What’s in a Name?

30 January 2008

Last night, I was ego surfing, and decided to check my Google rank for the keyword “Robert.” That’s right, just “Robert.” I have been in the top ten off and on, but last night this site actually came up higher than the blog of Robert Scoble.

I think this means I was momentarily famous. Strangely enough, I didn’t feel any different than before. By this morning, the effect wore off. I am now back under Scoble. Such are my thrills of late.

I also started up a stub page on Wikipedia for my googleganger, Robert Peake the Elder. Some art historian with a lot of spare time later went to town. Unfortunately, the Peake side of my family tree ends with my love-em-and-leave-em great-grandfather Peake. So, short of DNA testing (or some evidence that this painter had a double-jointed thumb), I’ll never know if we are related.

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Posted in Life, Technology | Tagged , | Comments (9)

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  • nstryker

    wikipedia has nofollows on all their links, so it wouldn’t've helped anyways.

  • Robert

    I doubt I’d get a link on his page just for being related to him. Was more just curious if painting ran in the family. :)

  • http://www.360i.com Anthony SEO

    If you’re logged into your Gmail account while searching, the results will be different based on your searching behavior.

    For example, in your screenshot you see the “8 Visits – Jan 15″ – Google is tracking your searches, and the sites you click on; your site may be #1 on “robert” eventually, but that’ll only be for you, while your logged into your Google account.

    If you want to see what the rest of the world sees, stay logged out of your Google account whilst searching.

  • Robert

    Thanks for the tip, Anthony. I just tried it. Logged in, I’m #2; logged out, I’m #6. My bubble is burst. :)

  • Felicity

    I blame the fact that there’s a TV show named “Felicity” for the fact that I don’t break the first page.

    I mean, how else can I live with the envy for your first-page ranking with ONLY your top-50 (2006 US male names) first name?

  • Robert

    I tend to contract your name in my head to FelSho. A quick Google search shows the top result for the keyword “FelSho” (EWG Farm Bill 2007 Analysis) has not even been assigned a page rank yet. I say change your name and cash in on an niche market!

  • http://faerye.net Felicity

    That’s pretty nutty, man.

    And I should think that a poet of all people would realize why a person might prefer to keep the polysyllabic, mellifluous moniker her parents gave her :p

  • Robert

    Yeah, it’s a good name. When I first heard it, I thought it was a pen name. That’s how good it is.

    You’d think my prominence in the world of Roberts would encourage me to blog more. Alas, life has been nutty lately. Hoping to post more again soon.

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