Over the weekend, I received quite a bit of mail about this:We wanted to give a quick update about "Googlebombs." By improving our analysis of the link structure of the web, Google has begun minimizing the impact of many Googlebombs. Now we will typically return commentary, discussions, and articles about the Googlebombs instead. The actual scale of this change is pretty small (there are under a hundred well-known Googlebombs), but if you'd like to get more details about this topic, read on.

First off, let's back up and give some background. Unless you read all about search engines all day, you might wonder "What is a Googlebomb?" Technically, a "Googlebomb" (sometimes called a "linkbomb" since they're not specific to Google) refers to a prank where people attempt to cause someone else's site to rank for an obscure or meaningless query. Googlebombs very rarely happen for common queries, because the lack of any relevant results for that phrase is part of why a Googlebomb can work. One of the earliest Googlebombs was for the phrase "talentless hack," for example. I do not know how much of this is a response to my past actions in 2006, and / or my current actions srrounding John McCain. It appears that the search engine optimization techniques that I employed in those actions do actually fit the definition of a Googlebomb, so perhpas there is no connection at all. Also, the currnet "Googlebomb" I am employing against John McCain still ranks #9 on searches, so the impact of Google's new formula might be minimal. Then again, considering the amount of R & D Google has, if they are trying to change their formula to stop this specific type of action, eventually they will figure out how to do so.

What is eqaully certain, however, is that there will always be ways to manipulate search engine rankings, even if the days of the googlebomb are numbered. Given that Internet searches for candidate information remain the most common form of political action taken online, it will remain crucially important for campaigns and activists alike to continuously be developing new strategies that will allow them to take advantage of online searches. Rest assured that I will do whatever I can to constantly be developing new techniques in this area myself.

So, long story short, I am going to look into this, and into developing a more comprehensive search optimization strategy before going forward with the next phase of the John McCain googlebomb campaign. This campaign does not end here. If anything, this new development will simply result in a more sophisticated and intelligent strategy. and yes, BlogPac will continue to be essential to these efforts.

Anyway, just thought I needed to make a public statement about this, considering the large maount of queries I was receiving.

Looking at the data, I see that several of the linked articles are now surpassing the official re-election websites of the target - woo hoo!  Wiki links still seem to have no effect, though.

I'm now using some Perl code to get the rankings through the google API, so my results differ slightly from Lucas O'Conner's updates.  I think automated results tracking is the wave of the future, and would allow us to track, say, a dozen articles per candidate, without these updates taking lots of our useful time.

My program also displays all URLs from the target site in the top 100 to help identify slight URL changes, giving us just a little bigger window into the world of Google.

There's more...

It is good to keep an eye on this. No matter how well the Google Bomb project works or does not work this year, learning what works and what does not is instructional for us down the road--Chris

Overview: progress is positive overall, with most non-wikipedia articles moving up, but also several others dropping off the search entirely, mostly due to competing articles on the same site.

One other winner is the term "google bomb", where Chris's MyDD post now shows up as link #6. :)

I'm been home with a wracking cough all week - no GOTV or calls for me - so I might as well go through the links to see where we are.  Data retrieved between 2:30PM and 4:00PM PST Saturday.

Over the flip for the data...

There's more...

A few weeks ago Colin McEnroe invited Dan Gerstein and me to discuss blogs, the Internet(s) and our respective campaigns to his class at Trinity College.

Teh Google came up.

I turned to Dan, back to the class and said, "I really don't want to get too deep into this particular strategy ... eh, screw it, there's nothing you'll be able to do to counter the effort."

I then described GooglebombCT, a project we've been working on for a few months now.

Let me tell you, "Joe Lieberman" is a tough nut to crack on Google, but we've come a long way.  We've taken links out of nowhere and now dominate the second and third pages of the returns.  You think link is tough?  Try ten for Joe and ten for Ned.

Anyway.  Here's my ask ... I'll include the source code in the first comment.  Please embed it into the template of your blogs (side bar or footer are great!).  It might look unsightly for two weeks, but here's the vital statistics are far as our race in CT is concerned:

In the days before the August primary, seventy thousand! people visited NedLamont.com via Google.  Over 20,000 Googled "Joe Lieberman" inside CT alone.

Joe Lieberman has millions of dollars from those who profit from war, high gas prices and expensive medicine.  His 527 friends are free to distort Joe's record (in a positive way) and trash Ned on TV.  We'll fight with the tools we have.  All of them.

Bombs away!

Tim

There's more...

Unless I have already agreed to give you an interview on the subject, from now until Election Day I am refusing all media inquiries on the subject of Google Bombing. I have written extensively about the subject on MyDD, from which you are free to quote. For those to whom I have not agreed to give an interview, and who would still like more on the subject, here is my final statement on the topic for the press:Search engine optimization has been a part of political campaigns for several years now. Smart campaigns have been using it for some time. While it is a new topic for discussion in the media as a result of my campaign, it was even rampant during the 2004 election, when conservative bloggers Google Bombed John Kerry as a "flip flopper," with "waffles," and progressive bloggers Google Bombed George Bush as a "miserable failure." If you don't believe me, feel free to try out those keywords in a Google search. The bombs are still active.

There are three main differences between the campaign I started and other, similar campaigns. First, I did it out in the open with full transparency on my blog, using my name, and with my email in full view. Second, it is much more wide ranging, since it has multiple, simultaneous targets. Third, and most importantly, instead of targeting campaign talking points such as "flip flopper" or "miserable failure," this campaign worked to only use non-partisan media reports. No talking points. No opinion columns. A bare minimum use of alternative media. In other words, this campaign works solely to push news reports made by trusted, mainstream news outlets into the foreground during the final two weeks of the campaign season.

At a time when what conservative pundits think about Michael J. Fox has somehow become campaign "news," quite frankly I believe that what I am doing is more substantive and fact-based than much of the reporting we have recently seen on the campaign trail. I am also highly suspicious that I am receiving so many media requests because many might want to use my very small campaign as a way to paint progressives and Democrats as a whole in a negative light. Simply put, I do not trust your motives for wanting to write on this campaign.

Finally, I am running multiple campaigns at the end of this cycle, with absolutely no help outside of volunteers from the progressive netroots. Not only does this mean that my actions are my own, it also means that I do not have a lot of extra time to field interviews every hour. It is more important for me to see these campaigns succeed, and for Democrats to retake Congress, than it is for me to receive press on my efforts. We will see soon enough whether or not these campaigns had their desired effect. Right now, I don't know if they have. At the very least, I would like to see how well these campaigns work before I engage in further discussions concerning them to the press. I will be more than happy to talk with you about this the day after the election, or even to discuss Use It Or Lose It right now. Currently, however, discussions of Google Bombs are off the table.

Best,
Chris Bowers And that's that. It is time for me--and you--to get back to work. To participate in the Google Bomb yourself, click here or here. To see how the Google Bomb is progressing, click here. For more information on why searh engine optimization is so important, please check out The New Politics Institute New Tools Campaign.