Comments on: Dumbass of the Week: Google http://www.ask-kalena.com/google/dumbass-of-the-week-google/ Your Daily Search Engine Advice Column Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:50:25 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Kyle James http://www.ask-kalena.com/google/dumbass-of-the-week-google/comment-page-1/#comment-11043 Kyle James Thu, 26 Mar 2009 02:07:50 +0000 http://www.ask-kalena.com/?p=614#comment-11043 So now E for effort huh? Lol... So now E for effort huh? Lol…

]]> By: Web Host Blog | Hosting in the USA…not http://www.ask-kalena.com/google/dumbass-of-the-week-google/comment-page-1/#comment-10968 Web Host Blog | Hosting in the USA…not Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:17:48 +0000 http://www.ask-kalena.com/?p=614#comment-10968 [...] The vast majority of attendees that I ran into were from Europe. That is exactly what you would expect, but it still took a bit of adjustment as I have a very ”USA-centric” worldview. Apparently I am not alone in this, mighty search engine Google skews USA as well. Consider the recent logo and link that Google placed onto Google New Zealand to note the arrival of Fall in that hemisphere. Pretty normal, right? Well, not exactly as the term ”Fall” which was used in the logo and the link is used almost exclusively in the USA. The correct term down under is ”Autumn” and yields distinctly different search results. You can see how this was an affront to the local audience and points out Google’s USA-centric worldview by reading this blog post on the subject. [...] [...] The vast majority of attendees that I ran into were from Europe. That is exactly what you would expect, but it still took a bit of adjustment as I have a very ”USA-centric” worldview. Apparently I am not alone in this, mighty search engine Google skews USA as well. Consider the recent logo and link that Google placed onto Google New Zealand to note the arrival of Fall in that hemisphere. Pretty normal, right? Well, not exactly as the term ”Fall” which was used in the logo and the link is used almost exclusively in the USA. The correct term down under is ”Autumn” and yields distinctly different search results. You can see how this was an affront to the local audience and points out Google’s USA-centric worldview by reading this blog post on the subject. [...]

]]> By: Google Inc http://www.ask-kalena.com/google/dumbass-of-the-week-google/comment-page-1/#comment-10314 Google Inc Sun, 22 Mar 2009 11:44:50 +0000 http://www.ask-kalena.com/?p=614#comment-10314 Oops. Our bad. Oops. Our bad.

]]> By: juanita http://www.ask-kalena.com/google/dumbass-of-the-week-google/comment-page-1/#comment-10265 juanita Sat, 21 Mar 2009 21:27:29 +0000 http://www.ask-kalena.com/?p=614#comment-10265 Yes, I agree and see your point. I am in MI USA and we say Fall. I think that the links that Google posts at the top of their pages like that should link to a search for example to:'first day of fall, first day of autumn' so that it is more inclusive. If they really want to get it right they should have the link query a DB for the correct or several correct phrases for your region. I mean what is Autumn/Fall in Polish? Yes, I agree and see your point. I am in MI USA and we say Fall. I think that the links that Google posts at the top of their pages like that should link to a search for example to:’first day of fall, first day of autumn’ so that it is more inclusive.
If they really want to get it right they should have the link query a DB for the correct or several correct phrases for your region. I mean what is Autumn/Fall in Polish?

]]> By: Kalena Jordan http://www.ask-kalena.com/google/dumbass-of-the-week-google/comment-page-1/#comment-10175 Kalena Jordan Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:21:50 +0000 http://www.ask-kalena.com/?p=614#comment-10175 @Ron As I said on the Sphinn post - it's like the equivalent of promoting a Queen's birthday logo on Google.com. The large majority of Americans don't celebrate the British Queen's birthday. It has absolutely no relevance to them. It would confuse people and I'd bet there'd be lots of complaints. Like Kat said, it's no small thing for a company with the influence of Google. They obviously agreed as they changed it quick smart. BTW, I'm Australian, not a Kiwi. But never mind, assumptions about the Southern Hemisphere happen ALL the time @Ron As I said on the Sphinn post – it’s like the equivalent of promoting a Queen’s birthday logo on Google.com. The large majority of Americans don’t celebrate the British Queen’s birthday. It has absolutely no relevance to them. It would confuse people and I’d bet there’d be lots of complaints. Like Kat said, it’s no small thing for a company with the influence of Google. They obviously agreed as they changed it quick smart. BTW, I’m Australian, not a Kiwi. But never mind, assumptions about the Southern Hemisphere happen ALL the time

]]> By: Ron S http://www.ask-kalena.com/google/dumbass-of-the-week-google/comment-page-1/#comment-10147 Ron S Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:27:03 +0000 http://www.ask-kalena.com/?p=614#comment-10147 I think it's a bit of a stretch to go so far as to call google culturally insensitive. Do you really think the alt tag for an image was run by all the MBAs and Ph.D's? It's quite obvious this was just an oversight, and they fixed it once alerted. Poor little sensitive kiwis bruise easily I guess... ;) I think it’s a bit of a stretch to go so far as to call google culturally insensitive. Do you really think the alt tag for an image was run by all the MBAs and Ph.D’s? It’s quite obvious this was just an oversight, and they fixed it once alerted. Poor little sensitive kiwis bruise easily I guess… ;)

]]> By: Kat Scholtz http://www.ask-kalena.com/google/dumbass-of-the-week-google/comment-page-1/#comment-10145 Kat Scholtz Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:07:48 +0000 http://www.ask-kalena.com/?p=614#comment-10145 lol. I love Miranda's comment. I'm glad Google paid attention to this, it's no small thing - especially given the influence they have. Details matter. lol. I love Miranda’s comment. I’m glad Google paid attention to this, it’s no small thing – especially given the influence they have. Details matter.

]]> By: Spring Is Here, Search Engine Logos For The Day http://www.ask-kalena.com/google/dumbass-of-the-week-google/comment-page-1/#comment-10144 Spring Is Here, Search Engine Logos For The Day Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:04:24 +0000 http://www.ask-kalena.com/?p=614#comment-10144 [...] Jordan found, Google New Zealand accidently linked the result to the “First Day of Fall”. She called [...] [...] Jordan found, Google New Zealand accidently linked the result to the “First Day of Fall”. She called [...]

]]> By: Kalena Jordan http://www.ask-kalena.com/google/dumbass-of-the-week-google/comment-page-1/#comment-10135 Kalena Jordan Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:07:10 +0000 http://www.ask-kalena.com/?p=614#comment-10135 @allister lucky we're patient eh? @David Well, that's probably a little unfair LOL. @allister lucky we’re patient eh?

@David Well, that’s probably a little unfair LOL.

]]> By: David http://www.ask-kalena.com/google/dumbass-of-the-week-google/comment-page-1/#comment-10131 David Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:40:07 +0000 http://www.ask-kalena.com/?p=614#comment-10131 At Ses San Jose's Google Dance they always order too many small and medium tshirts and not enough XL's. You'd think they'd know all of the world's sizes! Not. At Ses San Jose’s Google Dance they always order too many small and medium tshirts and not enough XL’s. You’d think they’d know all of the world’s sizes! Not.

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