The apparent spam attacks on Google continue. Among the top results appearing briefly in among the top ten search terms highlighted on Google Trends (before being pulled down) are “sh*t pond” (which went to No. 3) and “how to poop at work” (which made it at least to No. 10). That is after the top result this morning was “ǝlƃooƃ noʎ ʞɔnɟ.” And last week, there was the swastika incident.
Some people seem to be toying with Google, making whatever search terms they want appear on the Google Trends hot list. For instance, right now, the No.3 trend is hymenoptera (the order of insects bees belong to). The No. 1 and No 2 spots, “missing money” and “missingmoney.com,” are much more spammy in nature.
Are these real searches or spam? The obvious fake ones throw every term on the top ten into question. If all it takes to get on Google Trends is a lot of recent or concurrent searches, that now looks to be the new game among spammers and pranksters alike.
(Hat tip to Akshay Jain and Nick Shulman).
how to poop at work :)) or shit pond. Just today was another article about gTrends: http://www.techcrunch.com/2008.....ted-again/. Not a good one for google too.
Blog with news: http://liviux.byethost15.com/
Shit pond made the list because of the Howard Stern Show. They talked about the Shit Pond in Afghanistan that Artie Lange and his USO tour gave concert at that week.
Shows the power of Traditional Media still to make a difference.
Slow news day? How exactly is pranks and toilet “humor” interesting stuff that TC should cover?
Come on guys, exercise some editorial judgement.
Next up on TC: FART JOKES!
Hotness: Volcanic!
Hymenoptera is from Who Wants to be a Millionaire
#2 has it right. Virtually every day, Howard Stern searches make it into the top 10.
…and the missingmoney.com thing was plugged on CNN I think. I believe those were all legitimate search terms believe it or not.
…and the missingmoney.com thing was plugged on CNN I think. Those were all legitimate search terms believe it or not.
Talking about missing money, check out this related article.
why is this being written about? its just google trends, who cares
No, I think the missingmoney.com is real — because that show called “You Might Be Rich” premieres tonight:
http://www.watchfreeepisodes.c.....nline/856/
But yeah, I hope Google puts an end to the gamers.
You can kinda tell the legitimate searches sometimes…
These guys are really good, and have the sense of humour
Nath
http://www.themostpowerfulcompany.com
Why is this news? The sh*t pond reference was mentioned on the Howard Stern show today in reference to the sewage treatment plant used by the U.S. Military in Afghanistan. It is indeed referred to as The Sh*t Pond. Almost everyday something from the Howard Stern show pops up onto google trends.
Furthermore, why is google in the censorship business? I didn’t know google trends were only suppose to report back G rated trends.
-#1
The Power of the Stern Army is undeniable!
Stern Rules….Hey Now!
Surely ‘australian family buys dream home on ebay for $1′ is not a hot search term by coincidence? I appreciate there might be a story about it but surely lots of people aren’t typing ALL THAT into google?
http://www.google.com/trends/h.....4&sa=X
Google news & humour : http://bloggle.org.uk
I think they are all legit searches…
haha, i remember when http://stuffididlastnight.com was on the top trends
Agreed. Sh*t Pond was a legit search from Stern fans this morning.
Also- The “missing money” site was features on Good Morning America today… hence all the searches.
Hahaha how to poop at work. Guess if you forgot how wear a diaper.
Classic problem with blogging; write first think later!
All of the search terms mentioned in this articles were legitimate searches, hymenoptera because it was mentioned on Who wants to be a millionaire; missing money because both CNN and ABC have segments about them.
I am not even sure if swastika was a “gamed” search term. I didn’t know that you could search for a symbol like that, so I did a search and that contributed to it being in the top Google trend.
I bet ya, one of the social networking/digg like placed “ǝlƃooƃ noʎ ʞɔnɟ.” as an example and everybody started searching.
I don’t even mind writing first and thinking later, but it should also mean updating as more information becomes available.
25% or more of all searches on Google have never been done before. Doubt these are spam and most can be explained as others have above.
Well done.
I agree with you.
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