Really – a search for ‘what is the name’ comes up with these auto-completes?
Erik Kain
Erik writes about video games at Forbes and politics at Mother Jones. He's the editor of The League though he hasn't written much here lately. He can be found occasionally composing 140 character cultural analysis on Twitter.
Keep in mind that if you’re logged in to a Google product it’s most likely customizing suggestions based on your search history. When I enter “what is the name” I get “of the song with these lyrics” and “of the speaker of the house of representatives”.
There is no way in a million years that those results are customized to *anything* about me…
Maybe a geographic customization then? I’m in Boston and when I try it while logged out I get “what is the name of the bruins goal song” as the first suggestion.
What is the name of Captain Barbossa’s pet monkey?
What is the name of the main character in 1984?
What is the name of the current Speaker of the House?
etc. All things I either don’t care about or already know.
…of the only colony on the American continent?
…of the song with these lyrics?
…of the westernmost nation in Europe?
…of the island chain that extends from Alaska?
…of the ionic compound formed from lithium and bromine?
I get
“of the Canadian 1$ coin”
“of the song with these lyrics”
“of the main character in 1984”
“of the speaker of the house of representatives”
“of our solar system”
Keep in mind that if you’re logged in to a Google product it’s most likely customizing suggestions based on your search history. When I enter “what is the name” I get “of the song with these lyrics” and “of the speaker of the house of representatives”.
There is no way in a million years that those results are customized to *anything* about me…
Maybe a geographic customization then? I’m in Boston and when I try it while logged out I get “what is the name of the bruins goal song” as the first suggestion.
What is the name of Captain Barbossa’s pet monkey?
What is the name of the main character in 1984?
What is the name of the current Speaker of the House?
etc. All things I either don’t care about or already know.
…of the only colony on the American continent?
…of the song with these lyrics?
…of the westernmost nation in Europe?
…of the island chain that extends from Alaska?
…of the ionic compound formed from lithium and bromine?
I get
“of the Canadian 1$ coin”
“of the song with these lyrics”
“of the main character in 1984”
“of the speaker of the house of representatives”
“of our solar system”