30 + 5 points
Request Search Engine Data by W F
August 12th, 2006 7:25 PM- You may not have much luck unless you can put together a subpoena, and are the government
- You might try asking Jeeves, who, in what must have been a blow to his self-esteem, wasn't asked for similar information.
- We wonder what format the data was provided in. If it looks like you'll be successful, why not demand that MSN provide the search data in OpenDocument format?
- Come to think of it, we'd rather you not upload huge database dumps to SF0. So just post your request, any response you receive, and - if you're successful - some graphical representation of some subset of the data.
- If you don't get a response from the search engines, but really have your heart set on a massive data set, try asking AT&T for random phone call origins/destinations (by city/state/country) and lengths, or eBay for the content (no user info) of one million random pieces of feedback.
AOL has taken the "request" part out of this task and voluntarily provided the data. They've since pulled it, acknowledging that posting it was a "screw-up", but it can still be downloaded here:
http://www.gregsadetsky.com/aol-data/
Reading the list of search queries provides a rich tapestry of stories about AOL users. It's true that most of them cannot distinguish a search box from a location (URL) bar. Spelling errors run rampant. "Google" is one of the top queries, appearing 599,432 times. I take this as proof that even AOL users know that AOL sucks.
"How to kill" appears in 627 queries. But lest you think all AOL users are murderous, queries containing "love" (132,954) far outnumbered "hate" (11,959). Sadly, there were zero matches for "sf0," "san francisco zero," or "sfzero." A far cry from "goatse," which beat us by 51 queries.
But some of the individual stories are much more entertaining than the aggregate statistics. For example:
User 2708 is pissed off and she's not going to take it any more. Her searches included "revenge tactics," "how to get revenge on an ex-lover," "how to make someone miserable," "how to humiliate someone," "how to drive someone crazy," "free gay information," "how to stop loving someone," and - perhaps she was thinking about winning him back - "thong dancewear."
I found Bigfoot! User 24952187 searched for "size 21 shoes," "large sized nike shoes," "large feet," "men's large shoe sizes," and "splash lagoon" - maybe this last query is a hint as to where he's hiding?
I'm concerned about user 5179's health. Searches included "skin discoloration," "staph infection in heart," "bird flu," "shoulder pain," the names of doctors, and curiously, "fajitas." Bizarre medical conditions are a recurring theme among AOL users. Mexican food... not so much.
User 6824 searched for "why is it more dangerous to be around electrical appliances when your wet." Ignoring the your/you're issue, you've got to at least give him/her credit for checking it out first. Their search for "pictures of the excretory system" was followed by "montel williams" - I seriously couldn't make stuff like this up if I tried.
http://www.gregsadetsky.com/aol-data/
Reading the list of search queries provides a rich tapestry of stories about AOL users. It's true that most of them cannot distinguish a search box from a location (URL) bar. Spelling errors run rampant. "Google" is one of the top queries, appearing 599,432 times. I take this as proof that even AOL users know that AOL sucks.
"How to kill" appears in 627 queries. But lest you think all AOL users are murderous, queries containing "love" (132,954) far outnumbered "hate" (11,959). Sadly, there were zero matches for "sf0," "san francisco zero," or "sfzero." A far cry from "goatse," which beat us by 51 queries.
But some of the individual stories are much more entertaining than the aggregate statistics. For example:
User 2708 is pissed off and she's not going to take it any more. Her searches included "revenge tactics," "how to get revenge on an ex-lover," "how to make someone miserable," "how to humiliate someone," "how to drive someone crazy," "free gay information," "how to stop loving someone," and - perhaps she was thinking about winning him back - "thong dancewear."
I found Bigfoot! User 24952187 searched for "size 21 shoes," "large sized nike shoes," "large feet," "men's large shoe sizes," and "splash lagoon" - maybe this last query is a hint as to where he's hiding?
I'm concerned about user 5179's health. Searches included "skin discoloration," "staph infection in heart," "bird flu," "shoulder pain," the names of doctors, and curiously, "fajitas." Bizarre medical conditions are a recurring theme among AOL users. Mexican food... not so much.
User 6824 searched for "why is it more dangerous to be around electrical appliances when your wet." Ignoring the your/you're issue, you've got to at least give him/her credit for checking it out first. Their search for "pictures of the excretory system" was followed by "montel williams" - I seriously couldn't make stuff like this up if I tried.
