Futher to my tidbit blog entry I’d like to spend a little time explaining why this was possible.

The practice is known as Google Bombing. Weblogger Adam Mathes is credited with inventing it in 2001, when he used it to link the phrase “talentless hack” to a friend’s website. The term refers to setting up a large number of Web pages with links that point to a specific Web site so that the site will appear near the top of a Google search when users enter the link text.

The technique makes use of Google’s proprietary (and much decried) search ranking algorythm: PageRank. In Google’s own words:

PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves “important” weigh more heavily and help to make other pages “important.”

The nature of the PageRank system is also its largest weakness. The search engine can be manipulated by a fairly small group of users if the keywords are carefully selected. Newsday newspaper idicates that as few as 32 web pages from different sites with the same words linked to the target is sufficient to thwart Google’s page ranking sheme.

By now there’s probably a lot more links pointing “miserable failure” to George W. Bush’s biography than the 32 required. This however will pass. News pages will get archived, content will be refreshed and with a little luck Mr. Bush will no longer be the target of this particular prank.