The Danger of Google History in a Time of War

Photo by Nick Schou

Recently, I was called a liar on national radio.

This is never a pleasant experience, but it’s even worse when the evidence used against you is the World Wide Web’s most popular search engine, Google.

I was being interviewed by conservative radio talk-show host Dennis Prager when he claimed that Palestinians have never staged a large protest against terrorism. I responded that in fact I had witnessed several demonstrations, that a particularly large one in 1996 received widespread media coverage.

“Since I can’t find it on Google, you’re obviously lying,” Mr. Prager informed me—and his listeners—as we returned from a commercial.

Biggest Purge In Google’s History As 300 Jobs Cut

Internet behemoth Google Inc. is doing some downsizing after merging with a newly acquired company, announcing 300 layoffs at its just purchased online advertising firm DoubleClick.

There may be additional layoffs at the overseas offices for DoubleClick as well, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

DoubleClick, which is based in New York and San Francisco, was bought last month for more than $3.2 billion.

Google Milestones

Google is a play on the word googol, which was coined by Milton Sirotta, nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner, and was popularized in the book, Mathematics and the Imagination by Kasner and James Newman. It refers to the number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. Google’s use of the term reflects the company’s mission to organize the immense, seemingly infinite amount of information available on the web.