google bombing

Google bombs date back as far as 1999, when a search for "more evil than Satan himself" resulted in the Microsoft homepage as the top result.{{cite web|url=https://www.clickz.com/google-bombs-arent-so-scary/61942/|access-date=December 8, 2017|title=Google Bombs Aren't So Scary|first=Danny|last=Sullivan|date=March 18, 2002|work=ClickZ}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/incredible-google-bombs.html|title = The 10 Most Incredible Google Bombs|date = November 9, 2010}}

In September 2000 the first Google bomb with a verifiable creator was created by Hugedisk Men's Magazine, a now-defunct online humor magazine, when it linked the text "dumb motherfucker" to a site selling George W. Bush-related merchandise.{{cite news|url=https://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,41401,00.html |last=Manjoo |first=Fahrad |title=Google Link is Bush League |date=January 25, 2001 |work=Wired News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010405062025/http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0%2C1282%2C41401%2C00.html |archive-date=April 5, 2001 |access-date=January 26, 2007 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }} Hugedisk had also unsuccessfully attempted to Google bomb an equally derogatory term to bring up an Al Gore-related site. After a fair amount of publicity the George W. Bush-related merchandise site retained lawyers and sent a cease-and-desist letter to Hugedisk, thereby ending the Google bomb.{{cite news|url=http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/01/earlier_today_m.html|title=Remembering the First Google Bomb|first=Michael|last=Calore|author2=Scott Gilbertson|date=January 26, 2001|work=Wired News|access-date=January 27, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070225081940/http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/01/earlier_today_m.html |archive-date = February 25, 2007}}

Adam Mathes is credited with coining the term "Google bombing" when he mentioned it in an April 6, 2001, article in the online magazine uber.nu. In the article Mathes details his connection of the search term "talentless hack" to the website of his friend, Andy Pressman, by recruiting fellow webloggers to link to his friend's page with the desired term.{{cite web|first=Adam|last=Mathes|url=http://uber.nu/2001/04/06/|title=Filler Friday: Google Bombing|date=April 6, 2001|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050715083840/http://uber.nu/2001/04/06/|archive-date=July 15, 2005|df=mdy-all}} Some experts forecast that the practice of Google Bombing is over, as changes to Google's algorithm over the years have minimised the effect of the technique.

The Google Bomb has been used for tactical media as a way of performing a "hit-and-run" media attack on popular topics. Such attacks include Anthony Cox's attack in 2003. He created a parody of the "404 – page not found" browser error message in response to the war in Iraq. The page looked like the error page but was titled "These Weapons of Mass Destruction cannot be displayed". This website could be found as one of the top hits on Google after the start of the war in Iraq.{{cite web|url=http://www.mushon.com/2010/03/23/interface-as-a-conflict-of-ideologies/|title=Interface as a Conflict of Ideologies|date=April 2007}} Also, in an attempt to detract attention from the far-right group English Defence League (EDL), a parody group has been made known as "English Disco Lovers", with the expressed purpose of Google bombing the acronym.{{cite web|url=http://www.edl.me|title=EDL - English Disco Lovers NOT English Defence League - Home|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130205082206/http://www.edl.me/|archive-date=5 February 2013}}

The Google bomb is often misunderstood by those in the media and publishing industry who do not retain technical knowledge of Google's ranking factors. For example, talk radio host Alex Jones has often conducted what he calls "Google bombs" by dispatching instructions to his radio/Internet listeners.{{cite web |last=Schoff |first=Hans |url=http://hansschoff.com/mlm/google-bomb-mastering-internet-marketing-strategies |title=How to Google Bomb - Mastering Internet Marketing Strategies | Hans Schoff's Official Home Based Income Blog |publisher=Hansschoff.com |access-date=2013-03-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512030112/http://hansschoff.com/mlm/google-bomb-mastering-internet-marketing-strategies |archive-date=May 12, 2013 |df=mdy-all }}[https://web.archive.org/web/20111108002225/http://www.scuttledd.com/2011/06/the-new-activism-alex-jones-and-the-next-phase-of-the-infowar/ The New Activism — Alex Jones and the Next Phase of the InfoWar] In this context, the term is used to describe a rapid and massive influx of keyword searches for a particular phrase. The keyword surge gives the impression that the related content has suddenly become popular. The strategy behind this type of Google bombing is to attract attention from the larger mainstream media and influence them to publish content related to the keyword.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}

By studying what types of ranking manipulations a search engine is using, a company can provoke a search engine into lowering the ranking of a competitor's website. This practice, known as Google bowling or negative SEO, is often done by purchasing Google bombing services (or other SEO techniques) not for one's own website, but rather for that of a competitor. The attacker provokes the search company into punishing the "offending" competitor by displaying their page further down in the search results.{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/2007/06/28/negative-search-google-tech-ebiz-cx_ag_0628seo.html|title=The Saboteurs Of Search|first=Andy|last=Greenberg|work=Forbes|date=June 28, 2007|access-date=September 8, 2010}}{{cite web |first=Michael |last=Pedone |url=http://www.webpronews.com/expertarticles/2005/10/27/google-bowling-how-competitors-can-sabotage-you-what-google-should-do-about-it |title=Google Bowling: How Competitors Can Sabotage You; What Google Should Do About It |publisher=Webpronews.com |date=October 27, 2005 |access-date=December 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201020606/http://www.webpronews.com/expertarticles/2005/10/27/google-bowling-how-competitors-can-sabotage-you-what-google-should-do-about-it |archive-date=December 1, 2010 |df=mdy-all }} For victims of Google bowling, it may be difficult to appeal the ranking decrease because Google avoids explaining penalties, preferring not to "educate" real offenders. If the situation is clear-cut, however, Google could lift the penalty after submitting a request for reconsideration. Furthermore, after the Google Penguin update, Google search rankings now take Google bowling into account and very rarely will a website be penalized due to low-quality "farm" backlinks.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}

Other search engines use similar techniques to rank results and are also affected by Google bombs. A search for "miserable failure" or "failure" on September 29, 2006, brought up the official George W. Bush biography number one on Google, Yahoo!, and MSN and number two on Ask.com. On June 2, 2005, Tooter reported that George Bush was ranked first for the keyword "miserable", "failure", and "miserable failure" in both Google and Yahoo!; Google has since addressed this and disarmed the George Bush Google bomb and many others.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}

The BBC, reporting on Google bombs in 2002, used the headline "Google Hit By Link Bombers",{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1868395.stm|title=Google Hit By Link Bombers|publisher=BBC |date=March 13, 2002}} acknowledging to some degree the idea of "link bombing". In 2004, Search Engine Watch suggested that the term be "link bombing" because of its application beyond Google, and continues to use that term as it is considered more accurate.{{cite web |url=http://yooter.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry050602-180255 |title=Yooter SEO blog |publisher=Yooter.com |access-date=July 9, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090513202317/http://www.yooter.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry050602-180255 |archive-date=May 13, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}

{{blockquote|We don't condone the practice of googlebombing, or any other action that seeks to affect the integrity of our search results, but we're also reluctant to alter our results by hand in order to prevent such items from showing up. Pranks like this may be distracting to some, but they don't affect the overall quality of our search service, whose objectivity, as always, remains the core of our mission.{{cite web|last=Mayer |first=Marissa |url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/09/googlebombing-failure.html |title=Official Google Blog: Googlebombing 'failure' |publisher=Googleblog.blogspot.com |date=September 16, 2005 |access-date=July 9, 2010}}}}

By January 2007, Google changed its indexing structure so that Google bombs such as "miserable failure" would "typically return commentary, discussions, and articles" about the tactic itself. Google announced the changes on its official blog. In response to criticism for allowing the Google bombs, Matt Cutts, head of Google's Webspam team, said that Google bombs had not "been a very high priority for us".{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/technology/29google.html | work=The New York Times | title=Google Halts 'Miserable Failure' Link to President Bush | first=Noam | last=Cohen | date=January 29, 2007 | access-date=May 3, 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/google.asp |title=Urban Legends Reference Pages: Miserable Failure |website=Snopes.com |date=December 9, 2003 |access-date=July 9, 2010}}

{{blockquote|Over time, we’ve seen more people assume that they are Google's opinion, or that Google has hand-coded the results for these Google-bombed queries. That's not true, and it seemed like it was worth trying to correct that misperception.{{cite web|url=http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/01/quick-word-about-googlebombs.html |title=Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: A quick word about Googlebombs |publisher=Googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com |date=January 25, 2007 |access-date=July 9, 2010}}}}

In May 2004, the websites Dark Blue and SearchGuild teamed up to create what they termed the "SEO Challenge" to Google bomb the phrase "nigritude ultramarine".{{cite web|last=Karch|first=Marziah|title=Google Bombs Explained|url=http://google.about.com/od/socialtoolsfromgoogle/a/googlebombatcl.htm|work=About.com|access-date=2011-03-30|archive-date=June 30, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110630151012/http://google.about.com/od/socialtoolsfromgoogle/a/googlebombatcl.htm|url-status=dead}}

The contest sparked controversy around the Internet, as some groups worried that search engine optimization (SEO) companies would abuse the techniques used in the competition to alter queries more relevant to the average user. This fear was offset by the belief that Google would alter their algorithm based on the methods used by the Google bombers.

In September 2004, another SEO contest was created. This time, the objective was to get the top result for the phrase "seraphim proudleduck". A large sum of money was offered to the winner, but the competition turned out to be a hoax.{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}

In March 2005's issue of .net magazine, a contest was created among five professional web developers to make their site the number-one site for the made-up phrase "crystalline incandescence".

{{See also|Political Google bombs in the 2004 U.S. Presidential election}}

Some of the most famous Google bombs are also expressions of political opinions (e.g. "liar" leading to Tony Blair or "miserable failure" leading to the White House's biography of George W. Bush):

• In 2003, Steven Lerner, creator of Albino Blacksheep, created a parody webpage titled "French Military Victories".{{cite web|url=http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/victories.html |title=french military victories |publisher=Albinoblacksheep.com |access-date=2012-02-21}} When typed into Google, the first result (or the "I'm Feeling Lucky" result) led to a webpage resembling a Google error message, reading, "Your search – French military victories – did not match any documents. Did you mean French military defeats?" The page received over 50,000 hits within 18 hours of its release. Links near the top of the page led to a simplified list of French military history. The only war listed as a win for the French was the French Revolution, in which they fought themselves. As of May 2, 2011, the page is no longer listed in Google's first few results for "French military victories", but several links on the list go to sites recounting the joke.{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/305039401.html?dids=305039401:305039401&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT|title=Internet Parody Hands French Military a Defeat|last=Dalton| first=Richard J. Jr. |date=March 13, 2003|work=Newsday|access-date=February 4, 2007|page=A.27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001064144/https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/305039401.html?dids=305039401:305039401&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT|archive-date=October 1, 2007|url-status=bot: unknown}}(payment required, link goes to abstract) October 1, 2007
• In 2003, columnist Dan Savage began his campaign to define the word "santorum" after former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum made several controversial statements regarding homosexuality. A search for "santorum" led to the top result being a website defining it as being related to anal sex. One search engine expert has argued that this campaign does not qualify as a Google bomb, arguing that it is instead a successful new definition for a word explained by a website.{{cite web|first=Evan |last=McMorris-Santoro |url=http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/with-his-campaign-lagging-rick-santorum-turns-once-again-to-dan-savage |title=With His Campaign Lagging, Rick Santorum Turns Once Again To Dan Savage |publisher=Talking Points Memo |date=July 21, 2011 |access-date=October 11, 2013}} (see search engine optimization)
• In 2004, Jewish writer and activist Daniel Sieradski urged visitors to his blog to link to the Wikipedia article for "Jew" in response to findings, first publicized by Steven Weinstock,{{cite web|last=Becker |first=David |url=http://news.cnet.com/2100-1038-5186012.html |title=Google caught in anti-Semitism flap |publisher=News.cnet.com |access-date=July 9, 2010}}{{cite magazine|author=John Brandon |url=https://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2004/05/63380 |title=Dropping the Bomb on Google |magazine=Wired |access-date=July 9, 2010 |date=May 11, 2004}} that a search for "Jew" returned the anti-Semitic website Jew Watch at the top of the results.{{cite web|url=http://news.cnet.com/2100-1038_3-5186012.html |title=Google caught in anti-Semitism flap - CNET News |publisher=News.cnet.com |access-date=2012-02-21}} The campaign was successful in displacing the site from the top result.
• In the same year the Persian Gulf naming dispute was the subject of a Google bomb by an Iranian blogger named Pendar Yousefi.{{cite web|author=Hamid Tehrani |url=http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/05/10/interview-with-pendar-yousefi-blogger-designer-and-google-bomber/ |title=Interview with Pendar Yousefi: Blogger, Designer and Google Bomber |date=May 10, 2007 |publisher=Global Voices Online |access-date=July 9, 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://mahimoto.com/google/ |title=The Google Bomb Story |publisher=Mahimoto |access-date=December 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201070538/http://mahimoto.com/google/ |archive-date=February 1, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}{{cite web |url=http://www.thepersiangulf.org/googlebomb.html |title=The Arabian Gulf Google Bomb |publisher=The Persian Gulf |access-date=July 9, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100220095708/http://www.thepersiangulf.org/googlebomb.html |archive-date=February 20, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}
• In France, groups opposing the DADVSI copyright bill, proposed by minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, mounted a Google bombing campaign linking ministre blanchisseur ("laundering minister") to an article on Donnedieu de Vabres' conviction for money laundering. The campaign was so efficient that {{As of|2006|lc=on}}, merely searching for ministre ("minister") or blanchisseur ("launderer") brings up a news report of his conviction as one of the first results.{{cite web |url=http://palpitt.free.fr/index.php?2005/12/20/16-google-bomb-a-la-francaise |title=Bombardement Google à la française - Palpitt - Metablog |publisher=Palpitt |access-date=2012-02-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211005142/http://palpitt.free.fr/index.php?2005%2F12%2F20%2F16-google-bomb-a-la-francaise |archive-date=February 11, 2007 |df=mdy-all }}
• In December 2004, the "Yan Ang Pinay" ("I am a Filipina") campaign[http://filipina.fil.net/ Yan Ang Filipina] [https://web.archive.org/web/20091022042948/http://filipina.fil.net/ Archived] Retrieved 22 October 2009 encouraged bloggers to self-identify as Filipina and link the word Filipina to target URLs such as the Filipina Women's Network (ffwn.org),{{cite web|url=http://www.filipinasoul.com/2007/02/resurrecting-the-image-of-a-true-filipina/ |title=Resurrecting the image of a true Filipina |publisher=Filipina Soul |date=2007-02-14 |access-date=2013-06-15}} to displace mail-order bride sites in search results.
• In November 2005, after the controversy that erupted in the Philippines over the allegations that former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had cheated in the 2004 elections, the phrase "pekeng pangulo" (Tagalog for "fake president") was linked to her official website (kgma.org).

{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H1Q1AAAAIBAJ&dq=pekeng+presidente&pg=PA6&article_id=2529,9241947

|title=Googlebombers attack GMA website

|access-date=February 13, 2025

|publisher=Philippine Daily Inquirer

|date=November 22, 2005|work=News

}}

• In 2005 an Estonian blogger led a successful campaign to link the word masendav (Estonian for dismal or depressive) to the homepage of Estonian Centre Party.{{cite news|url=http://www.postimees.ee/211005/online_uudised/180817.php|title=Google'i otsing seob sõnad "masendav" ja "Keskerakond"|date=October 21, 2005|work=Postimees|language=et|access-date=October 5, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090118000752/http://www.postimees.ee/211005/online_uudised/180817.php|archive-date=January 18, 2009|df=mdy-all}} The Centre Party's website still ranks first in the results for masendav {{As of|2011|lc=y}}.{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=masendav |title=Google |access-date=December 17, 2011}}
• In the 2006 U.S. midterm elections, many left-wing bloggers, led by MyDD.com, banded together to propel neutral or negative articles about many Republican House candidates to the top of Google searches for their names.
• Also in 2006, Siedziba szatana (satan's headquarters) was linked to the website of controversial Polish ultra-conservative Catholic broadcaster Radio Maryja.{{cite web|url=http://hacking.pl/5950|title=Siedziba szatana w Radiu Maryja|access-date=January 12, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219222740/http://hacking.pl/5950|archive-date=December 19, 2010|df=mdy-all}}
• In or before 2007, Finnish Minister of Culture Tanja Karpela was subject to a Google bombing in which the search turha lehmä ("useless bitch", lit. "useless cow") returned her web home page. Non-fiction author {{ill|Petteri Järvinen|fi}} suggested that the Google bomb might have been done in response to Karpela's participation in revising Finnish copyright law. The web site for the Parliament of Finland was also Google-bombed with the search term mordorin linna ("Castle of Mordor").{{cite news

|url=https://www.kaleva.fi/tanja-saarelaa-ja-eduskuntaa-kiusataan-internetiss/2381716

|title=Tanja Saarelaa ja eduskuntaa kiusataan internetissä

|access-date=February 14, 2025

|newspaper=Kaleva |date=March 14, 2007

|author=Jyri-Jussi Rekinen

}}

• In March 2007, The Washington Post reported that Nikolas Schiller was able to Google bomb "Redacted Name" to highlight his website's block on search engines.{{cite news

|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/13/AR2007031301854.html

|title=Here Be Dragons

|access-date=March 14, 2007

|newspaper=The Washington Post |date=March 14, 2007

|author=David Montgomery

}}

• During the initial stages of the anti-Scientology campaign, Project Chanology, hackers and other members of an anonymous Internet group Google-bombed the Church of Scientology's main website as the first match found when the term "Dangerous Cult" was searched.{{cite news

|last = Miller

|first = Jason Lee

|title = Scientology Bomb Cruises Past Google

|work = WebProNews: Breaking eBusiness and Search News

|publisher = iEntry, Inc.

|date = January 29, 2008

|url = http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/01/29/scientology-bomb-cruises-past-google

|access-date = 2008-01-29

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080201091551/http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/01/29/scientology-bomb-cruises-past-google

|archive-date = February 1, 2008

|df = mdy-all

}}

• In September 2008, John Key, leader of the New Zealand National Party was Google-bombed with the query "clueless".{{cite news |url=http://www.3news.co.nz/general/google-bomb-targets-john-key-2008091213#axzz3Te69ny5S |title=Google bomb targets John Key |work=3 News |date=12 September 2008 |access-date=6 March 2015 |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402100715/http://www.3news.co.nz/general/google-bomb-targets-john-key-2008091213#axzz3Te69ny5S |url-status=dead }}
• In January 2009, a successful Google bomb was performed against the site of the Bulgarian government by a loose group of bloggers and forum users. It was discovered that by mistake, the robots.txt on the government.bg forbade the crawling of the site by indexing machines which allowed for Google bombing. The group linked the search term "failure" ({{langx|bg|провал}}) to the government site. Within a couple of days, the first search result for "провал" was the Bulgarian government's site regardless of the search results language.{{cite web|author=Rene Beekman |url=http://www.sofiaecho.com/2009/01/27/666229_google-search-results-link-bulgarian-government-with-failure-ruin-collapse |title=Sofia Echo coverage |publisher=Sofiaecho.com |date=February 25, 2009 |access-date=July 9, 2010}}
• In April 2009, the website Smart Bitches, Trashy Books launched a Google bomb against Amazon in response to its removal of LGBT material from their ranking lists, Amazon citing it as "adult material". Within hours of its creation the page appeared on the first page of returned search results for the term "Amazon Rank".{{cite web|author=SB Sarah |url=http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/comments/amazon-rank/ |title=Amazon Rank |publisher=Smartbitchestrashybooks.com |date=April 12, 2009 |access-date=July 9, 2010}}
• In July 2009, Opie and Anthony successfully performed a new method of Google bombing in which a specific word or phrase is artificially raised in Google Trends. The phrase "Rev Al is a racist" was made #1 on Google Trends on July 8, 2009,{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?sa=X&date=2009-7-8 |title=Google Trends: Jul 8, 2009 |access-date=July 9, 2010}} due to the controversial comments made by Reverend Al Sharpton during Michael Jackson's Memorial Service. "Corey Feldman is Hurting" was also number 14 on the top Google Trends for the same day in response to Feldman dressing up as Michael Jackson during the memorial service.{{cite web|url=http://www.collegenews.com/index.php?/article/corey_feldman_is_hurting_or_is_it_a_google_bomb_29603752352/ |title=Corey Feldman is hurting…or is it a Google bomb? |publisher=Collegenews.com |access-date=July 9, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110122225401/http://www.collegenews.com/index.php?%2Farticle%2Fcorey_feldman_is_hurting_or_is_it_a_google_bomb_29603752352%2F |archive-date=January 22, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}{{cite web|url=http://netcashdaily.net/corey-feldman-is-hurtingor-is-it-a-google-bomb/ |title=Google Bomb Corey Feldman is hurting |publisher=Topgoogletrends.netcashdaily.net |date=July 8, 2009 |access-date=July 9, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100403071831/http://topgoogletrends.netcashdaily.net/google-bomb-corey-feldman-is-hurting |archive-date=April 3, 2010 }}
• In September 2010, 4chan users tried to Google bomb the phrase "Robert Pisano MPAA CEO arrested for child molestation!", as a related action to DDoS attacks on the RIAA, MPAA and British Phonographic Industry (BPI) websites. This was in retaliation for DDoS attacks carried out on The Pirate Bay and various other file-sharing sites.Lance Whitney. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-20016961-83.html?tag=mncol;title
• In February 2011, several anti-abortion activists managed to make it so that the page for abortion on English Wikipedia was the second highest ranking result for the term "murder".{{cite magazine|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/02/10-notorious-google-bombs/71731/ |title=10 Notorious Google Bombs - Nicholas Jackson - Technology |magazine=The Atlantic |access-date=2012-02-21}}{{cite web|last=Doctorow |first=Cory |url=http://www.boingboing.net/2011/02/25/googlebombers-turn-a.html |title=Googlebombers turn "Abortion" into second result for "Murder" |publisher=Boing Boing |date=February 25, 2011 |access-date=December 17, 2011}}{{cite web |url=http://uk.jezebel.com/5770210/anti+choicers-link-abortion-to-murder-on-google |title=Anti-Choicers Link "Abortion" To "Murder" On Google |publisher=Jezebel |date=February 25, 2011 |access-date=December 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321022249/http://uk.jezebel.com/5770210/anti+choicers-link-abortion-to-murder-on-google |archive-date=March 21, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}
• During the summer of 2011, a joke in response to Craig James’ role in the firing of Mike Leach was posted on EveryDayShouldBeSaturday.com. The joke was indexed often enough by a major search engine that typing "Craig James" into the search box at the search engine resulted in the autocomplete function including "killed 5 hookers".{{cite web|last=Big |first=Bobby |url=http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2011/7/15/2277242/the-curious-index-7-15-2011 |title=THE CURIOUS INDEX, 7/15/2011 |publisher=Every Day Should Be Saturday |date=2011-07-15 |access-date=2012-01-09}} Later this humorous search index behavior was characterized as a "Google bomb" in regards to Craig James’ campaign for elected office.{{cite web|last=Driscoll |first=Matt |url=http://www.weeklyvolcano.com/extremeleisure/cupcheck/2011/12/truth-about-Craig-James-and-those-hookers/ |title=The truth about Craig James and those hookers |publisher=Weekly Volcano |date=December 14, 2011 |access-date=December 17, 2011}}
• In July 2012, searching for "plagiator" (Romanian for "plagiarist/cheater") returns the personal page of Romanian prime minister Victor Ponta, who is accused of plagiarizing his PhD thesis, and various news websites which provide information about the scandal that erupted around the politician. This Google bomb has become itself a piece of news in the Romanian media.{{cite web|last=Loznianu|first=Ramona|title=Editor|url=http://www.gandul.info/news/cazul-acuzatiilor-de-plagiat-la-adresa-lui-victor-ponta-analiza-pe-text-teza-de-doctorat-a-premierului-versus-cartea-profesorului-dumitru-diaconu-exclusiv-9762345|work=Gândul|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716074516/http://www.gandul.info/news/cazul-acuzatiilor-de-plagiat-la-adresa-lui-victor-ponta-analiza-pe-text-teza-de-doctorat-a-premierului-versus-cartea-profesorului-dumitru-diaconu-exclusiv-9762345|archive-date=July 16, 2012|df=mdy-all}}
• In October 2012, searching the phrase "completely wrong" on Google images, returns pictures of Mitt Romney, the Republican Nominee for the U.S. Presidential Election in 2012. However, this was not actually an example of a Google bomb - the result came naturally from a series of comments made by Romney, rather than a concentrated campaign intended to link the two.{{cite news|last=Worstall|first=Tim|title=The Mitt Romney 'Completely Wrong' Google Bomb|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/10/14/the-mitt-romney-completely-wrong-google-bomb/|work=Forbes|date=October 14, 2012}}
• In September 2012 the English Disco Lovers campaign was initiated with the intention of replacing the English Defence League (EDL) as the number one result for EDL on Google.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2013/feb/01/disco-dance-edl-google-facebook|title=How to disco dance the EDL off Google and Facebook|access-date=2 February 2012 | location=London|work=The Guardian|first=Dorian|last=Lynskey}} On 27 August 2013 the English Disco Lovers overtook all English Defence League related items and became the top search result for the acronym "EDL".{{Citation needed|date=September 2018}}
• In June 2015 the search query "top 10 criminals" returned the images of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alongside the images of terrorists, murderers and dictators. However, in an official statement Google apologized[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/google-apologises-to-indian-pm-narendra-modi-after-he-appears-in-top-10-list-of-criminals-10297350.html Google apologises to Indian PM Narendra Modi after he appears in list of top 10 criminals], June 4, 2015, The Independent. and said that it was due to erroneous metadata published by a British daily publication.[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-33003078 Google sorry for Narendra Modi images in 'Top 10 criminals' list], June 4, 2015, BBC.
• In July 2018, the search query "idiot" returned images of President Donald Trump.{{cite magazine |last1=Quackenbush |first1=Casey |title=Anti-Trump Activists Are Gaming Google Searches for 'Idiot' |url=https://time.com/5342602/donald-trump-idiot-google/ |access-date=July 21, 2018 |magazine=Time |date=July 19, 2018 |language=en}}
• In two separate instances – November 2018 and August 2019 – searching for the word bhikhari (Hindi and Urdu for beggar) turned up images of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, alluding to the country's financial crisis. In response to the first instance, the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab passed a resolution to demand answer from Google on the issue.{{cite news |title='भिखारी' सर्च करने पर दिख रही इमरान खान की फोटो, पाकिस्तान ने Google से मांगा जवाब |language= hi |url=https://hindi.news18.com/news/tech/pakistan-wants-to-summon-google-ask-why-bhikari-shows-imran-khans-photo-1621854.html |access-date=17 August 2019 |work=News18 India |date=17 December 2018}}{{cite news |title=Google 'bhikhari', search engine shows images of Pakistan PM Imran Khan |url=https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/trends/google-bikhari-search-engine-shows-images-of-pakistan-pm-imran-khan/story/373216.html |access-date=17 August 2019 |work=Business Today |date=16 August 2019}} In February 2019, following the Pulwama attack, a Google search for best toilet paper in the world yielded images of the Flag of Pakistan.{{cite news |last1=Kiggins |first1=Steve |title=Pakistan flag is top result for 'the best toilet paper in the world' on Google. But, why? |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/02/17/google-pakistan-flag-best-toilet-paper-search/2901246002/ |access-date=17 August 2019 |date= 17 February 2019 |work=USA TODAY |language=en}}

{{main|Spamdexing}}

Some website operators have adapted Google bombing techniques to do "spamdexing". This includes, among other techniques, posting of links to a site in an Internet forum along with phrases the promoter hopes to associate with the site (see spam in blogs). Unlike conventional message board spam, the object is not to attract readers to the site directly, but to increase the site's ranking under those search terms. Promoters using this technique frequently target forums with low reader traffic, in hopes that it will fly under the moderators' radar. Wikis in particular are often the target of this kind of page rank vandalism, as all of the pages are freely editable. This practice was also called "money bombing" by John Hiler circa 2004.{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/01/26/BUG3M4GVDS1.DTL|title=Google targeted by pranksters: Web site operators, bloggers skew results|date=January 26, 2004|access-date=November 27, 2007|author=Kopytoff, Verne|work=San Francisco Chronicle }}{{cite book|title=The 100 Best Trends 2006: Emerging Developments You Can't Afford to Ignore|author1=Ochoa, George |author2=Corey, Melinda|page=213|year=2005|access-date=November 27, 2007|publisher=Adams Media|isbn=1-59337-451-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=am-c2MR1ZA0C&pg=PA213}}

Another technique is for the owner of an Internet domain name to set up the domain's DNS entry so that all subdomains are directed to the same server. The operator then sets up the server so that page requests generate a page full of desired Google search terms, each linking to a subdomain of the same site, with the same title as the subdomain in the requested URL. Frequently the subdomain matches the linked phrase, with spaces replaced by underscores or hyphens. Since Google treats subdomains as distinct sites, the effect of many subdomains linking to each other is a boost to the PageRank of those subdomains and of any other site they link to.

On February 2, 2007, many users noticed changes in the Google algorithm. These changes largely affected (among other things) Google bombs: as of February 15, 2007, only roughly 10% of the Google bombs still worked. This change was largely due to Google refactoring its valuation of PageRank.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}}{{Cite web|title = A quick word about Googlebombs|url = http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/01/quick-word-about-googlebombs.html|website = Official Google Webmaster Central Blog|access-date = 2015-09-22}}{{cite web|url=http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=179922 |title=Google Answers: Google Inc., and the Google Bomb |access-date=2012-02-21}}

Quixtar, a multi-level marketing company now known as Amway North America, has been accused by its critics of using its large network of websites to move sites critical of Quixtar lower in search engine rankings. A Quixtar/Amway independent business owner (IBO) reports that a Quixtar leader advocated the practice in a meeting of Quixtar IBOs. Quixtar/Amway denied wrongdoing and states that its practices are in accordance with search engine rules.{{cite web|url=http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/050601glaser/ |title=Companies subvert search results to squelch criticism |work=Online Journalism Review |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116120608/http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/050601glaser/ |archive-date=January 16, 2013 |df=mdy-all }}

{{see also|Protests against SOPA and PIPA}}

On December 26, 2011, a bomb was started against GoDaddy to remove them from the #1 place on Google for "domain registration" in retaliation for its support for SOPA.{{cite web|url=https://plus.google.com/115702843161763309837/posts/2QqAe6xP7Xk |title=Rob Kohr - Google+ - A better way to fight SOPA GoDaddy has been a supporter of… |access-date=2012-02-21}} This was then disseminated through Hacker News.{{cite web|url=http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3393177 |title=Attack GoDaddy - better than a boycott | Hacker News |publisher=News.ycombinator.com |access-date=2012-02-21}}

In Australia, one of the first examples of Google bombs was when the keyword "old rice and monkey nuts" was used to generate traffic for Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt's website. The keyword phrase references the alleged $4 billion in loan deals brokered by Tirath Khemlani to Australia in 1974.{{cite web|last1=Cannell|first1=David|title=Google Bomb Tricks To Avoid|date=January 2, 2015|url=http://sydneysearchresultsptyltd.com.au/local/seo-tricks-to-avoid|publisher=Sydney Search Results|access-date=23 June 2015}}

In May 2019, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss were targets of multiple Google bombs caused by Reddit users' dissatisfaction with the eighth season of their show Game of Thrones. Targeted phrases included "bad writers" and "Dumb and Dumber".{{cite web|last1=Porter|first1=Jon|title=Angry Redditors are trying to Google bomb Game of Thrones writers|url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/15/18624480/game-of-thrones-google-bomb-db-weiss-david-benioff|date=May 13, 2019|website=The Verge|df=mdy-all|access-date=17 May 2019}}

In Indonesia, President Joko Widodo was target of Googlebombing on Google Picture Search when typing "Monyet Pakai Jas Hujan" (Monkey Wearing Raincoat) the results were President Joko Widodo wearing green raincoat when on an official visit.{{cite web|last1=Fauzie|first1=Amin|title=VIRAL! Ketik "Monyet Pakai Jas Hujan Hijau" Munculnya Pak Jokowi, Kok Bisa?|date=November 22, 2022|url=https://radartuban.jawapos.com/nasional/861329910/viral-ketik-monyet-pakai-jas-hujan-hijau-munculnya-pak-jokowi-kok-bisa|publisher=Jawa Pos Radar Tuban|access-date=22 November 2022}}

{{wiktionary|google bomb}}

{{Portal|Internet}}

• Adversarial information retrieval
• Googlewhack
• Link building
• Political Google bombs in the 2004 U.S. presidential election
• Twitter bomb

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1868395.stm Google hit by link bombers] – BBC News, March 13, 2002
• [http://lightningfield.com/david/clips/0207googlebombing.html Top of the Heap] – Business 2.0, July 2002 – Ego bombing
• [https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/22/technology/circuits/22goog.html?ex=1390194000&en=90e67992909e0ad4&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND Engineering Google Results to Make a Point] – NY Times, January 22, 2004
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20051229221256/http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_189602.html Student trying to 'bomb' Kerry] – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 16, 2004
• [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/computing/personaltech/20040614-9999-mz1b14google.html Dropping 'Google-bombs'] – San Diego Union-Tribune, June 14, 2004
• [http://www.directtraffic.org/OnlineNews/Inbound_Links_Most_Important_for_Google_Ranking,_BBC_Reports_200730221833.html Inbound Links most important for Google ranking and bombs BBC] – Direct Traffic News, April 4, 2007
• [http://www.collegenews.com/index.php?/article/corey_feldman_is_hurting_or_is_it_a_google_bomb_29603752352/ Corey Feldman is hurting…or is it a Google bomb?] – CollegeNews.com July 8, 2009

{{Google LLC}}

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