The Best of Google http://www.thebestofgoogle.com Mon, 16 Oct 2006 18:47:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 en Google show results from Yahoo?? http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/google-show-results-from-yahoo/ http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/google-show-results-from-yahoo/#comments Mon, 16 Oct 2006 18:46:50 +0000 Björn English http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/google-show-results-from-yahoo/ This is a really odd one… When searching for “therapy products” on Google you get… well, check out the screenshot below.

[Screenshot]

If this is a bug or a feature I don’t know…

]]> http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/google-show-results-from-yahoo/feed/ The History of the French Military http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/the-history-of-the-french-military/ http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/the-history-of-the-french-military/#comments Fri, 11 Aug 2006 12:05:59 +0000 Björn English http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/the-history-of-the-french-military/ [Screenshot]

Well, how did this happen? A strange algorithm miss, or does Google have anything to say about the history and competence of the French military?

Of course the algorithm is based purely on what others has searched for?

]]> http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/the-history-of-the-french-military/feed/ “The Giant Cock” http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/the-giant-cock/ http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/the-giant-cock/#comments Tue, 08 Aug 2006 18:14:22 +0000 Björn Swedish http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/the-giant-cock/ [Screenshot]

Well, your NetNanny software can’t stop them all. Imagine your kid googling for the harmless term “giant teddy bear” (Swedish: “jättenalle“). Well, doing that in Swedish will cause Google to ask: “Did you mean: “Giant cock”? (Swedish: “jätteballe”).

Clicking that suggestion will return a number of not so harmless websites… :)

Google has been said to remove all “sexually related” automatic suggestions, but they obviously missed this one!

]]> http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/the-giant-cock/feed/ The Miserable Failure http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/the-miserable-failure/ http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/the-miserable-failure/#comments Tue, 08 Aug 2006 16:54:16 +0000 Björn English http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/the-miserable-failure/ [Screenshot]

Well, I start with this one, the most classic of all Google results. You all know it by now, but when you search for “miserable failure” on Google, the first result that shows up will be the biography of George W Bush.

How did this happen? Well, as most techies know, this is the result of one of the most famous Google algorithms. Google analyzes the text in each link and uses that information to understand what the page linked to is all about.

So, by creating many of links to Mr. Bush, from many different sites but with that same link text (“miserable failure”), a number of people (probably a bunch) have managed to make Google believe that the biography is actually about “miserable failure”.

Classic. Any really funny. :)

]]> http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/the-miserable-failure/feed/ Welcome to “The Best of Google”! http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/first-post/ http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/first-post/#comments Tue, 08 Aug 2006 16:24:45 +0000 Björn Uncategorized http://www.thebestofgoogle.com/?p=3 Welcome to this blog!

During the next few weeks I expect some major changes here, primarily to the layout and some wordpress modifications.

Anyway, this is a quite silly blog. The single purpose of it will be to publish funny Google behavior – Stuff that makes us geeks laugh. When you read this there will probably be some screenshots posted already, so you will know what I mean.

Perhaps some of the screenshots will stir a discussion as well, about the algo and how the heck it managed to return a result like that.

How did I get this awkward idea? It emerged from my interest in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and search driven economy.

So, enjoy the posts. Hopefully you will get a laugh or two. :)

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