Why is my browser so boring?

[delphipsmith]

There is a meme circulating: put the letters of the alphabet into your search window and write down the first auto-complete for each. Other people get all kinds of interesting things (shyfoxling got "dg33fb led connectors" for D and "skankin' pickle" for S, which I don't know what it is but it makes me giggle). When I do it I get precisely what you'd predict if I were, say, George F. Babbitt: A = amazon, B = best buy, and so on down to Y = youtube and Z = zillow.

What does this mean? Why is my browser so conventional, so dull, so uninteresting? Let the record show that I have never searched for zillow in my life, and really who needs to google Amazon when you can just type in "amazon.com"?

I did notice today that if I type "what is" into google, the first autocomplete is "what is a caucus". No surprise there; it's a very unfamiliar concept to most Americans, even if you have had it explained to you as a child by a Dodo.

Edit: Ah, I believe I have sussed it out. It's because I do private browsing and clear my cache every time I close my browser. This means my search history never gets stored, so all google has to offer me is the most popular search for a given letter.

So my browser isn't boring, I'm just very very secretive :)

Comments

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well, a couple of the answers I got in mine tell me a) nope, not posting that and b) clearing that search cache darned hard before I take the machine to any job I might have.

[delphipsmith]

lol Time to check that little box that says "Clear cache when I close my browser" XD

[toblass.livejournal.com]

Mine was boring when I started with simply putting it in the search window at the top of my browser, but the words were more interesting in the Google window.

[delphipsmith]

I think I figured it out; see above.

[nocturnus33]

Mine is boring too and I can´t say it's secretive.

A for Amazon, B for Better homes and gardens (bhg); C for cite this for me

What is ... my IP

[weird-little.livejournal.com]

I DON'T clear my browser's cache, and I still get all kinds of stuff I never have and never will search on.

Maybe it varies from browser to browser? I'm using Firefox; things may be different for those who use Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, et al.

[mimimanderly.livejournal.com]

I, too, just got a bunch of shopping destinations (I've never even been to eBay, so why would that come up?) Sure, I do a lot of my shopping online, but I also ask my fair share of weird questions. I guess I must have my browser cache set to clear, too.

[mundungus42.livejournal.com]

It's good to be reminded that browsers exist only partially to serve us but mainly to steer us to certain parts of the interwebz with whom the browser makers and search engine coders have positive relationships, usually of the financial sort.

Personally, I take great pride in skewing their metrics whenever possible. And judging by some of the Google autofills I get, I'm not alone in that.

[arcanetrivia]

Yeah, it kind of depends on letting Google or whoever track a search history.

"dg33fb led connectors" was me looking up a diagram for how to connect the tiny power wires for the various LEDs on my husband's motherboard, model number DG33FB of whatever it was.

Skankin' Pickle was a local ska band.

[dreamy-dragon73.livejournal.com]

Ah, I had the same problem - turns out for the very same reasons.
~Is a Slytherin so enjoys being secretive~ 

[haruhi-fan.livejournal.com]

I'll give this the best try I can in my blog. Let me know if you liked how my replies got secretive madam! :)