# WTF Google search **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 26, 2021, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216 "2021-10-26T05:19:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/1 "2021-10-26T05:19:44Z")
As I’m sitting here web browsing, I have the tv on muted. It’s American Pickers, and they’re checking out a burned down mill. I was idly curious about how exactly a mill stone works, so I type in “how does a…” and the first suggestion is “how does a millstone work”! I’m pretty sure I’ve never made that search before. Clicking on it showed no links colored as having been opened. I don’t know what to think of this. ---
**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/2 "2021-10-26T05:26:58Z")
Probably related: > **[How Google Interferes With Its Search Algorithms and Changes Your Results](https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-google-interferes-with-its-search-algorithms-and-changes-your-results-11573823753)** > > Pressed by businesses, interest groups and governments, the internet giant uses blacklists, algorithm tweaks and an army of contractors to shape what you see. > **[Perspective | How does Google’s monopoly hurt you? Try these searches.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/10/19/google-search-results-monopoly/)** > > Right under our noses, the Internet’s most-used website has been getting worse. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/3 "2021-10-26T05:36:02Z")
My best guess is that Googlebot now knows enough about you that it predicted you would be watching American Pickers - current episode about a burned down mill - and that you wouldn’t know how a millstone worked, but would likely be curious to find out. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/4 "2021-10-26T05:39:54Z")
Why can’t it always be that prescient? ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/5 "2021-10-26T05:58:15Z")
I tested it by flipping to one of those execrable Chucky movies, and then typing “who starred in…” and it had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![ALOHA\_HATER](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@ALOHA\_HATER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ALOHA_HATER)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/6 "2021-10-26T06:20:16Z")
I don’t know. Maybe it’s something like there’s usually ten searches a day for the query, then when they showed this episode there’s a hundred, instantly, huge spike in OP’s area within a minute. Perhaps a few days ago if you typed “what did” it would autofill “what did Colin Powell do.” ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/7 "2021-10-26T07:44:26Z")
Google will make suggestions based on current popular searches by other people in your region. If you typed the same words in another part of the country, or on a different day, it would make different suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/8 "2021-10-26T08:00:29Z")
> [@ALOHA\_HATER](#): > > I don’t know. Maybe it’s something like there’s usually ten searches a day for the query, then when they showed this episode there’s a hundred, instantly, huge spike in OP’s area within a minute. Perhaps a few days ago if you typed “what did” it would autofill “what did Colin Powell do.” This is what I suspect. The OP was one of several people who decided to search for a millstone while that show was airing. It probably took a few other things into account, like that the people asking might have similar interests to you, or even the types of questions you usually like to ask, but the main thing is probably all the other people who searched for the same thing while that show was airing. If you’d watched a recording or something, it probably wouldn’t have had such an accurate guess. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/9 "2021-10-26T17:49:08Z")
Just for fun I did “how does a” to see what it shows. The first is “How does a heloc work”. I don’t know how it came up with that. The only one from the list that makes sense is “How does a prop gun kill people”. I think there would be some confirmation bias. I do 100 searches and only one is the one I’m interested in. When that one comes up I’m impressed on how magic Google is. For the other 99 I don’t wonder how Google would even think I am interested in that. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/10 "2021-10-26T18:11:35Z")
Whan I typed “how does a”, I got results that filled in with things that begin with A; “how does Apple pay work?” Just “how does” filled in with “how does Noom work?” Huh? It’s a diet program. I’ve never googled diets or even visited any diet sites. Noom must be huge somewhere, or they’re paying Google. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/11 "2021-10-26T18:14:48Z")
“How does Noom work” was the seventh in my “How does” start. I don’t even know what it is, other than what you said. Prepaid placement, or just a reflection of a lot of people wanting to know? The prefills above that did look like things I’d been browsing recently (Amazon music, Echo, etc). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.E](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.e/32/8932_2.png) [@Mr.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.E)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/12 "2021-10-26T19:47:38Z")
I don’t think Google knows enough about you to predict you’re watching this episode of American Pickers, but I can easily believe that other people classified as similar to you also searched “how does a millstone work” recently. It’s similar to how Facebook tends to show you ads that seem to indicate it knows what you’re saying, when actually what is knows is where you are and what other people near you have been interested in. Facebook doesn’t know what you and your friend are talking about but it knows your friend searched for millstones and now it’s serving up a millstone-related ad to you right after your you and your friend had lunch together and they gushed about millstones for an hour. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/13 "2021-10-26T19:52:18Z")
The only other time I wondered about millstones, was wondering how much stone powder gets in your flour, but I didn’t search for it. ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/14 "2021-10-26T19:52:35Z")
Lately I’ve been doing some online schooling, and I find myself talking aloud when I’m stuck on something. The google assistant on my phone sometimes pipes up (unasked for) and answers my question. She’s… listening. I should probably be creeped out by that, but it’s so handy that I don’t really mind. Except late at night when I wake up and say to the cats “I gotta pee!” or something and I hear her little turning on sound. Oh shit. Anyway, long story to suggest maybe your phone was nearby, somehow heard your tv - no wait, you had it on mute - uh. Okay I confess I have no good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/15 "2021-10-26T20:06:45Z")
They only would have mentioned the mill stone in passing if that- they were interested in the restoration of the building. All I know is that it kind of creeped me out. ---
**Author:** ![CardboardBoxx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardboardboxx/32/7079_2.png) [@CardboardBoxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CardboardBoxx)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/16 "2021-10-26T20:17:36Z")
I just tried putting “how does” into Google. I’ve been reading about the NHS Test and Trace program, which many people incorrectly call Track and Trace, first question up was “how does Track and Trace work”, although I’ve never called it that. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/17 "2021-10-27T10:35:34Z")
Here’s a little Google search story. I searched for boncentration bamps This was ignored, and I got results for concentration camps. So I employ the “Search for instead” Still mainly CCs So now I try “boncentration bamps” (quoted) I get better results, it appears there’s a song or a band called that, and bunch of user/account names. Still no good. Next one does the trick: “boncentration bamps” monty python and I find the episode where Graham says that phrase. However, now when I search for the simple unquoted phrase, I get page one full of the results I wanted originally without having to tweak it. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/18 "2021-10-27T10:45:22Z")
My “how does a” gives “how does afterpay work” ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/19 "2021-10-27T11:36:04Z")
Just for fun I put “how does a” on my phone, personal laptop and work laptop. The results on the phone and personal laptop were identical. The results on the work laptop were different but had some overlap. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216/20 "2021-10-27T12:02:16Z")
The other day one of my coworkers was telling me on Teams she had gotten her eyebrows threaded. I had never heard of that before so decided to look it up to see what it was. I put “eye” into Google and it autofilled the rest with eyebrow threading. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-google-search/953216.md?page=2)