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Ask HN: A Google search with zero results?

8 points by noduerme ↗ HN
I was trying to figure out which online casino was running a voice ad, on podcasts, beginning with the phrase "Where was the last place you got lucky?" It turns out that putting that phrase in quotes in Google yields zero results, with filtering off. At least from where I am.

This seems utterly impossible. Not least because Google almost never respects quotes around other phrases, and offers its own interpretation against the user's wishes if it can't find the exact phrase somewhere.

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22where+was+the+last+place+you+got+lucky%22

8 comments

[ 3.8 ms ] story [ 137 ms ] thread
not_your_vase
When you see complaints saying that Google results are becoming more and more useless by every single day, this is what they mean.

It would be interesting to hear Google's stance on this - they stayed curiously silent on the topic.

bryanrasmussen
>It looks like there aren't many great matches for your search Try using words that might appear on the page you’re looking for. For example, "cake recipes" instead of "how to make a cake." Need help? Take a look at other tips for searching on Google.

--- followed by exactly one hit -- this HN Post!

bryanrasmussen
I guess it isn't good to complain that a quoted phrase gets respected at least some times.

I have also been hitting a few google bombs recently that I thought should have returned at least a few hundred hits.

MattGaiser
Chumba Casino is your answer.

I got a hit for "where's the last place you got lucky" so maybe it is the contraction?

noduerme
Lol. And now your response is the first result, above the Reddit one ;)

Honestly, it's very strange. There must be other cases of this phrase in the history of the internet, and it's bizarre that Google would choose this of all phrases to parse exactly.

MattGaiser
Googling without the quotes tends to be very sexual, so perhaps there is some filtering there.
vGPU
Indeed - are you really going to tell me this phrase hasn’t come up at least once? I don’t believe it.