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Google, Circa 2001

An anonymous reader writes "If you have 10 minutes to spare, take a look at an archive that Google has posted to mark the company's 10th anniversary. The search engine and its results are based on data from 2001, but it's interesting to see what turns up when popular 2008 terms are entered. For instance, iPod generates a reference to Image Proof of Deposit Document Processing System, and the 771 Barack Obama results centered around his duties as an Illinois State Senator."

47 of 355 comments (clear)

  1. This is fucking cool by zappepcs · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Try searching for 'sarah palin' or 'conspiracy theory' for a few minutes of fun

    Now you'll see why snapshots are good :)

    1. Re:This is fucking cool by cortesoft · · Score: 5, Funny

      Awesome: "It was so Wasilla." Sarah Palin, Wasilla mayor, after officiating at a wedding at the local Wal-Mart store.

      http://web.archive.org/web/20010306214613/www.alaskamagazine.com/stories/120199/ktob.html

    2. Re:This is fucking cool by Daimanta · · Score: 5, Funny

      Can you imagine her taking a state visit to Germany?

      Reporter: How would you describe this state visit?
      Palin: It was so Germany.
      [Reporters in the room all scribling]

      --
      Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
    3. Re:This is fucking cool by The+Good+Reverend · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This is odd, though:

      http://www.google.com/search2001/search?q=%22Sarah+Palin%22 ("Sarah Palin") returns no results for me, but http://www.google.com/search2001/search?q=palin+Wasilla (palin Wasilla) returns quite a few, including many with the term "Sarah Palin" in them.

      Any thoughts?

    4. Re:This is fucking cool by FornaxChemica · · Score: 5, Funny

      Google's algorithm sucks. This company has no future, 2001 will see the end of them.

    5. Re:This is fucking cool by religious+freak · · Score: 4, Insightful

      ("Sarah Palin") returns no results for me, but (palin Wasilla) returns quite a few, including many with the term "Sarah Palin" in them. Any thoughts?

      Yeah, I know exactly why this would be the case. Their search algorithm sucked back then (relative to now)... despite the fact that it was miles better than anything else.

      Remember when using alta vista, webcrawler, etc and EVERYTHING was a Boolean search (usually of way too many 'NOT's.

      How we forget so quickly :)

      --
      If you can read this... 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100111 01100101 01100101 01101011
    6. Re:This is fucking cool by weetabeex · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Following your line of thought, the unborn baby should ask for permission before a turning a woman pregnant, otherwise she's entitled to kick him out?

      I'm still new to all that woman => magic => pregnancy => babies sequence, so cut me some slack...

  2. Your search - lolcats - did not match any document by default+luser · · Score: 5, Funny

    PLEASE TAKE ME BACK TO TEH FUTURE!!!!111

    A world without LOLCATS is a world I don't want to live in!

    --

    Man is the animal that laughs.
    And occasionally whores for Karma.

  3. Nice to see what's missing by Lev13than · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It was so refreshing to search for 9/11 and not have any of the crap from the last seven years show up. A simpler time indeed.

    --
    When you have nothing left to burn you must set yourself on fire
    1. Re:Nice to see what's missing by SEE · · Score: 5, Interesting
    2. Re:Nice to see what's missing by Martin+Blank · · Score: 3, Informative

      To be fair, that is from a grand jury indictment, and a statement in an indictment isn't necessarily a proven fact. That it got past the grand jury suggests little more than that the grand jury believed the chances of it were high enough to turn over to trial; without transcripts, there's no way of knowing how strong their belief may have been.

      --
      You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
    3. Re:Nice to see what's missing by Yvan256 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I searched for 9/11 and it gave me 0.818181818181818

    4. Re:Nice to see what's missing by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Interesting, from #2:

      "In addition, al Qaeda reached an understanding with the government of Iraq that al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al Qaeda would work cooperatively with the Government of Iraq."

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    5. Re:Nice to see what's missing by retchdog · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The most striking to me is Blackwater. Notice that back then Blackwater was basically just a huge gun range and training center for law enforcement and citizens. They really took advantage of the "growth opportunities" provided by 9/11.

      --
      "They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
  4. Subtle political trolling by Gizzmonic · · Score: 4, Funny

    The submitted article contains a subtle dig at Barack Obama, implying that he is unsuitable for the executive office because a primitive version of Google's PageRank algorithm only had 771 results.

    I wonder how many results that same algorithm had for Theodore Roosevelt, 7 years before he became President? Few predicted his meteoric rise!

    --
    (-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
    1. Re:Subtle political trolling by Sasayaki · · Score: 5, Funny

      I don't know. Maybe Google will release their search results from 1898 as well? Then we could google "World War" and go- huh huh huh- no pages found! Life was so much simpler then without all this "Nazi this, Nazi that" being shoved down our throats by the media...

      --
      Check out my sci-fi book "Lacuna" at http://goo.gl/MVxX8
    2. Re:Subtle political trolling by SydShamino · · Score: 4, Funny

      You jest, but this is again appropriately hilarious:
      http://fury.com/google-circa-1960.php

      --
      It doesn't hurt to be nice.
    3. Re:Subtle political trolling by glwtta · · Score: 3, Funny

      The dig against Ron Paul is even more subtle, but no less telling: he isn't even mentioned at all! It seems that the Slashdot "editors" aren't even bothering to hide their bias anymore; this place has really gone downhill.

      --
      sic transit gloria mundi
  5. Random searches by nizo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    search term: (old) now

    linux: (18,600,000) 558,000,000

    microsoft: (15,700,000) 903,000,000

    microsoft problems: (13,200,000) 500,000,000

    linux problems: (15,400,000) 300,000,000

    ubuntu linux: (20) 8,280,000

    vista microsoft: (90,900) 20,800,000

    vista microsoft problems: (0) 1,550,000

    xp microsoft problems: (9,440) 11,900,000

    1. Re:Random searches by eln · · Score: 4, Interesting

      nothing (16,500,000) 750,000,000
      cotton candy (100,000) 5,520,000

      This just in: The Internet is a lot bigger now than it was in 2001. Shocking, I know. However, the most important search result, the one that shows you how truly wonderful the world is now compared to the world of 2008:

      porn (4,490,000) 236,000,000

    2. Re:Random searches by nbert · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Even topics which don't get much attention anymore score much higher in 2008:

      Napster: (1,130,000) 17.300.000

      Millenium: (1,170,000) 23,900,000

      Kursk: (98,300) 3,040,000

      I guess 3 factors play a role: Google has better spiders, the net is growing and we have more redundancy.

      One thing I haven't figured out yet: Have they filtered results which the current version does not display anymore for legal reasons?

    3. Re:Random searches by nizo · · Score: 4, Funny

      The Internet is a lot bigger now than it was in 2001.

      Or not:

      "penis enlargement": (107,000) 7,410,000

    4. Re:Random searches by nizo · · Score: 4, Funny

      Oh and I found one:
      y2k bug : (281,000) 274,000

    5. Re:Random searches by Kvasio · · Score: 3, Funny

      well, not in English, but here it is: "cze do szwecji" had 2 results in 2001 and 1 in 2008 :-)

      Please contact me on gold star transfer :)

    6. Re:Random searches by pablomme · · Score: 4, Funny

      ...that shows you how truly wonderful the world is now compared to the world of 2008

      Wait... when is now, then?

      For its 20th anniversary, Google brought back its index of 2008 for people to play with. Only this time there was the unexpected side effect that people could not only see the pages, but also post back from 2018.

      Little did Google know that this breach of space-time would signify the collapse of the Universe by 2020.

      PS, I'm posting this from an alternate Universe. I hope this doesn't mess th

      --
      The state you are in while your HEAD is detached... - wait, what?
  6. Re:Your search - lolcats - did not match any docum by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Keep in mind that it's also a world without /b/tards.

    I'm just sayin'...

  7. wow...some growth by MoFoQ · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Entering the keywords "porn" into it in 2001 generates 4,490,000 hits vs 236,000,000 hits in
    2008

    1. Re:wow...some growth by Gat0r30y · · Score: 4, Funny

      thats not just growth - that is genuine progress.

      --
      Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
  8. The good old days by dangitman · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Ahhhh... when my real name and company dominated the first few pages of Google results - without spending any money!

    --
    ... and then they built the supercollider.
  9. Re:Weird! by LSD-OBS · · Score: 4, Funny

    She only took on her human form around 2003.

    I, for one, fear our ancient reptilian overlords!

    --
    Today's weirdness is tomorrow's reason why. -- Hunter S. Thompson
  10. Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac HOLY CRAP by aardwolf64 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Search for: "fannie mae" "freddie mac" collapse

    Hit up the archive of the first link. It's Fred L. Smith, Jr.'s testimony before the House Banking Committee's Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Securities, and Government Sponsored Enterprises.

    He warns that the current setup of those two lenders are working to destabilize the marketplace.

    From his testimony: "At best, this mixing of private and political incentives creates marketplace confusion; at worst, it leads to a serious misallocation of capital and an increasing risk for American taxpayers."

    1. Re:Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac HOLY CRAP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Search for: "fannie mae" "freddie mac" collapse

      Hit up the archive of the first link. It's Fred L. Smith, Jr.'s testimony before the House Banking Committee's Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Securities, and Government Sponsored Enterprises.

      He warns that the current setup of those two lenders are working to destabilize the marketplace.

      From his testimony: "At best, this mixing of private and political incentives creates marketplace confusion; at worst, it leads to a serious misallocation of capital and an increasing risk for American taxpayers."

      From "http://web.archive.org/web/20010410165029/www.cagw.org/mediacenter/newsrel/search/00-03-09.htm"

      "If Freddie and Fannie continue their attempts to expand their reach into subprime and jumbo mortgages, there is a real danger of collapse."

  11. Re:Your search - lolcats - did not match any docum by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    newfag.

  12. Nice! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Your search - "department of homeland security" - did not match any documents.

    Oh make it so again magic eight ball!

    (me cries)

  13. Re:One Thing Missing by nog_lorp · · Score: 3, Funny

    I did that and EVERYTHING was related to the 11th of September!

  14. Re:Your search - lolcats - did not match any docum by Gat0r30y · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Results 1 - 10 of about 681 for wikipedia. (0.01 seconds).
    but plagiarism
    Results 1 - 10 of about 35,400 for bit torrent. (0.01 seconds)
    and piracy were so much harder back then:
    Now: Results 1 - 10 of about 264,000,000 for wikipedia. (0.27 seconds)
    Results 1 - 10 of about 67,500,000 for bit torrent. (0.07 seconds)

    --
    Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
  15. Wikipedia -- 42143900% Increase in Results! by donniejones18 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Google Jan 2001:
    Results 1 - 10 of about 681 for wikipedia. (0.01 seconds)

    Google today:
    Results 1 - 10 of about 287,000,000 for wikipedia. (0.07 seconds)

    That's a 42143900% increase in results! :)

  16. Wikipedia! GITMO! by molo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "george w. bush" iraq -- 2001: 21,400 results
    "george w. bush" iraq -- 2008: 15,400,000 results

    interesting find: "Will George W. Bush launch a new US war of aggression against Iraq?" -- January, 2001

    wikipedia -- 2001: 681
    wikipedia -- 2008: 287,000,000

    guantanamo bay -- 2001: 33,500
    guantanamo bay -- 2008: 7,200,000

    waterboarding -- 2001: 43
    waterboarding -- 2008: 1,940,000

    al qaeda -- 2001: 1670
    al qaeda -- 2008: 20,400,000

    --
    Using your sig line to advertise for friends is lame.
  17. A refreshing search by MLCT · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is a useful tool, as well as being a bit of fun.

    In addition to all the standard "wii gives no results!" posts, what I noticed, and what was nice to see when searching for a few things, was the absolute lack of blog/link spam everywhere. Searching for a couple of terms that I still search for now yielded 300 odd results - but 300 *relevant result*. Searching for the same thing with the 2008 engine gives me tens of thousands - but 90% of them are just pollution results. The 2001 engine actually kicked up a few "new" results for things that, while still technically available on the 2008 engine, are on page 152 of it - and so hence essentially lost and I have never seen them before.

    It links in to what I have argued previously - fork search engines. A bleeding edge "just spidered" version for those who want to chase up-to-the-minute things - and a "stable" time-lag version that would defeat the point of spam (if a blog/link spamming campaign has to wait for a couple of years to get their search results in to the stable engine results then they are less likely to bother).

  18. Re:Your search - lolcats - did not match any docum by dedazo · · Score: 5, Funny

    and piracy were so much harder back then:

    It wasn't, it just happened on FTP servers and USENET.

    I'd tell you more but I have to to change my dentures.

    --
    Web2.0: I love when people Flickr my cuil and digg my boingboing until my google is reddit and I start to yahoo
  19. First Results: by WDot · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Digg: Yapima Digg (the poem)
    Youtube: No results
    Myspace: http://freediskspace.com/ also in 2nd is Myspace.com.au, a home improvement site.
    Facebook: Environmental Science and Public Policy "facebook" on Harvard's website.
    Twitter: A nature site? Even viewing the "archived" version takes me to the 2006 social networking site, so I'm just going by the title.
    del.icio.us: No results
    PS3: A news story discussing the PS3 circa the PS2 launch. Also, apparently Sony owned the domain name 'ps3.net'
    Xbox 360: A site called "360Net," with people anticipating the original Xbox. Now defunct, apparently.
    Wii: Williamette Industries, they make forest products supposedly. The other results are equally irrelevant.
    Nice slice of pre-web 2.0 life.

  20. Re:Your search - lolcats - did not match any docum by Repton · · Score: 3, Funny

    Before LOLCATS...

    When no one yet knew NOM NOM NOM...

    It was the first golden age of internet memes.

    --
    Repton.
    They say that only an experienced wizard can do the tengu shuffle.
  21. Credit Crisis warnings from 2000-2002 by TheSync · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The Impossibility of a Soft-Landing
    June 30, 2000

    This acute supply and demand imbalance led to year over year price increases
    of 29% in "wine country" and 34% in the Santa Clara region. Elsewhere, prices
    surged 17% in Orange Country, 19% in Northern California, 21% in the San
    Diego region, and 34% in Monterey. Clearly, this has developed into a
    precarious statewide housing bubble. Amazingly, we hear not a word of
    concern about what is a major systemic risk to the U.S. financial
    system. And, importantly, the Fed's decision to let the party continue
    allows the great California real estate bubble to run to even more
    devastating extremes. Who is minding the store? Most unfortunately, this
    is a replay of the 80's real estate fiasco but at a much grander scale -
    actually the proverbial "mountain versus a molehill" applies. Yet,
    amazingly, no one dare say "enough is enough," and instead the
    dysfunctional marketplace continues to fund the boom despite the
    obviousness of the unsound bubble. Massive credit excess feed asset
    inflation and a major misallocation of resources, as the Fed tinkers
    with rates. What a fiasco.'

    Sub-Prime Industry Up in Arms Over Fannie Mae Announcement
    December, 2002

    Fannie Mae has a new program out for borrowers with lower credit
    ratings and the sub-prime industry is taking exception.

    The Executive Director of our industry association, NHEMA (link found
    in our Resources section) was quoted in today's American Bankers as
    saying "Fannie Mae is expanding its mission into areas where it has
    virtually no experience, and taxpayers should be prepared for a
    bailout
    that could rival our savings and loan experience," and that
    the association predicts that the program will cost Fannie its biggest
    losses ever, he said. The outcome, he said, will be that consumers
    with credit problems will "be back where they were 25 years ago -- no
    access to mortgages or loans at all, other than loan sharks."'

  22. Re:no, i don't have 10 minutes. by JackieBrown · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Really?

    As a Debian user I enjoyed the time trek back to when Ubuntu had nothing to do with linux.

    http://www.google.com/search2001/search?q=ubuntu&hl=en&btnG=Search

    In the currently charged political climate, I could care less about the troll or flamebait mods anymore so I might as well as fun.

  23. Re:Your search - lolcats - did not match any docum by Clete2 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No Facebook, MySpace, or 4chan. What a wonderful world. But there was a lot of the 90's MIDI-playing pages and flashing colors.

  24. Re:Nigerian Scam results by supernova_hq · · Score: 3, Funny

    And spam still meant just meat!

    That is definitely a matter of opinion.

  25. 2001 iPhone by Kram_Gunderson · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A search for "iPhone" turned this up: http://web.archive.org/web/20010207002902/www.uioa.com/productcatalog/

    Here's the description:

    "The revolutionary iPhone is a fully integrated telephone and Internet device with a built-in touch screen to bring the world of the Internet into your home or office with the touch of your finger. It includes exclusive services and all the most popular telephone features like caller ID and call blocking, along with an Internet dial-up using PPP and e-mail access with multi-user mailboxes.

    What can you do with an iPhone?

    • Send and receive e-mail
    • Make phone calls
    • Shop online
    • Surf the Internet
    • Read the news
    • Check the weather
    • Review sports statistics
    • Access movie information
    • Trade stocks
    • Bank online

    And all of this can be accessed with the touch of your finger, while talking on the iPhone."

    Sound familiar? Apparently this was the 2001 iPhone.

    --
    If you're dumb, surround yourself with smart people. If you're smart, surround yourself with smart people who disagree