Google bomb 286747 225868211 2008-07-15T19:50:15Z ClueBot 4928500 Reverting possible vandalism by [[Special:Contributions/SpaceMan++|SpaceMan++]] to version by Mattbuck. False positive? [[User:ClueBot/FalsePositives|Report it]]. Thanks, [[User:ClueBot]]. (440939) (Bot) <!-- do not add any new examples of Google bombs without first discussing them on the talk page. All Wikipedia contributions must be properly sourced - if you found a bomb by typing it in yourself, it's original research! --> [[Image:Google Bomb Miserable Failure.png|thumb|300px|right|Example of a Google bomb. The term "miserable failure" is associated with [[George W. Bush]] and [[Michael Moore]].]] A '''Google bomb''' (also referred to as a 'link bomb') is [[Internet slang]] for a certain kind of attempt to influence the ranking of a given page in results returned by the [[Google]] [[search engine]], often with humorous or political intentions.<ref name="nytimes1">{{cite news|first=Tom Jr.|last=Zeller|title=A New Campaign Tactic: Manipulating Google Data|work=[[The New York Times]] (Late Edition (East Coast))|date=[[26 October]], [[2006]]|page=A.20|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/26/us/politics/26googlebomb.html}} (Note: payment required, weblink goes to abstract.)</ref> Because of the way that Google's [[PageRank|algorithm]] works, a page will be ranked higher if the sites that link to that page use consistent [[anchor text]]. A Google bomb is created if many sites link to the page in this manner. ''Google bomb'' is used both as a [[verb]] and a [[noun]]. The phrase "Google bombing" was introduced to the ''[[New Oxford American Dictionary]]'' in May 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/050516-184202|title=Google and Google Bombing Now Included New Oxford American Dictionary|work=Search Engine Watch|first=Gary|last=Price|date=[[May 16]], [[2005]]|accessdate=2007-01-29}}<!--Search Engine Watch article] on addition of "Google Bomb" to dictionary-->.</ref> Google bombing is closely related to [[spamdexing]], the practice of deliberately modifying [[HTML]] pages to increase the chance of their being placed close to the beginning of search engine results, or to influence the category to which the page is assigned in a misleading or dishonest manner. The term '''Googlewashing''' was coined in 2003 to describe the use of [[media manipulation]] to change the perception of a term, or push out competition from [[search engine results page]]s (SERPs).<ref>{{cite news|last=Orlowski|first=Andrew|authorlink=Andrew Orlowski|url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/04/03/antiwar_slogan_coined_repurposed/|title=Anti-war slogan coined, repurposed and Googlewashed ... in 42 days.|date=[[April 3]], [[2003]]|work=The Register|accessdate=2007-01-06}}</ref> ==History== The first Google bomb known about by a significant number of people was the one that caused the search term "more evil than Satan himself" to bring up the [[Microsoft]] homepage as the top result. Numerous people have made claims to having been responsible for the Microsoft Google bomb, though none has been verified.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=2164611|accessdate=2007-01-29|title=Google Bombs Aren't So Scary|first=Danny|last=Sullivan|date=[[March 18]], [[2002]]|work=Search Engine Watch}}<!--Search Engine Watch article] on "more evil then satan himself" discovery.--></ref> In September 2000 the first Google bomb with a verifiable creator was created by Hugedisk Men's Magazine, a now-defunct online humor magazine, when it linked the text "dumb motherfucker" to a site selling [[George W. Bush]]-related merchandise. A Google search for this term would return the pro-Bush online store as its top result.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,41401,00.html|last=Manjoo|first=Fahrad|title=Google Link is Bush League|date=[[January 25]], [[2001]]|work=Wired News|accessdate=2007-01-26}}</ref> Hugedisk had also unsuccessfully attempted to Google bomb an equally derogatory term to bring up an [[Al Gore]]-related site. After a fair amount of publicity the George W. Bush-related merchandise site retained lawyers who sent a [[cease and desist]] letter to Hugedisk, thereby ending the Google bomb.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/01/earlier_today_m.html|title=Remembering the First Google Bomb|first=Michael|last=Calore|coauthors=Scott Gilbertson|date=[[January 26]], [[2001]]|work=Wired News|accessdate=2007-01-27}}</ref> On [[April 6]], [[2001]] in an article in the online magazine uber.nu Adam Mathes is credited with coining the term "Google Bombing." In the article Mathes details his connection of the search term "talentless hack" to the website of his friend Andy Pressman by recruiting fellow webloggers to link to his friend's page with the desired term.<ref>{{cite web|first=Adam|last=Mathes|url=http://uber.nu/2001/04/06/|title=Filler Friday: Google Bombing|date=[[April 6]], [[2001]]}}</ref> However, [[Archimedes Plutonium]] is known to have used the phrase "search engine bombing" (and variants, including "searchengine bombing" and "searchenginebombed") on [[Usenet]] as early as 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://groups.google.com/group/sci.psychology.misc/msg/adadd6cacb72315f|title=Law and Order on Net and Web|date=[[September 17]], [[1997]]}}</ref> ==Beyond Google== Other search engines use similar techniques to rank results, so [[Yahoo!]], [[AltaVista]], and [[HotBot]] are also affected by Google bombs. A search for "miserable failure" or "failure" on [[September 29]], [[2006]] brought up the official [[George W. Bush]] biography number one on Google, Yahoo! and MSN and number two on Ask.com. On [[June 2]], [[2005]], Yooter reported that George Bush was ranked first for the keyword 'miserable', 'failure' and 'miserable failure' in both Google and Yahoo! Google has since addressed this and disarmed the George Bush Google bomb and many others. The [[BBC]], reporting on Google bombs in 2002, used the headline "Google Hit By Link Bombers",<ref> {{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1868395.stm|title=Google Hit By Link Bombers|publisher=BBC|date=[[13 March]] [[2002]]}}</ref> acknowledging to some degree the idea of "link bombing." In 2004, the [[Search Engine Watch]] site suggested that the term should be "link bombing" because of its application beyond Google, and continues to use that [[technical term|term]] as it is considered more accurate.<ref>[http://yooter.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry050602-180255 Yooter SEO blog]</ref> ==Google's response== Google originally took the position that it would not alter the result (or any other Google bombed results) because it wished to preserve the integrity of its search engine.<ref name="Googleblog failure">{{cite web| url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/09/googlebombing-failure.html| title=Googlebombing 'failure'| publisher=Googleblog| year=9/16/2005| first=Marissa| last=Mayer| accessdate=2006-07-13}}</ref> On [[28 September]] [[2005]], [http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/09/googlebombing-failure.html a Google blog] written by [[Marissa Mayer]], Google Director of Consumer Web Products, began to appear with the search results, in order to explain the situation and their reasoning for not manually editing the search results. {{quotation|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.|<ref>[http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/09/googlebombing-failure.html Official Google Blog: Googlebombing 'failure'<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>}} In early 2007, Google changed their indexing structure so that Google bombs such as "Miserable failure" would “typically return commentary, discussions, and articles” about the tactic itself. Google announced the changes on its official blog. In response to criticism for allowing the Google bombs, [[Matt Cutts]], the head of the Google’s Webspam team, said that Google bombs had not “been a very high priority for us.”<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/google.asp Urban Legends Reference Pages: Miserable Failure<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/technology/29google.html Google Halts ‘Miserable Failure’ Link to President Bush - New York Times<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> {{quotation|Over time, we’ve seen more people assume that they are Google’s opinion, or that Google has hand-coded the results for these Google-bombed queries. That’s not true, and it seemed like it was worth trying to correct that misperception.|<ref>[http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/01/quick-word-about-googlebombs.html Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: A quick word about Googlebombs<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>}} ==Motivations== ===Competitions=== In May 2004, the websites Dark Blue and SearchGuild teamed up to create what they termed the "SEO Challenge" to Google bomb the phrase "[[nigritude ultramarine]]".{{Fact|date=March 2008}} The contest sparked controversy around the Internet, as some groups worried that [[search engine optimization]] (SEO) companies would abuse the techniques used in the competition to alter queries more relevant to the average user. This fear was offset by the belief that [[Google]] would alter their algorithm based on the methods used by the Google bombers. In September 2004, another [[SEO contest]] was created. This time, the objective was to get the top result for the phrase "[[seraphim proudleduck]]". A large sum of money was offered to the winner, but the competition turned out to be a hoax.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} In [[.net (magazine)|.net magazine]], Issue 134, March 2005, a contest was created among five professional web site developers to make their site the number one listed site for the made-up phrase "crystalline incandescence". ===Political activism=== {{seealso|Political Google bombs in the 2004 U.S. Presidential election}} Some of the most famous Google bombs are also expressions of political opinion (e.g. "liar" leading to Tony Blair or "miserable failure", or even simply "failure" leading to the White House's biography of George W. Bush). In general, one of the keys to Google's popularity has been its ability to capture what ordinary Web citizens ("[[netizen]]s") believe to be important via the information provided in webpage links. One extremely successful, long-lasting and widespread link bomb has been the linking of the term "[[Scientology]]" to [[Operation Clambake]]. In this case, the index rating clearly emerges from both the individual decisions of pagewriters and reporters and an organized effort led by Operation Clambake itself. The [[Church of Scientology]] has also sometimes been accused of an attempt at Google bombing for making a large number of websites linking terms "Scientology" and "[[L. Ron Hubbard]]" to each other.<ref>{{cite news | last = Hiler| first = John| coauthors = | title = Google Time Bomb: Will Weblogs ruin Google's search engine? | work = [[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] | pages = Webhead: Inside the Internet | language = | publisher = [[The Washington Post Company]] | date = [[March 25]], [[2002]] | url = http://slate.com/id/2063699/ | accessdate = 2007-10-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last = Staff | first = | coauthors = | title = Websites link up players for numbers game | work = [[Financial Times]] | pages = | language = | publisher = | date = [[December 19]], [[2003]] | url = | accessdate = }}</ref><ref name="Bar-Ilan">{{cite journal | last = Bar-Ilan | first = Judit | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Google Bombing from a Time Perspective | journal = Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication | volume = 12 | issue = 3 | pages = Article 8 | publisher = | location = | date = | url = http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue3/bar-ilan.html | doi = | id = | accessdate = 2007-10-27 }}</ref> On [[29 January]] [[2008]] the Google bomb linking the search "dangerous cult" to the homepage of The Church of [[Scientology]] was created, leaving doubts as to the reliability of Google's anti-bombing algorithms.<ref>{{cite news | last = Miller| first = Jason Lee| coauthors = | title = Scientology Bomb Cruises Past Google | work = [[WebProNews]] | pages =| language = | publisher = | date = [[January 29]], [[2007]]| url = http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/01/29/scientology-bomb-cruises-past-google | accessdate = 2007-01-30}}</ref> In 2003, [[Steven Lerner]], creator of [[Albino Blacksheep]], created a [[parody]] webpage entitled [http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/victories.html "French Military Victories."] When typed into Google, the first result leads to a page that resembles Google, which reads, "Your search - French military victories - did not match any documents. Did you mean French military ''defeats''?" The page received over 50,000 hits within 18 hours of its release. Links near the top of the page led to a simplified list of French military history. The page is still first in results for "French military victories."<ref>{{cite news |first=Richard J., Jr.|last=Dalton|authorlink=|title=Internet Parody Hands French Military a Defeat|page=A.27|url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/305039401.html?dids=305039401:305039401&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT|work=Newsday|date=[[13 March]] [[2003]]|accessdate=2007-02-04}} (payment required, link goes to abstract)</ref> In 2004, Jewish writer and activist [[Daniel Sieradski]] urged visitors to his blog to link to the [[Jew|Wikipedia article for "Jew"]] in response to findings that a search for "Jew" returned the [[Anti-Semitism|anti-Semitic]] website [[Jew Watch]] at the top of the results. The campaign was successful in displacing the site from the top result, although ''www.jewwatch.org'' still appears on the first page of search results.<ref>[http://news.com.com/2100-1038_3-5186012.html CNet article] discussing the jewwatch.org Google bomb.</ref> In the same year the [[Persian Gulf]] naming dispute was the subject of a Google bomb by an [[Iran]]ian [[blogger]] named [[Pendar Yousefi]]. [http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/05/10/interview-with-pendar-yousefi-blogger-designer-and-google-bomber/] [http://legofish.com/google/][http://www.thepersiangulf.org/googlebomb.html] Another campaign was organized by columnist [[Dan Savage]] after former US Senator [[Rick Santorum]] made several controversial statements regarding [[homosexuality]]. The Google bombing was part of Savage's campaign to start using the word "santorum" for the combination of semen, lubricant and excrement that results from anal sex, and propelled the website created for that purpose to a high result for "santorum".<ref>http://la.indymedia.org/news/2003/12/97071_comment.php</ref> In [[France]], groups opposing the [[DADVSI]] copyright bill, proposed by minister [[Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres]], mounted a Google bombing campaign linking ''ministre blanchisseur'' ("laundering minister") to an article recalling Donnedieu de Vabres' conviction for [[money laundering]]. The campaign was so efficient that, [[as of 2006]], merely searching for ''ministre'' ("minister") or ''blanchisseur'' ("launderer") brings up a news report of his conviction as one of the first results.<ref>[http://palpitt.free.fr/index.php?2005/12/20/16-google-bomb-a-la-francaise French Web page] describing "laundering minister" Google bomb.</ref> In 2004, after the controversy that erupted in the Philippines over the allegations that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had cheated in the elections, the phrase "pekeng pangulo" ("fake president") was linked to her official website. In the [[2006 US midterm elections]], many left-wing bloggers, led by MyDD.com, banded together to propel neutral or negative articles about many Republican House candidates to the top of Google searches for their names.<ref name="nytimes1" /> Right-wing bloggers responded similarly.<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15418130/ Political bloggers coordinate 'Google Bombs' - National Journal - MSNBC.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In January 2007, Google announced they altered their search engine algorithm to significantly reduce the effectiveness of the technique.<ref name="Googlebombs">{{Cite web |url=http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070126-8714.html |title=Google defuses Googlebombs |accessdate=2007-01-27 |publisher=ARS Technica |year=January 26, 2007 |author=Jacqui Cheng |work=News |format=HTML}}</ref> In March 2007, the Washington Post reported that Nikolas Schiller was able to Google bomb "Redacted Name" to highlight his website's block on search engines.<ref name="RedacteName">{{Cite web |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/13/AR2007031301854.html |title=Here Be Dragons |accessdate=2007-03-14 |publisher=Washington Post |year=March 14, 2007 |author=David Montgomery |work=News |format=HTML}}</ref> ===Commercial bombing=== {{main|spamdexing}} Some website operators have adapted Google bombing techniques to do [[spamdexing]]. This includes, among other techniques, posting of links to a site in an [[Internet forum]] along with phrases the promoter hopes to associate with the site (see [[Spam in blogs]]). Unlike conventional message board spam, the object is not to attract readers to the site directly, but to increase the site's ranking under those search terms. Promoters using this technique frequently target forums with low reader traffic, in hopes that it will fly under the moderators' radar. [[Wiki]]s in particular are often the target of this kind of page rank vandalism, as all of the pages are freely editable. This practice was also called "money bombing" by John Hiler circa 2004.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/01/26/BUG3M4GVDS1.DTL|title=Google targeted by pranksters: Web site operators, bloggers skew results|date=[[2004-01-26]]|accessdate=2007-11-27|author=Kopytoff, Verne|publisher=''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The 100 Best Trends 2006: Emerging Developments You Can't Afford to Ignore|author=Ochoa, George, and Corey, Melinda|page=213|date=2005|accessdate=2007-11-27|publisher=Adams Media|isbn=1593374518|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=am-c2MR1ZA0C&pg=PA213&lpg=PA213&source=web&ots=X2uxj9Kj-O&sig=oZ845W2Y2GBLN3x_cuoFBrJ1sxA}}</ref> Another technique is for the owner of an Internet [[domain name]] to set up the domain's [[Domain Name System|DNS]] entry so that all [[subdomain]]s are directed to the same server. The operator then sets up the server so that page requests generate a page full of desired Google search terms, each linking to a subdomain of the same site, with the same title as the subdomain in the requested [[Uniform Resource Locator|URL]]. Frequently the subdomain matches the linked phrase, with spaces replaced by [[underscore]]s or [[hyphen]]s. Since Google treats subdomains as distinct sites, the effect many subdomains linking to each other is a boost to the [[PageRank]] of those subdomains and of any other site they link to. On [[2 February]] [[2007]], many have noticed changes in the Google algorithm that largely affects, among other things, Google bombs: only roughly 10% of the Google bombs worked as of [[15 February]] [[2007]]. This is largely due to Google refactoring its valuation of PageRank.<ref>[http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=179922 Google Answers explanation] of algorithm changes.</ref> ====Quixtar's bomb==== [[Quixtar]], a [[multi-level marketing]] company, has been accused by its critics of using its large network of websites to move sites critical of Quixtar lower in search engine rankings. A Quixtar IBO reports that a Quixtar leader advocated the practice in a meeting of Quixtar IBO's. Quixtar denies wrongdoing and states that its practices are in accordance with search engine rules.<ref>Glaser, Mark. [http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/050601glaser/ "Companies subvert search results to squelch criticism."] June 1, 2005. USC Annenberg Online Journalism Review. Accessed December 1, 2006.</ref> ==See also== * [[Adversarial information retrieval]] * [[Google Gulp]] * [[Googlewhack]] * [[Spamdexing]] * [[Link doping]] * [[302 Google Jacking]] * [[Political Google bombs in the 2004 U.S. Presidential election]] ==References== {{reflist|2}} ==External links== * [http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_10/tatum/ Deconstructing Google Bombs] ===News articles=== * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1868395.stm Google hit by link bombers] - BBC News, [[March 13]], [[2002]] * [http://lightningfield.com/david/clips/0207googlebombing.html Top of the Heap] - Business 2.0, July 2002 - Ego bombing * [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/22/technology/circuits/22goog.html?ex=1390194000&en=90e67992909e0ad4&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND Engineering Google Results to Make a Point] - ''NY Times'', [[January 22]], [[2004]] * [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_189602.html Student trying to 'bomb' Kerry] - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, [[April 16]] [[2004]] * [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/computing/personaltech/20040614-9999-mz1b14google.html Dropping 'Google-bombs'] - San Diego Union-Tribune, [[June 14]], [[2004]] * [http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2003/jul/10/iraq.internationalnews The war on the web: Anthony Cox describes how his spoof error page turned into a 'Google bomb' for weapons of mass destruction.] - ''[[The Guardian]]'', [[July 10]], [[2003]] * [http://www.directtraffic.org/OnlineNews/Inbound_Links_Most_Important_for_Google_Ranking,_BBC_Reports_200730221833.html Inbound Links most important for Google ranking and bombs [[BBC]] Reports] - ''Direct Traffic News'', [[4 April]], [[2007]] {{Google Inc.}} {{spamming}} [[Category:Google|Bomb, Google]] [[Category:Internet slang]] [[Category:Search engine optimization]] [[Category:Media manipulation techniques]] [[bn:গুগল বোমা]] [[ca:Google bomb]] [[cs:Google bomba]] [[de:Google-Bombe]] [[el:Βομβαρδισμός του Google]] [[es:Google bomb]] [[eu:Google bomb]] [[fa:بمباران گوگلی]] [[fr:Bombardement Google]] [[it:Googlebombing]] [[he:הפצצת גוגל]] [[hu:Google-bomba]] [[nl:Googlebom]] [[pl:Google bomb]] [[pt:Bomba do Google]] [[ru:Гуглбомбинг]] [[fi:Google-pommi]] [[th:กูเกิลบอมบ์]] [[zh:Google炸弹]]