googlefight

File:Googlefight Keep vs Delete.JPG

Googlefight is a website that output a comparison of the number of search results returned by Google for two queries, presented as the result of a fight. It was a project of Abondance, the company of Olivier Andrieu.{{cite web |author=Olivier Andrieu |url=https://www.abondance.com/20050207-30089-nouvelle-version-pour-googlefight.html |title=Nouvelle version pour Googlefight! |website=Abondance.com |date=February 7, 2005 |language=French }}

History and description

Googlefight was developed by Andrieu with two friends in 2002.{{Cite web|url=https://www.googlefight.com/about.php|title=About us|website=Googlefight|access-date=October 11, 2018|quote=Googlefight was originally designed by several friends (Sébastien, Frank and Olivier). This new version is conceived by Olivier.|archive-date=October 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011172947/https://www.googlefight.com/about.php|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |last=Andrieu |first=Olivier |date=2008-01-23 |title=Googlefight et les Adsense... |url=https://www.abondance.com/20080123-8656-googlefight-et-les-adsense.html |access-date=2025-01-04 |website=Abondance |language=fr-FR}} The results of comparing two Google searches are presented as a bar graph using animated HTML segments, presented as the outcome of a fight. Historically the results were displayed graphically in a mixed Flash and JavaScript animation, with two animated stick figures fighting on screen after the queries are entered and before an animated bar graph appeared showing the results.{{cite web | url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8b/Googlefight_Keep_vs_Delete.JPG/220px-Googlefight_Keep_vs_Delete.JPG | title=Googlefight result 'Keep vs Delete' | publisher=Googlefight | accessdate=2 August 2016}} The stick figure animation had no impact on the results.

Between 15 and 27 June 2015, the website was updated to a new version, designed by Andrieu, which the About page stated was powered by Semrush and took into account Google search volume as well as the number of results returned.

The site also expanded in 2015 from French and English versions to 11 geographic versions, including German, Italian, Spanish, and Belgian.{{cite web |author=Olivier Andrieu |url=https://www.abondance.com/20150903-15510-googlefight-sinternationalise-en-11-versions-geographiques.html |title=Googlefight s'internationalise en 11 versions géographiques |website=Abondance.com |date=September 3, 2015 |language=French }}

Uses

The site is used for entertainment, for example comparing Microsoft and Google, with Google the winner.[https://archive.today/20120907180932/http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,107828-page,1-c,currentevents/article.html Plugged In: Gaga Over Google Games] The results may be comforting, funny or self-referential.{{Cite news |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/breakroom/stories/101805brextra.1038265e7.html|title=Extra: Google games|author=Ellen Henderson|date=July 6, 2006|newspaper=The Dallas Morning News}}{{Cite news |title=Googlefight settles any score|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=March 6, 2005}} It has been used to check spellings.{{cite news |author=Catherine Rampell |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/youre-a-nazi-and-other-shocking-truths-according-to-trumps-fact-checking-rules/2015/12/03/12fdc932-99ff-11e5-8917-653b65c809eb_story.html |title=You're a Nazi, and other shocking truths according to Trump's fact-checking rules |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 3, 2015 |quote=I occasionally use Googlefight to check the more commonly used spelling of a word}}. It can also be used as a measure of competitiveness; Salam Pax posted a Googlefight result between himself and Raed Jarrar on their blog in 2002, as their worldwide readership rose in the prelude to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.{{cite book

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zSgTZOL-mHUC

|title=Salam Pax: The Clandestine Diary of an Ordinary Iraqi

|author=Salam Pax

|author-link=Salam Pax

|year=2003

|publisher=Grove Press

|isbn=0-8021-4044-0}} The Original blog post was October 9, 2002.

Googlefight has been highlighted as an example of a site making money from contextual advertising, as well as one that derives its longevity from community participation (in this case, the always changing search terms).{{cite book

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_sxTkuy_7TcC

|title=Google Advertising Tools

|author=Harold Davis

|year=2006

|publisher=O'Reilly Media

|isbn=0-596-10108-2}}