Google will “helpfully” try to autocomplete searches for you. Sometimes these suggestions are actually useful. Sometimes they’re hilarious. Sometimes they’re just plain bizarre. Often looking at the whole list gives you a vague idea of what the general public thinks as those are common enough searches for Google to suggest them.
So what does the average person searching the internet think about books? What does Google think they’re looking for?
Reading is…
Books are…
(Books are for talking too should actually be a book title, “Books are for Talking, too!” a textbook on teaching reading. I am however picturing some people arguing with the book they’re reading…)
Printed books are…
Print on demand is…
(Hopefully that future includes a proofreader and spellcheck)
Ebooks are…
(It appears people have a love hate relationship with ebooks)
Kindle is…
(and if they have a love-hate relationship with ebooks, apparently the Kindle is the hate part)
Kindle app is…
Nook is…
(The Nook doesn’t fare a lot better, but it is better than Kindle apparently)
Bookstores are…
Amazon.com is…
Borders is…
(Not every suggestion is relevant)
barnes and Noble is
(and apparently a lot of people confuse Borders and Barnes and Noble. I’ve heard this in person as well. We had both in a nearby town and people were convinced BOTH had closed. Good for me, they come in to my store instead!)
After looking at these, its clear the internet is where people go to complain about problems they’re having. Sometimes they go look for ways to fix them, but there’s a lot of grousing, and Google knows it. Take all the doomsaying and complaints with a grain of salt.
Hey Nora, Thanks for taking the time to post this. I’ve often found that it is far easier to just to go ahead & type what I want (and I’m a slow, 4 finger typist) than to bother with the Google selections they ‘helpfully’ provide. Most of the time when I get closer to my full inquiry the helpful hints poop out anyway.