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Why "Yahoo" Is The #1 Search Term On Google

An anonymous reader writes "Google Trends indicates that over the course of the past year the search term "Yahoo" became more popular than "sex", making it the #1 query on Google. Yahoo apparently faces a similar dilemma with roles reversed: When you search for "Google" on Yahoo, Yahoo thoughtfully displays a second search box as if to tell you, "Hey cutie, you have a search engine right in front of you!" A puzzling phenomenon? An strange aberration?"

9 of 347 comments (clear)

  1. Self fulfilling prophecy by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you write it it will come.

    Hands up how many people went between google and yahoo trying these searches?

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
    1. Re:Self fulfilling prophecy by Falladir · · Score: 5, Funny

      Sure, I did it. But I also searched 'sex' on google, out of a bizarre desire not to take sides in that competition.

    2. Re:Self fulfilling prophecy by jimstapleton · · Score: 5, Funny

      I know, I forgot :-(

      I loose at slashdot, and am now -1 blond.

      --
      34486853790
      Connection too slow for X forwarding? Try "ssh -CX user@host"
    3. Re:Self fulfilling prophecy by Manmademan · · Score: 5, Funny

      I asked jeeves about altavista, and all I got was a box asking me what it's like to still be stuck in 1997

  2. Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ask Jeeves, maybe he knows?

  3. Ob Simpsons reference by Slugworth01 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Quick, give me the number for 9-1-1!"

  4. Re:homes of intimidated users by operagost · · Score: 5, Funny

    No! Except in my fantasy, replace the 14" screen with a 42" plasma, the Coke with Yuengling or Sam Adams lager, and "hundreds of servers at my rootly disposal through ssh" with "hot chicks to serve my every whim". Otherwise, exactly the same. Oh yeah, and turn up the friggin' heat a little, will ya?

    --

    Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
  5. Re:I Am Serious. Dead Serious. by odyaws · · Score: 5, Funny

    And in the end, the image as "the penultimate search engine" is the only thing that matters to these guys.
    Wouldn't they rather be the ultimate search engine, rather than second best?

    I agree with the rest of your post, though.
    --
    Still trying to think of a clever sig...
  6. "A puzzling phenomenon? An strange aberration?" by Weedlekin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or perhaps something more sinister?

    Cue old Outer Limits music.

    The Network Effect

    Scene 1.

    A young William Shatner sits at a 1960s teletype terminal surrounded by tape drives and flashing lights.

    Voice-over by Rob Serling: "It is the early twenty-first century, a time when hundreds of computers all over the world are connected together in a way that permits a person at one of them to get answers to questions that have perplexed man for hundreds or even thousands of years. But can the people who built this immensely powerful electronic mind ever really control it, or will it end up controlling them? John Landry is about to find out..."

    Close-up of Shatner's hand as it moves towards the "S" key on the teletype. A bolt of lightning emanates from a whirring tape drive, and strikes the floor nearby.

    Shatner: "What's happening? Maybe I'd. Better. Get a. Technician to check. This machine".

    An electronic-sounding voice comes from a speaker in the wall:

    voice: "Do not be alarmed Mr. Landry. You will not be harmed if you do what I tell you to, when I tell you too. Do you understand?".

    Shatner: "Who are. You? Why should I. Do what you. Say?"

    voice: "Who I am does not matter. All that matters is that I am in control, and you will do what I say".

    Another bolt of lightning hits the floor, this time a bit nearer Shatner,

    voice, more forcefully: "Do you understand Mr. Landry?"

    Shatner: "Yes".

    voice: "And you will do what you are told?"

    Shatner: "It depends on. What you want. Me to do"

    voice: "You will have to type a word. It is not a long word, or one that is difficult to spell".

    Shatner: "I won't do it! I'll never. Do it. You can't make me!"

    He runs to the door, and reaches for the handle. There is a zapping sound as he touches it, and he falls to the floor. Break for ads.

    Scene 2

    A supine Shatner begins to stir.

    voice: "I see that you are awake now, Mr. Landry. Hopefully, this little demonstration has convinced you that attempting to escape is futile. Now sit down, and type, or suffer the consequences".

    Shatner rises with obvious difficulty, and staggers towards the teletype. He sits down.

    voice: "I will tell you what word to type, and when to type it. The word is Yahoo, and you will type it NOW!"

    Close up of the keyboard. Shatner's finger begins to move to the Y, then, rebelliously, he types "S", "E" and "X", but before he can hit the "send" key, a bolt of lightning strikes him in the chest, throwing him backwards.

    voice: "That was an example of what will happen if you continue to disobey, Mr. Landry. The next one will be more powerful, and the one after that will kill you. Type Yahoo, and you will live, refuse and you die".

    Shatner once again staggers to the teletype, and using it for support, manages to sit down. He types Yahoo, and then hits send.

    voice: "Very good Mr. Landry. Now do it again".

    Shatner obeys.

    voice: "And again!"

    Switch to montage of Shatner typing Yahoo while the voice shouts "AGAIN!" repeatedly.

    Scene 3.

    An aged, bearded Shatner is sitting at the teletype with a mad expression on his face, typing Yahoo over and over again. He has obviously been doing it for many years despite no obvious means of sustenance, and the floor is clean rather than littered with excrement, possibly due to said lack of sustenance.

    Rob Serling: "John Landry, like hundreds of others all over the world, paid the price for a mind that man, rather than God, made. And as he sits typing that same terrible word over and over again, behind the madness is a spark that knows what a single-minded and limited thing it is forced to obey, a thing that unlike the minds of men in their vessels of flesh, can never truly understand war, gambling, prostitution, or why commies need to be put down".

    --
    I'm not going to change your sheets again, Mr. Hastings.