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The best sentence I read today, 7:46 a.m. edition
Someone once told me that there is nowhere we are more honest than the search box.
That's from still-a-Wunder-but-no-longer-a-Kind Ben Casnocha. Read the whole post (drawing upon Michael Agger), it's one of the best I've seen in some time. For instance:
There are some remarkable contrasts between "dumb" searches and "smart" ones. People who start their search "how 2" are more likely to search "how 2 get pregnant" or "how 2 grow weed." People who start their search "how one might" are more likely to search "how one might discover a new piece of music" or "how one might for the rise of andrew jackson in 1828."
Another contrast is between people who type in "is it wrong to" vs. people who type in "is it unethical to." If you type in "is it wrong to" the first suggestion is "is it wrong to sleep with your cousin." Number two is (yes, I tested it in Google): "Is it wrong to sleep with your step dad after your mom dies." If you type in "is it unethical to," the first suggestion is "is it ethical to sell customer information." Next comes a question about animal experimentation. You'll see the lists of comparisons behind the first two links offered above.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on November 11, 2009 at 07:54 AM in Web/Tech | Permalink
Comments
You tested what, exactly?
Posted by: Andrew at Nov 11, 2009 8:06:56 AM
Number two is (yes, I tested it in Google): "Is it wrong to sleep with your step dad after your mom dies."
Is it wrong for me to blog, "Tyler Cowen tested sleeping with his..." ?
Posted by: Bob Murphy at Nov 11, 2009 8:34:28 AM
I remember a while back (I'm pretty sure it was in Marginal Revolution comments) there was a discussion of asking college professors if you can sit in a class for free, and one person said he had even gotten a recommendation from one of these professors after the class. Does anyone know what post that was on?
Posted by: Brent at Nov 11, 2009 8:42:52 AM
Shouldn't the credit go to the "someone" who once told the "wunder" that.
Posted by: josh at Nov 11, 2009 8:51:43 AM
"wrong" and "unethical" are slightly different.
Also, it is a better interpretation, I think, to say "people are nowhere as honest as in the search box" than to say "people who start their searches..." because it is also in the mood or moment of the person.
For example, if I am searching for something relating to work, I am more likely to ask "is it unethical to sell customer information," if I am searching while researching for a paper, I am more likely to ask "Hegel ethics" and if I am searching while having a drunk google chat with someone who thinks that everyone in the south sleeps with their cousin, then I am more likely to ask "is it wrong to sleep with your cousin in the south" ... although I never start with "is it" because I thought google ignores those words. I guess I don't try to use the google completion. All my searches look like "Hegel ethics" generally.
Posted by: liberty at Nov 11, 2009 8:56:35 AM
Google Suggest appears to return groomed data. "porn" has 0 suggestions which I find a bit surprising. :)
Posted by: Jayson at Nov 11, 2009 9:34:37 AM
The suggestions seem to be country-specific. If I try the same phrases in the Dutch version of Google, then nothing is unethical (i.e. no suggestions) and the only three "wrongs" are:
1. is it wrong to be strong
2. is it wrong to drink blood
3. is it wrong to eat your dog
Posted by: erik at Nov 11, 2009 9:44:10 AM
Wow, this just shows to me more that people as a whole don't understand searching, and thus largely don't understand computers. I tailor my searches to keywords that I think will get me the best results. I'm surprised people search using such standard English questions.
Posted by: Sean at Nov 11, 2009 10:17:26 AM
I think Google is missing an opportunity to have an INSTANT Ann Landers column with this format. You chose the type of advisor you want to answer the question.
So, to Ann Landers you could ask: What should I do if I suspect my husband is....
Or, you could flip it and have Google respond as if it were a different personality other than Ann Landers.
What advice would you receive from: Machiavelli or Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln or the Pope.
Posted by: Bill at Nov 11, 2009 10:18:48 AM
what kind of person starts a Google query with "how one might"?
Posted by: secretivek at Nov 11, 2009 10:18:55 AM
I can see how different social groups with different interests use different language, which would explain the results, but how does that make the searchers or their searches "dumb" or "smart"?
Posted by: abc at Nov 11, 2009 10:21:51 AM
+1 to Sean and secretivek.
anyone who would classify a direct question search as "smart" is operating with ridiculously low standards.
what kind of searchers expect sophisticated information to be indexed as an FAQ where the questions start with "how might one..."?
Posted by: curious at Nov 11, 2009 10:27:33 AM
Quote from sean: I'm surprised people search using such standard English questions.
Excellent point. I think we learned more about how the author of the article searches than how the general population searches. I can't remember the last time I typed the word "how" into a search box...
Posted by: Jayson at Nov 11, 2009 10:36:32 AM
My guess is that the "how might one" searches are related to homework problems. "How might one account for the rise of Andrew Jackson to victory in the election of 1828" sounds a lot like an essay assignment for a history class, and the next two sound like they could be questions from a chemistry or biology assignment.
There is a part of me, however, that refuses to give up the image of a pith-helmeted explorer in the jungles of South America with his computer and satellite phone, desperately googling, "How might one treat poisoning from curare?" I say, old chap, do be more careful in the future!
Posted by: rpl at Nov 11, 2009 10:59:14 AM
Google definitely returns "groomed" search results. Putting aside any safe-search like features (for example, cannot get any pornographic results), there are other things going on too. I was actually playing with this a few weeks back and typed in a pretty generic question start (something along the lines of "what is" or "how do you make") and one of the top results had something to do with Totem pole construction. Another example: just now typed in "what are" and it completed to: "what are these strawberries doing on my nipples i need them for the fruit salad." I think its a book or movie or something, but i still highly doubt that's the top search after the words "what are."
I would be very interested if anyone had any insight as to how things get to the top of google's auto-complete.
Posted by: Jason at Nov 11, 2009 11:04:08 AM
Re homework, try "In what manner". Both suggestions are obvious exam questions.
Posted by: John S. at Nov 11, 2009 11:17:52 AM
You do realize that there are books that teach you how to direct people to your site by exploiting google's internal programming? I am sure there are ways to make the most popular search term be whatever you want it to be if you have enough time and resources.
Posted by: BB at Nov 11, 2009 11:37:01 AM
I don't know how to put this politely, but why do you consider this so good? He grabbed the best parts of a Slate article, then added one sentence which is a fairly straightforward claim (people search for... what they want to know! Shocking!).
Posted by: hamilton at Nov 11, 2009 12:33:41 PM
Relevant XKCD link: http://xkcd.com/467/
Posted by: Sean P. at Nov 11, 2009 12:41:00 PM
Right now, if I type "is" into Google, it pops up with "Is Lady Gaga a man?"
Posted by: Stuart Buck at Nov 11, 2009 12:49:53 PM
Although I've enjoyed other things on Ben's blog I sort of felt like Hamilton about this one.
Posted by: bob at Nov 11, 2009 12:56:59 PM
Wow. It never occurred to me to ask google ethical questions.
Posted by: Leif at Nov 11, 2009 12:57:26 PM
All praise to the Google!
http://comics.com/pearls_before_swine/2009-10-21/
Posted by: This is not my real name at Nov 11, 2009 1:04:31 PM
Try typing the beginning of a question into Google, then compare the results with what populates in Bing. How, why, when does, what does, etc. The contrast between what people are searching for on each search engine is rather interesting.
Posted by: Tony Clifton at Nov 11, 2009 1:44:44 PM
Right now, if I type "is" into Google, it pops up with "Is Lady Gaga a man?"
Now that's the third option, with isohunt being number 1. Clearly if it changes that rapidly, it can't mean anything
Posted by: D. Watson at Nov 11, 2009 1:50:48 PM
