# Google and the Atlanta Douchebag **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 22, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-and-the-atlanta-douchebag/514698 "2009-10-22T02:48:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-and-the-atlanta-douchebag/514698/1 "2009-10-22T02:48:55Z")
Some thread that I don’t recall linked me to this article about [John Fitzgerald Page](http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A333662), who is apparently the poster child of douchebags. In fact the article claims that if you Google _Atlanta douchebag_, this guy’s name will pop right up. And it did! But what surpised me is that I didn’t even have to type it all in – as I typed, a drop down list appeared of words/phrases I might be typing so I could select it from the list and save some keystrokes. And there on the list was “Atlanta douchebag”! I think this might be called “predictive text” but I’m not sure if the technology is the same. So what I want to know is where the items on this list come from. I know it’s not coming from the Windows “autocomplete” function, because I’m quite certain I’ve never before searched for _Atlanta Douchebag_. I can’t imagine that any vendor or sponsor would have paid Google to add that term to the list. Could it really be that it is simply a list from Google of the most popular searches by _everyone_? It’s almost as hard to imagine that is such a popular search. This is on the generic google search page, not Advanced Search or any of the other specialized pages. Does it appear on your list too? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-and-the-atlanta-douchebag/514698/2 "2009-10-22T03:26:37Z")
[http://www.googleautocomplete.com/](http://www.googleautocomplete.com/) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-and-the-atlanta-douchebag/514698/3 "2009-10-22T03:26:47Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Could it really be that it is simply a list from Google of the most popular searches by _everyone_? It’s almost as hard to imagine that is such a popular search. It’s true. It works in both the Google search engine extension in Firefox, the Google search engine extension in IE 8, and on [google.com](http://google.com). It’s the third on the list when you type “atlanta dou” Bing (Microsoft’s search engine) does not come up with the same result, however. While it does have search suggestions, the search suggestion for Google is based on Google’s stats. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-and-the-atlanta-douchebag/514698/4 "2009-10-22T04:46:26Z")
I’m just happy **my** name doesn’t come up. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-and-the-atlanta-douchebag/514698/5 "2009-10-22T05:37:01Z")
As if. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-and-the-atlanta-douchebag/514698/6 "2009-10-22T05:50:20Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Some thread that I don’t recall linked me to this article about [John Fitzgerald Page](http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A333662), who is apparently the poster child of douchebags. Just read the link. What a douche. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-and-the-atlanta-douchebag/514698/7 "2009-10-22T06:46:10Z")
He looks like he has some Hanover ancestry, like [this portrait](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/King_George_III_by_Sir_William_Beechey_%282%29.jpg) of King George III. His face has sort of a doughy look to it; not ugly, but not extraordinarily handsome. His car, clothes, etc are mediocre. As Stephen Keshner might say, he thinks he’s shit-hot, but he’s just weak-dick. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-and-the-atlanta-douchebag/514698/8 "2009-10-22T13:14:36Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > I’m just happy **my** name doesn’t come up. Not on page 1, at least.