The Audacity of Barnes & Noble: Search for 'God' Yields Obama Book

NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[governsleastgovernsbest]

NewsBusters reader Shane S. shared this experience:

I was searching for a book I read in college, "God: A Biography." I searched Barnes & Noble's website using the book's title as my search term. The book I was looking for was the first result given. The second result? "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" by the Messiah Himself, Barack Obama.

I tried the experiment myself, and sure enough. Here's the link to the search page. After the jump you'll see the image of the search page result.

[rockinqsranch]

I picture in my mind a flickering black and white image of a biplane with flames visible from the engine cowling, a trail of smoke as it heads spinning towards the Earth. Then a loud >>>BAMA<<< sound, more fire and more smoke.

tsk, tsk, tsk....(shaking head sadly)...tragedy.

[CBF]

I tested the site; A search for “God” did NOT bring up Osama’s book, however as the author suggests a search for “God: A Biography” did. I’ll go out on a limb here and say I don’t think there is a conspiracy on the Barnes and Noble site, but that their search engine related this selection to the word, “Biography”. Just my two cents.

[CharlesWayneCT]

After the exact match, it decided the most important subsearch was “biography”, and I guess Obama’s biography was first on the list.

I would imagine chosing “God” and providing lists of books about God would have given a larger list.

My question is, what book SHOULD be second if you search for “God: a Biorgraphy” and you didn’t want the book titled “God: a biography”

[Politically Correct]

After the exact match, it decided the most important subsearch was “biography”, and I guess Obama’s biography was first on the list.
I would imagine chosing “God” and providing lists of books about God would have given a larger list.
My question is, what book SHOULD be second if you search for “God: a Biorgraphy” and you didn’t want the book titled “God: a biography”

A search on "biography" get Obama as 1st and 8th choices. With the 8th choice as the one that shows up when you combine it with "God".

So what's up with that?

[Miss Didi]

Rush talked about this all during the show today...included here in the Quick Hits:



RUSH: If you go to the Barnes & Noble website, go to the book section at Barnes & Noble and enter the search term "God," you want books that have been written about God. The first book that will show up on the search is God: A Biography, by Jack Miles. The next two books about God are Barack Obama books, The Audacity of Hope and The Audacity of Hope. They list it twice. You go search for a book on God at Barnes & Noble, they show you Barack Obama books. That is not an accident. I know these people at Barnes & Noble. I've had many run-ins with them on the golf course, bunch of huge left wing leftists! Absolutely right. Obama is not God and God is not in the title of his book. Now, I'm sure he talks about God somewhere in the book, but let's see, what else is on the list? After Obama's book comes a book with the word God in the title by Immaculee Ilibagiza. It's called: Left to Tell, Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. And next is Brian Head Welch: Save Me from Myself: How I Found God, Kicked Drugs, Quit Korn, and Lived to Tell My Story. Nothing about God in the titles of Obama's book and in fact they list the same book twice: The Audacity of Hope, one's paperback, one's hardcover.

Now, I am getting e-mailed: "Rush, you're lying. I put God in the Barnes & Noble book search field, and I didn't come up with anything with Obama." Try this search. God: A Biography. God: A Biography, put a colon in there, and then see what you get. Don't doubt me. I have the screen shot, right here.

[WildcatClan]

I reckon you’re right. But with all the various online bookstores having such variable search results—— I have become confused. I mean, is Amazon via Dawkins and Hitchens implying that the Obama of Barnes & Nobles doesn’t exist?

[LibertyRocks]

You don’t even need the colon. “God a Biography” will give you the same results.

[LibertyRocks]

Yes, but even when leaving out “God” Obama’s book doesn’t turn up in the top results...

[<1/1,000,000th%]

LOL!

You’re a dangerous man.

[Kleon]

The headline is a little misleading. The search term wasn’t just “God,” rather the more specific “God: A Biography.” Audacity of Hope probably was second because it returned a lot of results for “biography” and also contains a chapter on faith and God.