loving service attitude to The Supreme Lord. in this regard, if mr bush is the “god fearing man” you claim he is, then wouldn’t his “service” to God be limited by such a relationship based on fear? shouldn’t ones relationship with The Lord be more based on
love for it to truly be “God’s service”?
these points of attitude may seem insignificant to some, but they do go to the mans credibility.
if i were doing what he is doing, i too would rightly fear God.
COMBAT VETERANS AGAINST ILLEGAL WARS
September 22, 2006 at 8:09 am
IMPUGNING THE NAME OF OUR FEUHRER WILL REIGN DISASTER UPON THE OFFENDERS! OUR GLORIOUS TROOPS HAVE SECURED VICTORY IN IRAQ! I HAVE SEEN WITH MY OWN EYES (ON CNN & ON FOX NEWS) OUR GLORIOUS FEUHRER HAS DECLARED THE “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!” IN AN EXPANSIVE WAR OF ATTRITION AGAINST THE WORLD, OUR FEUHRER MUST THREATEN PAKISTAN AND OTHER NATIONS, IMPRISON THE INNOCENT WITHOUT TRIAL, AND TORTURE THE TRUTH FROM THE VICIOUS ARAB MENACE AND EVEN OUR OWN CITIZENS IF REQUIRED! ONLY SOMEONE GUILTY OF TREACHERY AGAINST THE REICH COULD REFUSE TO SEE THE WISDOM OF SURRENDERING HIS LIBERTIES TO THE STATE IN TIMES OF CRISIS! THE FEUHRER HAS OUR BEST INTERESTS AT HEART. GOD HAS SPOKEN TO OUR FEUHRER! TO DISAGREE WITH THE FEUHRER IS TO DISAGREE WITH GOD! GOD IS WITH US! (THE IRS WILL DESTROY YOU IF YOU DEFY OUR FEUHRER AND HIS GOD!)DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR! SEIG HEIL!
A NEW AMERICAN PATRIOT
(with an old, terrifying messsage. Seriously, smarten up, America–your collective soul is on the line.)
September 22, 2006 at 9:13 am
I am going to see if I can figure out how to stop comments on this page. I don’t want this skirmish going on in my village anymore.
If I want to hear the opinions of the pro Bush supporters all I need to do is watch Pravda, or what is it they call it now, oh yeah, Fox News, that shill of the corporate interests. And please, do you really think the Congress is anywhere near as powerful as Halliburton in determining foreign policy? Haliburton, reaper of megaprofits from their subsidiary, KBR.
As for the Bush bashers, I believe that a society that tolerates cow killing creates a psychological predisposition to ego centric policies, and karmically leads to inevitable war. Stop eating meat, and if that is too hard, at least stop eating cows. She gave you her milk, she is your mother.
Liberal issues aren’t even in the media — the dichotomies being discussed are strictly controlled by the corporations that buy the ads.
Conservatives take great pride in waving the flag when the boys and girls go off to moisten foreign sands with their blood. Go military! But who takes care of the psychologically wounded when they come back? Why is caring for the homeless a liberal issue when last night 90,0000 VietNam vets were homeless? The number of homeless vets from both Gulf wars is now at 20,000 and rising. Where is “support our troops” now?
Get real, America.
September 22, 2006 at 9:16 am
FYI, anyone who wants this discussion to continue — take 15 minutes to get your own blog, link the to the Googlebombing post as I did (an action I currently regret) and get ready to greet all your guests. This discussion is not going to be resolved anytime soon, and repeated interations of the same positions in slightly different guises is not something I care to be part of.