Google bombing

WorldBrand briefing

AI supplement

Original synthesis to sit alongside the encyclopedia article below. Not part of Wikipedia; verify facts on Wikipedia when precision matters.

Google bombing (also called Googlewashing) refers to the internet practice of boosting an unrelated or off-topic web page to a top ranking for a specific search term, by coordinating large numbers of external web pages that use the target term as anchor text to link to the target page. It leveraged the early logic of Google's PageRank algorithm, which prioritized backlink volume for ranking, and is distinct from standard search engine optimization (SEO) that optimizes pages to rank for semantically relevant search terms.

Key moments

2001 JanuaryFirst documented successful Google bombing executed by the Hugedisk.com team, making a George W. Bush merchandise page the top result for the vulgar phrase 'dumb motherfucker'
2001 AprilThe term 'Google bombing' was formally coined by writer Adam Mathes, who demonstrated the effect by pushing a friend's personal site to top results for the search term 'talentless hack'
2004High-profile political Google bomb campaign made George W. Bush's official White House homepage the top result for the search phrase 'Miserable failure' during the US presidential election
2005 SeptemberGoogle consumer product director Marissa Mayer published an official blog post explaining the phenomenon, and stated the company would not manually modify results to preserve the perceived impartiality of search outputs
Mid-2000sGoogle rolled out major updates to its ranking algorithm that reduced the weighting of raw backlink anchor text volume, effectively neutralizing the vast majority of intentional Google bombing campaigns

Core Distinction From Standard SEO Practices

While regular SEO is designed to help pages that are genuinely relevant to a search query perform better in results, Google bombing is explicitly meant to subvert relevance entirely. It requires little to no modification to the target page itself, and only relies on coordinated collective action from independent web publishers to manipulate rankings, making it a distinct form of search engine prank or protest rather than a marketing tactic.

Google Bombing as a Form of Grassroots Digital Political Expression

Nearly all the most widely known Google bomb campaigns were used for satirical or protest purposes targeting public figures, especially politicians. Unlike typical internet activist actions that are contained to small niche communities, successful Google bombs created highly visible, universal public results that could be seen by every Google user globally, turning a trivial technical quirk of search systems into a widely recognized statement of public sentiment.

Long Term Impacts on Search Algorithm Design

The widespread spread of Google bombing in the early 2000s exposed critical flaws in the original PageRank framework that prioritized backlink count over contextual relevance. This phenomenon pushed Google and all competing search providers to build more sophisticated link analysis systems that can identify manipulative coordinated link patterns, laying the groundwork for the modern anti-spam ranking safeguards that protect search result integrity today.

Google bombing, also known as Google washing, is the practice of causing a website to rank highly in web search engine results for irrelevant, unrelated or off-topic search terms.[1] It is in direct contrast of search engine optimization (SEO), which is the practice of improving the search engine listings of web pages for relevant search terms.

Google-bombing is done for either business, political, or comedic purposes (or some combination thereof).[2] Google's search-rank algorithm ranks pages higher for a particular search phrase if enough other pages linked to it use similar anchor text. By January 2007, however, Google had tweaked its search algorithm to counter popular Google bombs such as "miserable failure" leading to George W. Bush and Michael Moore; now, search results list pages about the Google bomb itself. On 21 June 2015, the first result in a Google search for "miserable failure" was this article.[3] Used both as a verb and a noun, "Google bombing" was introduced to the New Oxford American Dictionary in May 2005.[4]

Motivations

Competitions

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".[27]

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".[28] A large sum of money was offered to the winner, but the competition turned out to be a hoax.

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".

Political activism

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".[29] 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.[30]
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.

Commercial use

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.[69][70]

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.

Quixtar's bomb

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. An Quixtar independent business owner (IBO) reports that a Quixtar leader advocated the practice in a meeting of Quixtar IBOs. Quixtar denied wrongdoing and states that its practices are in accordance with search engine rules.[73]

GoDaddy bomb

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.[74] This was then disseminated through Hacker News.[75]

Other examples of Google bombs

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.[76]

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".[77]

In Indonesia, President Joko Widodo was a target of Googlebombing on Google Image Search. When searched for Monyet Pakai Jas Hujan (Monkey Wearing Raincoat), the results were President Joko Widodo wearing a green raincoat when on an official visit.[78]

Google bombing

WorldBrand briefing

Core Distinction From Standard SEO Practices

Google Bombing as a Form of Grassroots Digital Political Expression

Long Term Impacts on Search Algorithm Design

History

Uses as tactical media

Alternative meanings

Google bowling

Other search engines

Motivations

Competitions

Political activism

Commercial use

Quixtar's bomb

GoDaddy bomb

Other examples of Google bombs

See also

References

Quixtar's bomb

GoDaddy bomb

Other examples of Google bombs