Google Thinks Domain Names Are Like Guns

So, here’s an interesting question: when are domain names like guns? Well, apparently if you are searching Google, then domain names are so related to guns that Google shows a popular domain name registrar along with search results related to, you guessed it: guns.

I have to admit that in the past I’ve been quick to “pull the trigger” when I see what I think is a good domain name. (Yes, pun intended here!)

But this really has to be pretty ridiculous. I thought that Google was supposedly providing BETTER search results now, especially since they have all these all-new, fresh, fancy algorithms. Like the Google Hummingbird algorithm, and the Google Penguin and Google Panda updates. Let me show you exactly how good Google’s search results are, folks:

Take a look at the search results for this search:

Get Your FFL

For those of you who aren’t familiar, FFL stands for “Federal Firearms License”. As in (in the United States) the Federal Firearms License (FFL) that you have to have if you are going to buy and sell guns. Many are getting their FFL so that they can buy guns for themselves and ammunition for a cheaper price.

When you search for “get your FFL” at Google, you get a search result that includes 1and1.com, and popular domain name registrar:

Apparently Google thinks that the “get your” part of that particular search query is related to “Get Your” that appears on the homepage of 1and1.com, which is CLEARLY related to domain names, and NOT guns. Let’s see. The first 30 search results are about getting your FFL, related to guns, and then whammo! domain names. How appropriate.

All I can do is shake my head on this one. And then go on over to Bing to see if the search result is any better:

Yep! The top 50 search results are all about guns. Now, I’m using Bing from now on.