What do you think about Google bombs? Do they devalue the quality and relevancy of search, or is it a beautiful thing? A WebmasterWorld member finds Google bombing all part of the "beauty of search." He references the PC World article that discusses that Stephen Colbert is now the "Greatest Living American" in the Google SERPs. I also reported on this yesterday, and Danny covered it at Search Engine Land as well.
The member wonders how Google removed the previous apparent Google Bombs, particularly with regards to the miserable failure of George Bush. From Matt's post on the Google Webmaster Central blog, it appears that it is in fact a tweak of the algorithm. One wonders how this works for relevancy of other results, though. I don't know if I agree with Colbert being the Greatest Living American (sorry Rand). :)
Regardless, it is questioned about whether Google Bombs should be allowed. For one member, it is seen as "stuffing the ballot box." Therefore, another member suggests that these pages not be ranked if the terms that are being linked in the anchor text are not present on the page that is being linked to.
As for "failure," earlier this month, George Bush ranked for it again after his personal web page said "failure." Danny discussed this on Search Engine Land.
Feel free to contribute to the discussion at WebmasterWorld.
