The next time you need a break from work but don’t want to leave your desk and the computer, here’s a way to pass the time that’s more fun than Solitaire. It’s called MetaSpy.com.
Log on to the site and you get a list of 10 in-progress searches being conducted on the MetaCrawler search engine. Every 15 seconds, another 10 search terms are displayed. You aren’t watching individuals directly, you are just seeing terms they’re searching (and you can click on the terms to pull up the results that MetaCrawler offers).
These lists are a fascinating glimpse into cyberlife. On a visit this week, I found others had been searching for “cheap flights Barcelona” (sign me up, please), “Whitesnake” (a band I haven’t listened to since the late ’80s) and “hairy men pics” (no thanks). You also learn that many folks online can’t spell; searches included “NJ coleges,” “Hewlet Packard” and “Bengladesh.”
Those of us who have been using the Web for years know instinctively that if you’re looking for, say, Sony’s website, to just type in “www.sony.com” in the URL address bar. But, as MetaSpy shows you, for a lot of people it isn’t quite clear what’s a URL, what’s a domain name, etc. So you’ll find people typing in “www.sony.com” into search engines.
A word of caution: When you go to MetaSpy.com, you are offered two different types of displays. The “filtered” version, simply called “MetaSpy” (with the porn and sex words removed) and the unfiltered “MetaSpy Exposed” version (this isn’t for children or the squeamish). Choose wisely, especially if you’re at a monitor that others can see.
There are other search engines that give you access to similar information, including AltaVista Real Searches and Ask Jeeves Peek Through the Keyhole.Archive Tip: For the equivalent of a Billboard chart for search engines, see my August 2001 tip on the topic and to use the best guide to search engines see my January 2002 tip on the Infopeople Search Tools chart (a crib sheet for search engines).
Know a website that other journalists should know about? Write to poynter@sree.net