Google Shmoogle

I've known about Shmoogle for a few years now and I'm somewhat disheartened that it isn't more widely used or discussed. There is plenty of good content out there, which may or may not be popular and/or relevent, but the whole point is this: Are the visible results really the relevent results? It depends entirely on what you are looking for.

In randomizing Google search results Shmoogle provides a fun, egalitarian approach to search. I used to think that was the purpose served by the I'm Feeling Lucky button, however, the fact that the only result for the "Failure" search is still the official White House biography of President George W. Bush after several years highlights a major concern about SEO; it can be manipulated.

Pranks and politics aside, there are a great many other arguably more relevent nouns than our current President. For example, my Shmoogle "Failure" search yielded result no. 829: an article about heart failure.

So I did a few more Lucky searches on a few other subjects...

Failure = http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html
Jobs = http://www.Monster.com
Books = http://www.Amazon.com/books
Fun = http://www.funbrain.com
Ali Amirrezvani = http://www.imediaconnection.com/bios/bio.aspx?id=3900

(I Googled myself as well, but the results were terribly boring. Trust me.)

These results correspond exactly to the top search result when the regular Google search is conducted. So what makes the Lucky results so lucky? It seems pretty contrived and controlled to me.

Contrast that with the Shmoogle results, which are the same as Google results (with rank and everything), but they are presented completely at random. What's most fun about Shmoogle, however, is when you click on Shmoogle It! for the same item more than once, the search results are jumbled all over again. So it really is the luck of the draw. You can do this kind of search until the cows come home... or you find what it is you want. Which ever comes first.


Since my insomnia is still in full swing I decided to try the Google Image Search for "Failure." A black and white photo of George W. Bush, dubbed "Miserable Failure," comes in at #9 on the first SERP. Again, all politics aside, that is pretty amusing.