2013-03-28 12:14:57
The word "ungoogleable" has been removed from a list of new Swedish words after
a trademark spat. But it raises the question of what can and can't be found
with a search engine.
Today Google appears to be the font of all data.
The idea that something can't be found online is strange enough to have spawned
its own adjective.
The word "ungoogleable" is in the headlines after a dispute between the search
engine giant and Sweden's language watchdog.
The Language Council of Sweden wanted to include "ungoogleable" - or
"ogooglebar" - in its annual list of new Swedish words. But it defined the term
as something that cannot be found with any search engine.
Google wanted the Swedish translation to be changed to refer only to Google
searches, and the Council opted to remove the word altogether to avoid a
lengthy legal battle.
The spat raises the question of just what "ungoogleable" means. Or more
specifically, are some things still impossible to find with a search engine?
And if so, is it a deliberate strategy?
To be ungoogleable might be a blessing or a curse.
The answer
Some search terms still deliver too many results to pinpoint the right person
Some people may employ deliberate tactics to stay hidden - for example, a band
name might use a symbol to be harder to find
Google 'forces' Swedish word removal
A firm that chooses to call itself 367 may be shooting itself in the foot -
people searching online will probably encounter a lot of bus routes before they
get to the company.
It's a similar story for an academic with a common name trying to promote
research. Being called Mark Smith, for instance, might bring up thousands of
other Mark Smiths online.
But others may actively seek to be ungoogleable.
The internet, unlike humans, has an almost flawless memory. That is why it's so
useful. But it can also be embarrassing.
Imagine the person who has been photographed in a compromising position at
university and had the picture posted online. What happens when they try to get
a job as a lawyer? For this very reason there are firms that promise to move
people down search-engine lists.
Ungoogleability increasingly means privacy, says Cameron Hulett, executive
director of digital marketing company Undertone.
"There are firms managing people's online reputations. Ungoogleable is the
extreme form - you are not just managing it you are removing it altogether," he
says.
Then there are online networks that act like auction sites for people trading
in drugs, erotica and other forbidden items.
Websites such as these use software to create anonymous networks. And with
questionable sites that are accessible, a search engine might decide to
withhold access to users.
But the desire to be ungoogleable goes far wider than that. Prof Ralph
Schroeder, from the Oxford Internet Institute, points to democracy activists in
China who may need to operate an anonymous website to escape a crackdown on
their activities.
Or it might be as simple as a pub quiz wanting to prevent cheating.
Trying to outwit Google's search capability has been popular for a while. A
Googlewhack is two words that elicit only one result. The comedian Dave Gorman
wrote a book about it after noticing that a phrase on his website "Francophile
namesakes" only delivered one result.
Nowadays most people using Google will respond to the promptings of Google
Autocomplete. So stumbling upon a Googlewhack is less likely.
Paywalls are another factor. Used by academic journals and newspapers such as
The Times and Financial Times they restrict what users can easily find via
google.
For some, being ungoogleable is about being unknowable. It's about preserving
one's mystique.
Irene Serra chose the name -isq for her band deliberately to make it hard to
find online.
Irene Serra, singer of -isq Irene Serra: Wants to make her band difficult to
find online
As it contains a hyphen, it cannot deliver an easy result. The band have a
website but they don't want it to be too easy to find.
"We didn't want to give everything away straightaway," says Serra. "If you want
to hear about us you'll need to try just a little bit harder. And then when you
do actually find us online we have lots in place."
It also allows them to easily keep control of all the domain names.
Seb Mower, a search engine optimisation consultant, says that even supposedly
ungoogleable things can usually be found. Most people use Google in haste. But
a bit of thinking can often turn up the correct result.
For instance, the band -isq will appear third in the list on Google if
speechmarks are put around the search term.
Where Google really struggles, he says, is to show pictures of text. "If you
wanted all the back issues of the Times, none of that information would be
indexable."
For some, it seems, being ungoogleable is an unfortunate state of affairs. For
others, the ignorance of Google's algorithms is bliss.