The New York Times maintains a page describing which stories their users most often emailed (you may have to register/log in to see this page–hey, it’s free, and I’ve been impressed by the NY Times’s site). This sort of meta-information is fascinating to me, and one of the unique aspects of publishing information on the Internet. Another good example of this is over at AltaVista, which shows what people are currently searching for. This a powerful part of search engine development, as companies build up a database that maps search terms to the results that people search for. A mere two minutes on the latter site provided these gems that people had recently searched the Web for:
- mad scientist network
- gatling gun history
- hydroquinone
- vintage fruit labels
- dancing bush
- laser sighted pool cue
Also good are images that people search for:
- “area 51” OR “groom lake”</LI
- agamemnon
- galapagos birds
- ethan hawke
- rustic decorations
DarrenBarefoot.com 