[icernet] Google says it's a small world

[Arul Selvan MIC]

Google is the world's largest search engine, and the similarity of
search queries over the 86 languages they accommodate indicate that
people are thinking about the same issues globally, The New York Times
reports. Everything from sports to anthrax to sex to American movies and
celebrity is searched over just about every language available. Greg
Rae, one of three members of Google's data logging team, said, "It's
amazing how similar people are all over the world based on what they are
searching for." Politics, breaking news, and natural occurrences affect
searches as well. For instance, Rae said that Germany and Brazil were
intensely interested in their elections as evidenced by speech and
campaign traffic in those countries. Within minutes, a February 28, 2001
earthquake in Seattle increased searches for relevant info almost
200-fold. Another data logger, Amit Patel, said, "You can't interpret it
unless you know what else is going on in the world." Because Google
searches often reflect widely watched entertainment events on TV and in
Movies, there's some question as to where the site will make commercial
use of its massive data logs. However, Google currently does not allow
outside access to these logs because of security issues. But the
engine's popularity continues to globalize pop culture phenomena that
may have previously only been known in a specific region.

Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/28/technology/circuits/28goog.html?pagewanted=2