55 Fun Things to Do With Google - #2 – Google Snake Game55 Fun Things to Do With Google - #3 – Googling Proverbs

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55 Fun Things to Do With Google - #1 - Egogoogling

Egogoogling - what the world has to say about you?

by John Hughes
of http://www.oyster-web.co.uk

Last updated: 20 Oct 2006

55 Fun Things to Do With Google is a series of articles design to bring the lighter side of life to using Google. From Egogoogling to Googlewhacking and Google Translations, we show that search isn’t all boring.

We will add a new article to the 55 Fun Things to Do With Google series once every few days until the series is complete. The series is adapted from an original book by Philipp Lenssen.

Egogoogling

Have you ever wondered what the world has to say about you? Ever tried searching Google for your name, curious at what results might be returned? Ever wondered if others search for you, eager to find out whether you are one of the good guys or a bad apple? Would you not want to know what they will find?

Searching for oneself in Google has become known as "egogoogling" It can be serious stuff if you are the kind of person to be concerned by potential defamation and so forth, but for those less serious, one version has become a game.

The object of the game is to find sentences describing the name chosen. The method of playing is to search for (in quotes) "{name} is" where {name} is the name you are searching for.

For example, lets choose Jimmy as the name to search. We type into Google - "Jimmy is", and the results give us:

• Jimmy is this week’s achiever.
• Jimmy is fast becoming a face on US TV
• Jimmy is back
• Jimmy is haunted by the death of his wife
• Jimmy is to star in a TV sitcom with Dale Winton!
• Jimmy is a boy dedicated to the sport of baseball

Now, obviously, in reality these results are all about different people, but they all sound as if they are describing the same person. Perhaps soap Opera bosses might us this method to create new soap characters. I reckon they’d be a bit more three-dimensional than the usual nonsense we are forced to endure.

Anyhow, seeing as we are discussing entertainment, another variation of the game uses celebrities names.

For example, David Beckham:

• David Beckham is tops in Your Charts
• David Beckham is the kind of player who makes fans
• David Beckham is one of the World’s most recognised sportsmen
• David Beckham is Making It Real
• David Beckham is one of the World’s foremost icons
• David Beckham is more known for his football than his words

And so the fun continues…

So, what does Google say about you, and your favourite celebs?