Romanians are Smart or How to Change the Google Autocomplete Suggestions
1–10 of 63 posts
Re: Romanians are Smart or How to Change the Google Autocomplete Suggestions
#2The problem with this is that, unlike traditional Googlebombing which relies on lots of links to a certain page, "Romanians are smart" will quickly drop off the search suggestions as soon as this campaign loses popularity. Gaming search suggestions requires constant upkeep effort.
Re: Romanians are Smart or How to Change the Google Autocomplete Suggestions
#3The problem with this is that, unlike traditional Googlebombing which relies on lots of links to a certain page, "Romanians are smart" will quickly drop off the search suggestions as soon as this campaign loses popularity. Gaming search suggestions requires constant upkeep effort.
Is this really a problem though? It would seem "Romanians are ___" is a rare search term as it is--the negative terms are likely old and low-frequency, especially in comparison to this recent surge in positive queries.
Re: Romanians are Smart or How to Change the Google Autocomplete Suggestions
#4The problem with this is that, unlike traditional Googlebombing which relies on lots of links to a certain page, "Romanians are smart" will quickly drop off the search suggestions as soon as this campaign loses popularity. Gaming search suggestions requires constant upkeep effort.
Is this really a problem though? It would seem "Romanians are ___" is a rare search term as it is--the negative terms are likely old and low-frequency, especially in comparison to this recent surge in positive queries.
This specific instance might not be, but search suggestions could become as problematic as search results. Try "Rick Santorum is ____".
Re: Romanians are Smart or How to Change the Google Autocomplete Suggestions
#5Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is this really a problem though? It would seem "Romanians are ___" is a rare search term as it is--the negative terms are likely old and low-frequency, especially in comparison to this recent surge in positive queries.
This specific instance might not be, but search suggestions could become as problematic as search results. Try "Rick Santorum is ____".
That's if you're competing in your own niche. What if you wanted to positively influence the search results that came up for your company? "igul222 i buy so much in a year that i want a discount" "igul222 write testimonial" "igul222 frequent buyer program" "igul222 secret promotion"
Re: Romanians are Smart or How to Change the Google Autocomplete Suggestions
#6I had no idea Romanian looked so much like Latin, at least for that trivial "Romanii sunt" clause.
Re: Romanians are Smart or How to Change the Google Autocomplete Suggestions
#7The moment this campaign started, I felt it was unnatural. Just drive through the center of Bucharest once, and you'll see just how smart Romanians are. I'm not one of those that feel like that they don't belong to this country, but we still have a long way to go.
Funny thing is that even romanian searches would yield 'Romanians are rude' and similar suggestions. Cause we are, just like other nations around us from the former communist countries. After aprox. 50 years of living under constant pressure that what's yours will be taken away, now everyone sees everyone as a potential threat. It's our/their blood. And it'll take a while until things will change. They're changing, but I'm not sure campaign like these will make a big difference.
Re: Romanians are Smart or How to Change the Google Autocomplete Suggestions
#8I'm going to ask the dumb question that the article doesn't explain: why do people hate Romanians so much? I've never found Romanians awful people. Is this just more ethnocentric rubbish and typical hostility toward Eastern European immigration?
Re: Romanians are Smart or How to Change the Google Autocomplete Suggestions
#9I had no idea Romanian looked so much like Latin, at least for that trivial "Romanii sunt" clause.
Romanian is a latinate/romantic language, like Italian, French, Spanish, or Portuguese... but for some reason it never gets listed with the others.
Relevant linguistic map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Romance_20c_en.png
Re: Romanians are Smart or How to Change the Google Autocomplete Suggestions
#10Also interesting is that the campaign chose "Romanians are smart", when they could have used much more positive phrases like "Romanians are friendly". Typically being "smart" is a stereotype already well-covered by too many other ethnicities (primarily Asians).