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Google Mistook Jackson Searches For Net Attack

Posted by timothy on from the did-say-sorry-about-the-old-woman dept.

Slatterz writes "Web giant Google has admitted it thought the sudden spike in searches for Michael Jackson on Thursday was a massive, coordinated internet attack, leading it to post an error page on Google News. The company's director of product management, RJ Pittman, explained that search volume began to increase around 2pm PDT on Thursday and 'skyrocketed' by 3pm, finally stabilising at around 8pm. According to Pittman, last week also saw one of the largest mobile search spikes ever seen, with 5 of the top 20 searches about Jackson. Google wasn't the only site caught out by the extraordinary events. The Los Angeles Times web site also crashed soon after it broke the news of Jackson's death."

8 of 256 comments (clear)

  1. Am I the only one by calmofthestorm · · Score: 0, Troll

    who had only ever heard of this guy in the context of pedophilia and absurd paranoid claims?

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    93rd rule of Slashdot: No matter how obvious my sarcasm is, my comment will be taken seriously by someone.
    1. Re:Am I the only one by tbird81 · · Score: 0, Troll

      I guess so. Did your parents lock you in a cave as a kid or something? Or do you have no friends?

      Or are you just bullshitting? Your Asperger's must be pretty severe to not have heard of Michael Jackson.

  2. Re:I wonder by basil64 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Point taken. I was exaggerating to make a point; many internet users are in fact teens and tweens (who have no concept of what MAD even means), and given the apalling knowledge by the lumpenproletariat, and students, of geopolitics, geography, and anything outside the realm of TMZ coverage, I have a suspicion that there would in fact be less interest...though I hope the point is never put to the test...

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    ~ Ipsa Scientia Potestas Est ~
  3. sheesh! by FudRucker · · Score: 1, Troll

    i will be glad when michael jackson is buried and forgoten, i am tired of the damn media coverage of some dead popstar/pedophole

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    Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
    1. Re:sheesh! by nickrout · · Score: 0, Troll

      Farah Fawcett died and went to heaven. God asked "What do you want most for the world?" Farah answered "I want all the children to be safe" Well you know what God did next...

  4. Re:Good for google. by FishWithAHammer · · Score: 0, Troll

    I was looking for places to troll.

    Why did Michael Jackson cross the road?
    Because his dick was still stuck in the kid.

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    "You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
  5. MJ, half off. by JBritt1234 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Interesting enough this is the second thing that Michael Jackson has taken down. The first was prompted by his Blue Light Special at K-Mart, little boys pants for half-off.

  6. Re:I wonder by The+Slashdot+Guy · · Score: 1, Troll

    Yes, we do. We just don't feel it's worth mentioning you because most of the time all you say is stupid shit like, "You do know that people outside of North America use the Internet as well, right?"