Angie McKaig - E-Business Consultant and Entrepreneur

what's related at Google2004.02.20

Anybody know how the algorithm works for Google's "Similar pages" links? I'm serious - I'd really like to know.

Because apparently...

angiemckaig.com is similar to the Starsky and Hutch movie and the ROM
iStockPhoto is similar to Books For Soldiers and Weight Watchers
MetaFilter is similar to Neil Gaiman
The Weather Network is similar to a graphical multiplayer war game
Nerve.com is similar to United Poultry Concerns
Wal-mart is similar to MapQuest
Christmas.com is similar to ESPN and a Singapore ISP
Holt Renfrew is similar to Costco and RiteAid
Greenpeace is similar to Google
Women.com is similar to GameSpot
CNN is similar to Microsoft and eBay
eBay is similar to Blogger and the NBA and MTV

Now, to be fair: many of the results on these pages are similar. And many others I tried brought up good results. But still, some of these similar listings gave me the giggles.

If you find more giggle-worthy examples, please share them!

3 comments

David Brown said on 2004.02.21

Google's 'similar pages' apparently considers pages to be similar if they have incoming links from the same source(s).

So if you linked to two sites and later did a related search on one of those pages the other would show up.

It's suggested that only pages with pagerank > ~4 are shown.

Angie said on 2004.02.22

Kind of lends credence to the argument that blogs are changing the way search engines need to handle rankings so search results aren't unduly skewed...

Thanks David!

Bennett said on 2004.06.13

Tastes differ. (c)

home · about · contact
The most important thing is knowing. Everything will work out if you just remember to breathe. Chocolate is not for sharing. Beauty is everywhere if you just remember to look for it. Perfection is impossible but improvement can happen every single day. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light. Make a wish. Dance when the music moves you. If it's hard to say, odds are it's what the listener most needs to hear. Wear a new colour. Do that thing that scares you. Love as often as possible.