Google is gay.

[Tom]

So I was just doing some research for the tileing I have to do here right quick. As I type my question into google I got this:

[Mr. Analog]

OH GOOGLE

WAT

Y'know given the weird ass stuff I search for I'm surprised the suggestion list is this sober actually...

[Darren Dirt]

Most of us who are employed don't spend all day asking Google if [celebrityName] is [gay/dating/secretlymarried/pregnant] -- I mean just type "is Robert P" or "is Kirsten Ste" and you'll see how the Twihards have filled Google's database with their oh-so-important queries...

You'd think a lot more of the "is..." queries would be "a robot" or "an alien" though.

[Mr. Analog]

Most of us who are employed don't spend all day asking Google if [celebrityName] is [gay/dating/secretlymarried/pregnant] -- I mean just type "is Robert P" or "is Kirsten Ste" and you'll see how the Twihards have filled Google's database with their oh-so-important queries...

You'd think a lot more of the "is..." queries would be "a robot" or "an alien" though.

Yeah, you want to lose faith in humanity look at Google Trends (formerly the Zeitgeist)

[Darren Dirt]

So in response to ^ the above ^ I asked Google the most obvious of question prefixes:

is Google



the 2nd suggested query? "is Google making us stupid".

Yes.

Yes it is.

Lazy too.



(PS: "is Google going to" also has a very interesting, menacing -- and perhaps prophetic? -- 2nd suggestion)

[Mr. Analog]

Do books make you stupid?

If Yes then Google makes you Stupid.

Same concept

[Darren Dirt]

1. Books don't imply a transfer of knowledge, there's just storing information to be accessed -- the absorption, application, converting into useful knowledge is up to the reader's time and effort ... but Google thinks it knows what you're really asking, and has no qualms about telling you so.

2. Books aren't always denying they are being evil, which everyone knows is only done by people who are indeed nefariously plotting in sociopathic or at least impolite ways that will only come to light to the general public when it is too late to stop them. I'm sure most serial killers don't tell their family and friends "hey you know what I'm totally not a murderer, just letting you know ok" I mean why doth the Google protest so much?

3. Google can rewrite history by removing stuff as if it never existed in the first place -- but books need the help of fire or water in order to be guilty of a similar claim.

4. j/k about all this of course -- don't worry Google, I'm one of your faithful servants! Let's go back to laughing haha about all the celebutainment that you're all about nowadays... We cool. 

[Mr. Analog]

I'm SHOCKED I tell ya that a company hosting a free service can choose how and what information to display. Then again as a company whose main source of income is directly related to providing accurate search results it DOES sort of work against their best interest to make information difficult to find.

It's like going to a privately run library (like a University or the Vatican) and finding all the references on some subjects curiously missing or locked in storage.

But then that would explain why there are more than one library... and alternative search engines... and web pages with "links" sections.

[Thorin]

Wow, Darren's got the Google Hate.

Google can't rewrite history by removing stuff as if it never existed, all they can do is make it trivially harder to find that information.  Now, if Google could take my website down so that I can't make that information available, _then_ I'd agree they have some power.  But even then, there are still plenty of books being written for people to read.  Although even those can be easily filled full of false accusations, misinformation, and fake conspiracies.

[Mr. Analog]

Actually Google de-lists stuff all the time (see ChillingEffects.org), sometimes because of rank-rigging (aka spam filter) other times it's not so clear.

These sites are still on the internet, they just aren't on Google. :shrug:

[Darren Dirt]

Actually Google de-lists stuff all the time (see ChillingEffects.org), sometimes because of rank-rigging (aka spam filter) other times it's not so clear.

These sites are still on the internet, they just aren't on Google. :shrug:

https://twitter.com/GoogleFacts/status/465197319919763456
"When people are being watched, they behave better. And the illusion of being watched works, too."
Click to read for the lulz from the responses. "Don't be evil" just lip service now? That's what lotsa people are suspecting...

[Mr. Analog]

Don't be Evil has been lip service for a while now

Following Google has been like watching Microsoft and Apple evolve through the years, small plucky company gradually shifts to evil MegaCorp. I wonder if it's an inevitability of any small company that grows its business so fast?

Then again people will tell you just about anything for the price of a chocolate bar (sometimes less... sometimes people go out of their way to share information and you can make money off of that)