 Number 261 - February 2005 |
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| Googlewhacking | |
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by Vinny La Bash, vlabash@home.com Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. | |
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Last month's column dealt with what some might call the dark side of Google, which is Gmail. This month, we show the fun side of Google.
You probably never heard of Gary Stock. He's the guy who transformed the practice of using Google as a search engine to using the tool as an entertainment device that he dubbed "Googlewhacking". Tony Soprano doesn't handle this kind of whack. This is a game, incredibly challenging and a lot of fun. In its most basic form, Googlewhacking consists of entering a two-word search term into Google's engine, and getting only one result. It's not easy. I tried "molecular disassemblers" (without the quotes) and got 129 hits. There must be quite a few folks who are disassembling molecules these days. Experimenting with other unlikely two word combinations yielded similar results. I have yet to earn the title of successful Googlewhacker, and it's not for lack of trying. Don't be surprised to find yourself becoming addicted. Anyone who is taken with intellectual challenges will enjoy Googlewhacking. It's more demanding than Scrabble, cheaper than Vegas, and more frustrating than being stuck in rush hour traffic fuming about gasoline prices. A few critics have suggested that Googlewhacking may affect Google's ordinary search results. That's extremely unlikely. You may get a few extra hits on a search, but how likely is it that you will search for terms such as "ambidextrous scallywags"? |
Some people claim to have invented the "sport" before Gary Scott. Don't be surprised if one of them claims they invented looking up words in a dictionary. Some Internet savvy individuals believe that Googlewhaking originated in the blogging community, but there is little evidence to support the conjecture.
Gary Stock has some simple rules for Googlewhacking: You can find a complete explanation of the rules on Gary's web site at www.unblinking.com/heh/googlewhack.htm. Good luck! You'll probably need it. Copyright 2004. This article is from the December 2004 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication. |
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Number 262 - February 2005
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