My blogroll now includes links to help with the project of Googlebombing (the accepted usage is two words, I think–but I prefer it as one) the terms “Roe v. Wade” and “Abortion Clinics.”
The idea comes from Rad Geek People’s Daily–with this explanation:
While doing a bit of Googling for a citation of the decision in Roe v. Wade, I was reminded of a rather unpleasant fact: anti-abortion nuts have, up to this point, done a pretty good job at getting their agitprop ranked above factual information about Roe v. Wade and abortion in web searches…As of 1 February 2005, the top search result for “Roe v. Wade” on Google (the one you’ll get from “I Feel Lucky”) is not the text of the case; it’s an anti-choice advocacy site called RoevWade-dot-org (I won’t link it here, lest it throw off the Google Bombing)–a one-stop shop for anti-abortion myths such as Post-Abortion Syndrome, the abortion-breast cancer link, and more, along with a heaping helping of wit and wisdom from everyone from Feminists for Life to Dr. James Dobson. You can find similar wingnut sites at the top of many other abortion-related Google searches.
So the Googlebombing project means as many people as possible put these links on their sites–so that the first Google results will at least have a chance of being what they should be .
Thanks to Scribbling Woman for bringing this to my attention. As she points out, the effectiveness of Googlebombing may be questionable–but it can at least start discussion.