2 Comments

Although google says “Results 1 – 10 of about 72,600 …” try clicking through to page 33* – it’ll be the last page and you’ll see “Results 321 – 329 of 329.”
(*At first there’s 196 hits; then try “repeat the search with the omitted results included” to get 329.)

So, are there 329 hits or “about 72,600” hits?

More importantly, whom can I sue over this very disturbing discrepancy?

Le Mur,

You found “the end of Google,” did you?

I’m serious, Google only shows a max of about 1,000 hits. After that it gives up, and even those 1,000 are then condensed as “similar listings” to some number in the hundreds. This is true no matter what your search terms. The total number of hits that Google tells you are available is just an estimate. The entire process is a good object lesson in the preference we have for quality over quantity, cuz the vast majority of searchers never, and I mean never, even realize they can reach an end cuz they never have to scroll that far to find what they want.

Walter Olson,

The phrase “she looks forward…” and “they look forward” yield about 13,000 and 255,000 hits, respectively. Given the relative totals, it would seem that lawsuits are now a social activity. Surely the Overlawyered board game cannot be far behind?