Dream: Google’s “Did You Mean” Meets Kanye West

It's not real. But I sure wish it were, Google going all Kanye West on people searching for Taylor Swift. In the mockup above you can see Google responding "I'm really happy for you, and I'm gonna let you finish your search, but did you mean: beyonce" instead of the usual "Did You Mean" spelling correction. The mockup is from the I Am Bored site, which I found via this discussion by Jess Lee on FriendFeed. And while that might entirely fictional (trust me, it is -- I've tried to reproduce it in various ways. Not. Real.), Yahoo kind of goes all Kanye on its competitors in real life. [...]

Filed in: Search & Society: April Fool's, Search & Society: General, Yahoo: Marketing


April Fools’ Day 2009: Google CADIE & More From Search Industry

It is days like this I dread as a reporter. Today is April Fools Day, and you need to be on the lookout for what is real news and what is fake news. Below, a roundup of some of the April Fools hoaxes from the search industry, starting with Google. With Google, it all starts with their announcement on the launch of CADIE, which is short for Cognitive Autoheuristic Distributed-Intelligence Entity. The write up is extremely geeky, but it basically means that they designed an intelligent computer that is smart enough to do things on its own. This concept expands into dozens of different Google [...]

Filed in: Search & Society: April Fool's, Top News


April Fool’s: Google Lets Business Owners Take Control Of Plus Box

Mike Blumenthal has detailed on his blog how Google is now letting business owners provide the address information that's mapped when a "plus box" is opened in search results associated with their listings. Previously Google determined what address/mapping data to show in the plus box, which resulted in errors on many occasions according to Mike. The move is part of Google's larger effort to let business owners and the community in general take more control of Maps data and listings in an effort to improve their accuracy and quality. Postscript: Mike caught us out! It was an April Fool's jok [...]

Filed in: Search & Society: April Fool's


Microsoft’s $1 Million Guarantee Program To Win Searchers

Microsoft executives, worried that the plan to acquire Yahoo for an estimated $40 billion might not happen, have hatched an alternative plan that might bring about success over Google at a much cheaper cost. To win in search, Microsoft may pay people not to use Google. And pay a premium, up to $1 million per year, over the next three years, to anyone within the United States. Called the "$1 Million Guarantee Program," the initiative will reward anyone within the United States that agrees to have web surfing monitoring software hooked to their computer. To allay privacy concerns, the [...]

Filed in: Microsoft & Yahoo Search Deal, Search & Society: April Fool's


High-Tech Christmas Cookies? Nah, Just A Google News Glitch

A reader spotted a pretty strange story in the Google News Sci/Tech area. Mixed alongside stories about AskEraser, the Space Shuttle launch, and "w00t" being crowned as word of the year was a recipe for Grasshopper Chocolate Chunk Cookies, the lead item for a cluster of Christmas cookie stories. To see a full size screen capture of the page shown in the screenshot above, click here. This comes after Google just announced that their news algorithms are supposed to be more relevant and fresh. [...]

Filed in: Google: News, Search & Society: April Fool's


Become a Premium Member and see all articles in our Search & Society: April Fool's archives!

Premium Members get unrestricted access to all archives - and more! Premium membership details below...

Become A Search Engine Land Premium Member

Gain insider access to the industry's leading online publication, covering the latest search engine news, in-depth features and analysis of products, technologies and search trends.

Subscribe as a premium member today and you'll get:

  • Unlimited access to news & How To articles.
  • Exclusive videos & webinars with search experts.
  • Expanded community profile & posting privileges.
  • Discounts to SMX Conferences & Events.
  • 30 Day money back guarantee.

Learn More

FREE DAILY SEARCH NEWS RECAP!

Stay on top of all the search news with our daily summary, the SearchCap newsletter. View a sample ›

STAY CURRENT THROUGHOUT THE DAY

RSS Feeds

The Search Engine Land feed keeps you informed as news happens. SEE ALL FEEDS »

Upcoming Search Engine Land Conferences

Advertise With Us »

Search Engine Land produces SMX, the Search Marketing Expo conference series. SMX events deliver the most comprehensive educational and networking experiences - whether you're just starting in search marketing or you're a seasoned expert.


SMX Web Site » | SMX Difference » | SMX News »


Join us at an upcoming SMX event:

Search Marketing Now Learn more about search marketing with our free online webcasts and webinars from our sister site, Search Marketing Now. Upcoming online events include:


See more webcast topics »

TRACK US SOCIALLY
Add to GoogleAdd to My Yahoo!Add to BloglinesAdd to NetvibesAdd to Windows Live