The canonical example of political Google-bombing was perpetrated in October of 2003, when a large group of bloggers linked the terms “ miserable failure” to George W. Bush’s official White House site biography. Indeed, the internet is one series of tubes that is rife with such politically motivated chicanery. One example, though perhaps not as notorious as the “miserable failure” bombing, was highlighted in an International Herald Tribune article.

Chris Bowers, a contributor to the progressive blog MyDD, requested during the 2006 election cycle that whenever a poster mentioned a Republican candidate, that official’s name was to be linked to a damaging news article or op-ed that Bowers had found regarding that candidate. For instance, Senator John Kyl (R-Arizona) was given the distinct honor of being linked to this flattering Phoenix New Times article, entitled “Stealth Zealot”. The result of this particular link bomb can still be seen on the first page of Google search results. Though while these stunts are often amusing, their efficacy is often dubious as those of different political-persuasions may not appreciate a political Google-bomb’s levity and many may not appreciate what they consider search-result spamming. When link bombing was first used, Google itself received criticism as those unfamiliar with Google’s page-ranking system thought Google itself endorsed the opinions expressed by the bombers. Many also predicted that with the blooming blogosphere, the quality of Google’s search results would suffer, being too easily influenced by relatively few individuals.

Despite the criticism, and often hysterical portents of doom, Google insisted that it would maintain its objectivity and keep its ranking system relatively untouched. However, in January, 2007, Google waffled and changed its search algorithm in an attempt to prevent instances of link bombing by massive link farms. Some rumors on the internets have speculated that the revised algorithm only incorporates a blacklist mechanism rather than a fundamentally altered page-ranking system. Those who support this claim cite the fact that prominent Google-bombs such as the “ French military victories” bomb still exist, whereas other well-publicized Google-bombs have been eliminated, and more have been eliminated.