September 30, 2006
 

Proof that the al-Qaeda uses Google

By calling US President George Bush a "lying failure", the al-Qaeda number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has finally revealed that the organization, and he in particular, use Google extensively.

Anyone who's read his/her email over the last 2-3 years would have got at least a dozen emails, typically forwarded by friends/family, which ask you to type "miserable failure" in Google's search box, press "I'm feeling lucky" and be astounded at how the same result, George W Bush's biography shows up on each of those dozen occasions. That said, we get George Bush's profile at #1 on Yahoo! Search and MSN Live Search as well. So perhaps there is a strong consensus from a 'Wisdom of crowds' theory angle!

Besides, it also vindicates my gut feeling that for most (perhaps in excess of 80%) search queries, the top 3-5 results returned on all search engines are identical and are perhaps differentiated only in terms of the ranking.

In any case, back to the al-Qaeda. I searched for "lying failure" on Google and landed up at a post on 'The Inside Dope' about the Bush administration's incompetent handling of 'Hurricane Katrina'. W.W.W.W.W or Q.E.D.

So much so for "Don't be evil", eh?!

Labels: al-qaeda, google