The practice known as “Googlebombing” represents an ongoing game between Google and technically savvy activists seeking to influence search rankings.
In a recent instance, several Reddit posts linking Trump’s name and photo with the word “idiot” gained tens of thousands of upvotes, which Google considers an important ranking factor. Coverage by media outlets also impacted the display of images in search results.
Googlebombing has a noteworthy history, most famously in December 2003 when searches for “miserable failure” led directly to the official biography of then-President George W. Bush. This was driven by a concerted effort from webmasters linking to the biography page with the phrase as anchor text.
Google addressed these results slowly, explaining in a blog post that search outcomes are primarily determined by automated programs analyzing link popularity. The post remarked that while Googlebombing can create unusual results, the company does not support nor directly alter results to prevent such outcomes, as maintaining search objectivity is essential.
Interestingly, Bing’s search outcomes do not seem impacted by the same manipulation efforts that affected Google’s image searches for Trump.
Google has historically resolved these exploits through algorithmic means, suggesting these results won’t remain visible for long. According to Fili Wiese, a former Google employee involved in developing ranking algorithms and spam policies, a solution is likely imminent.
For more on Googlebombing and its unexpected results over the years, explore resources on Link Building: Google Bombs & Link Bombs.
