The end of every year brings us all things “most” and “best” as list-crazy statisticians scramble to compile the subjects, people, companies, and fads are omnipresent in the popular mind. And the popular mind is, well, clueless.
Though Harris Interactive reports that Google is the third most visible company in America, InfoSpace reports the company is also the third most searched for on Dogpile’s metasearch engine that pulls results from Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask. Google, outdone by [music lyrics] and [Paris Hilton] finished just ahead of [eBay], [Yahoo], and [Mapquest].
As murdok has reported before, a large percentage of users actually type in the URL of the website they’re looking for into a search box, so searching for a website on a search engine isn’t that surprising.
And then, as Nathan Weinberg points out on his InsideGoogle blog, the number 1 (one) comes in at #19, and [search engines] comes in as the #41 most search for term on the (emphasis on meta) metasearch engine Dogpile.
“#28: Jennifer Aniston’s hair straightener. You people are sooo sad,” observes Weinberg.
At least the blogosphere (though testy) is a little more highbrow. The New York Times released its list of the most blogged about books, complete with a list of blogs that blogged about the most blogged about books.
Levitt and Dubner’s controversial Freakonomics topped the list of buzz-worthy books, followed by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Blink: the Power of Thinking Without Thinking.
I can’t believe they wrote a book about thinking without thinking and didn’t consult me. Of course, I’m used to not being considered. Number 2 celebrity search gal Carmen Electra still hasn’t gotten in touch with me though my contact information is easily obtained. I may forgive you yet, Carmen, if you call me soon.
