AOL search data

Take a look at: http://www.dontdelete.com/default.asp. It's a site with some analysis of the recent massive release of search data by AOL, and it throws up one or two interesting and, possibly, surprising results. For instance, the top search term entered into the AOL engine is 'google'. Indeed, the 6th most popular search term is 'google.com' and the 10th is 'www.google.com'. We can even add in 'goggle', which is some way down the list, but is a common typo for google. And, the 3rd, 4th and 9th most popular terms are 'yahoo', 'yahoo.com' and 'www.yahoo.com' respectively. This raises at least two intriguing questions: why are people putting the name of another search engine into the one they are using? and, do those putting 'google' in particular into the AOL search engine realize that they are in fact making use of the Google web database anyway? Another thought-provoking result of the analysis is that terms such as 'porn' and 'sex' are way down the list, far behind those mentioned already, and below the likes of 'ebay', 'mapquest', 'internet'(?), pogo, craigslist, and a number of others. Now, AOL is sometimes seen as a haven for Web users who prefer to avoid a hands-on approach to the use of web technology and who perhaps want a 'safer' environment than that offered by other mainstream ISPs, but it does raise questions about the common perception of the Web as a place teeming mainly with seekers after pornography and other thrills of the flesh. Indeed, in the top 500 search terms listed (1st is 'google and 500th is 'free music') I picked out fewer than 20 search terms that could be interpreted as 'adult', and even some of those would depend on individual interpretation. The site also offers a search facility that lets you search the database by keyword, URL or AnonID, and even a 'random' button that throws up the search history of a random anonymous user! This last facility in particular offers a fascinating insight into the minds and lives of some Web users, although it can feel pretty intrusive at times, despite the anonymity. The mistake AOL made was not in releasing the data as such, but releasing data with user associations attached. Although the data is anonymised, it has already been used by at least one enterprising newspaper to identify a specific user from an analysis of the search terms she entered. Technorati Tags: AOL, privacy, search terms

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© John Connell
The views expressed in this weblog are entirely my own and are not intended to reflect the views of any other individuals or organizations. All sources will be fully acknowledged.