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‘Ungoogleable’ forced out of new words list

‘Ungoogleable’ forced out of new words list

Search engine giant Google has forced the removal of ‘ungoogleable’ – a ‘new word’ placed on a list of freshly minted Swedish words. Published every year, the list which is compiled by the Language Council of Sweden defines the word, spelled ‘ogooglebar’ in Swedish, as:

“Something which cannot be found with any search engine”

However, citing trademark protection, the Californian firm wanted the definition to relate only to its self. A spokesman said:

“Google, like many businesses, takes routine steps to protect our trademark.”

Deciding that it would be better to remove the word from the list, rather than change the definition and put in a disclaimer, as Google requested, the head of the Language Council, Ann Cedarberg, said:

“I don’t want to be influenced by a company, but this was the only way to solve the problem.

“We could not go to court. The only way was to remove the word from the list and tell the world what happened.”

The Council also put the following statement on its website:

“Who decides language? We do, language users. We decide together which words should be and how they are defined, used and spelled.”

Well put.

It also shines yet more bad light on the scourge of SEO strategists. Typically though, Google hit back at the sleight, with a spokesman saying:

“While Google, like many businesses, takes routine steps to protect our trademark.”

Not missing a beat, the spokesman continued to express the firm’s pleasure at being linked to positive search queries.

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