Monday, May 4th, 2009 by Andy Beal

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Gaming Google Trends; So Easy, a Caveman Can Do It!

Poor Google. It seems just about anything it puts together becomes fair game to hackers and manipulators.

While the search engine spends its day keeping spam out of its web index, it’s apparently unable to prevent Google Trends from being gamed. As Andrew Girdwood spotted, a recent "hot" keyword on Google Trends was nothing but one big joke! :-)

Have you spotted any other funny keywords on Google Trends?


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8 comments on “Gaming Google Trends; So Easy, a Caveman Can Do It!”

  1. Byrne Says:

    May 4th, 2009 at 12:51 pm

    There was the infamous Swastika incident:

    http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/10/swastika-appears-on-google-trends  /

    Byrne’s last blog post..Disney, Hulu, and the Death of the Soviet Superstars

  2. Jaan Kanellis Says:

    May 4th, 2009 at 2:42 pm

    I see them all of the time, usually from people getting some spammy domain listed as a popular search

    Jaan Kanellis’s last blog post..2009 Kentucky Derby Picks, Predictions and Rundown Of All Horses Entered

  3. Matches Malone Says:

    May 4th, 2009 at 4:28 pm

    Google will probably say something like, “We are experimenting, as this app is still in beta…” or some such tripe.

  4. Paula Mooney Says:

    May 4th, 2009 at 4:35 pm

    Don’t forget the 9/11 reference on Google Trends, and I’ve seen worse on there too. I check it often and see some crazy stuff sometimes.

    »»»»»»» ✈ ▌▌Plane Flying into Two Buildings on Google Trends List? Who put it there, and how the hell do they game Google Trends? | PAULA NEAL MOONEY

    Paula Mooney’s last blog post..Le Mystere Dream Tisha Bra – Is this Oprah’s favorite things day?

  5. Nia Says:

    May 5th, 2009 at 12:57 am

    Good info. He he.. Thanks
    Motivation for me

  6. MMO Pinoy Says:

    May 5th, 2009 at 6:12 am

    This is weird and funny! I never noticed that.

  7. RJ Says:

    May 5th, 2009 at 8:38 pm

    I don’t really see the point in trying to manipulate Google Trends, except maybe for bragging rights. I can’t imagine that the ratio of “common folk” who frequent this web tool is too high. It’s great for marketers / website owners who know how to grab “instant” front-page, albeit temporary, rankings… but do those with a buyers mentality really visit Google Trends in any significant way?

    RJ’s last blog post..Online Survey PLR – Why You Need It

  8. Spying on the World with Google Trends Says:

    May 26th, 2009 at 2:59 pm

    [...] Gaming Google Trends; So Easy, a Caveman Can Do It! (marketingpilgrim.com) [...]