I added a new (replaced an old) feature to the site. You may have noticed to the right is a new content box. This box has a list of the top search terms people used which led them here. For example, if someone searches for (which is almost a Googlewhack, BTW), then they wind up at this site if they click the link on the results page. (There I go, skewing the results...) Get it? People search for something, find a link to our site, click that link and come here. I see their search terms in our log files.

How did this "feature" come about? Well, search engines have always fascinated me. I always thought there was a lot of unseen data in search engines. So I was thinking about the logs for this site one day and thought that a good way to get a third-hand view of the site would be to see what people were searching for when they found us. Pretty soon, Tess and I found ourselves continuously amused by the referrer links we get from Google (even my all-too-common typos, which are apprently common for other people as well). In fact, I'd say the greatest joy we've had out of doing this site is checking the referrer logs for new search terms that sent people our way. We've had some real howlers. People have searched for some supremely odd things and found this site. Interestingly, not all of the search terms are completely wholesome, even though Tess and I rarely swear much online.

(I guess this is a good a place as any for the disclaimer: other people entered every single word in the search term rankings box I make, not us. We had nothing to do with it; we aren't in the habit of searching for our own web site. I simply found the words in our log files. So if you see a bad word, then don't look at it, OK?)

But it's been fun to guess what people were looking for even when it hasn't been fornicating NASCAR chicas. I don't think think anyone has every found their query quarry by coming here, yet we've had quite a large number of people stay and check out lots of pages.

I wanted an easy way to see the search terms, and figured everyone else might get a kick out of it as well. So I cooked up a little script which reads a file of the most common search terms found in this month's log files. It counts each unique search term and reports the top ones (currently, it only reports the top 20 terms, although that number can change). I don't list the actual counts because A) it doesn't really matter for the purposes of a ranked list and B) I didn't want anyone stuffing the ballot -- 10 is just as good as 50 when you don't see the actual count. Anyway, all you have to do is click on a search term to go back to Google and see what the original search was, and where this site fit into the rankings. Sometimes, we're pretty far down the list (assuming the ranking hadn't changed, although I don't see how we could move very far in a month). It only links back to Google because we get the most hits from Google and it's the only good search engine anyway. This list will change every month, so it might have less than 20. And I've noticed that the list changes quite a bit towards the end of the month. Oh yeah, one more thing: only one month's search terms are kept; once a month is past, it's past and we keep no archive.

After looking at the list and clicking over to Google a couple times, I find myself wondering if the sum of those searches reflect what Tess and I have written about, and therefore are about? I don't know. I don't think so. Maybe.

BTW, you know what the best thing about making the search term list publicly available is? Search engine spiders will follow their own crumbs. Heh heh.