Having Fun with "Google Suggest"

The "autofill" feature of the Google search box was designed as a timesaver, but the suggested searches can also be entertaining.  Writing in Slate, Michael Agger compared the autofill of "less intelligent" and "more intelligent" queries, an exercise that has previously been conducted at Digg.

The image above is a screencap of two Google searches conducted tonight using less- and more sophisticated search terms.

A corollary question would be "What searches are most commonly conducted at Neatorama?"  The Lijit search engine doesn't have an autofill feature, but it does offer a list of the most popular recent searches at Neatorama, in descending order of frequency:
"world's smallest," mystery sale, halloween, what is it, disney, halloween costume, pumpkin, shop, stories, tattoo, cat, facebook, halloween costumes, pear, game, costume, movie trivia, photography, new species, zombie, bacon, lego, elena desserich, google, anvil cake, costumes, national day, notes left behind, origami, national geographic, videosift, wedding, what is it? game, 6 year old, albert einstein, brain, christmas, chum, hitler, logo, one take, pig, sex, animals, art, batman, brain shot, comic, einstein, shark.

Someone else may want to tackle the sociological implications of that list; I'm not going to touch it.

Link.

Comments (14)

Newest 5
Newest 5 Comments

I'm of the opinion that many of those with the "how might one" questions are simply copying the questions straight from their homework into Google.
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"these caravans of propriety, of social mores too foreign for our contemporary eyes,"

Huh? Haven't this writer heard of the separate beaches for Muslim men and women and seen some of the Muslim bathing outfits for women?
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The concept of going to the beach and wading or swimming was new at the time. Something that a lot of people glaze over is that these are not the social norms for the past in general, but the Victorian period in particular. We got a lot more modest in the Victorian period than we were in centuries past, the pendulum of social modesty and permissiveness swings back and forth.
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From the bathing-machine came a din
As of jollification within;
It was heard far and wide
And the incoming tide
Had a definite flavor of gin.

-Edward Gorey

Once the machine had been pushed into the water, a woman could enter the water through doors on the seaward side, the body of the machine and the open doors forming a screen shielding her from the view of those on the beach.
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