If you were in control of Google.com for 1 day...

What would you do?

[wonderboy]

A less serious topic... If for some reason (I am thinking magic here), you had exclusive access to Google.com's server (Front page only - remember, this is magic) for 1 day, and could do what you wished with it, what would you do!?
Can be Adsense related, or anything else...

W.

[bakedjake]

Put a tracking script up to collect search data.

[dazzlindonna]

Put links to my sites from all the PR10 pages. :)

[rockykk]

Simply put the link to my site and will drain out of bandwidth in 15 mins -:).

[wonderboy]

Put links to my sites from all the PR10 pages. :)

You only can modify Google.com's front page silly!

[jdMorgan]

Devalue the dime-a-dozen paid-listing directories in the SERPs, and put some of the relevant mom-and-pop sites back in the top 50 -- This would not be "evil" so it should not conflict with Google's stated goals. ;)

Jim

<added> Oh, the front page only... OK, I'd hack bakedjake's script so it would send me the data too. </added>

[edited by: jdMorgan at 5:55 pm (utc) on Aug. 19, 2004]

[dvduval]

I would sell Google to myself.

[roscoepico]

take it down, so everyone would have to use the easier to SEO for engine, called yahoo!

[encyclo]

The root page only, eh?...

I would replace the form action for the search box and replace it with a link to a page with nothing but the word "boo" written in very small letters in the middle of a blank screen. Like this:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
boo 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This is after investing in a number of psychotherapy clinics.

[directoryczar]

I would fire whoever forgot to apply for the Gmail trademark.

[trillianjedi]

I'd hack jdMorgan's hack of BakedJakes hack so it sends me the data too.

But I'd add a "web useability" survey to it.

TJ

[jouwpagina]

I would write a text: Why you should vote for Kerry.

[I'm Dutch, but it was just a example. I think this could decide the election. What do you think of this:
Google's boss (don't know his name) for president. Nice campaign! :)]

[Galtego]

I would put my borderless AdSense code centered below the Google image and above the search box, removing all navigation links (oh, and the search box too).

[loanuniverse]

Easy:

Links to my site {which would go out in a blaze of glory within 5 minutes}

Put websearch code so that the 250 million queries would have my adsense/websearch ads.

Forget about pagerank let me get the $5 to $10 million that they make in SERPS every day.

[drbrain]

Convert it to HTML4 strict + CSS.

[eduardomaio]

Convert it to HTML4 strict + CSS.

This was the best of all... LOLOL! I agree with you! I have to send them emails and printscreens 'cause G wasn't working right in Opera.

What would I do? A link to all my sites and my Adsense code.

[Lilliabeth]

I'm with jdMorgan:

Devalue the dime-a-dozen paid-listing directories in the SERPs

[vkaryl]

Take the money and run....

[Small Website Guy]

Convert it to HTML4 strict + CSS.

I found that hilarious!

Help, I must be turning into a geek.

This reminds of a Dilbert cartoon where someone made a joke like that, everyone laughed, and then Dilbert said, "with our great sense of humour, how come we can't find girlfriends?"

[Teknorat]

Easy- Link to a nice big image on all our competitors pages- =:) Plus throw up some links to pages that link to us. And maybe change the Google logo to say "All your base are belong to us." :P

[kodaks]

I would put all my adsense ads up on the front.

[Please Be Gentle]

Well seeing as we are only allowed to change the first page, I would do one of 2 things. I would add more options that people could tick on the page, options which would apply to the session. For instance, one of my pet peeves is, if I do a search for widget hire and click through some results and don't like the results, e.g. www.widget1.html, www.widget2.html etc., I tend to rephrase the query. So if the second query, widget rental brings up some of the same results, I am not going to click through www.widget1.html, www.widget2.html etc. These should be eliminated (it is possible to do it with the API so Google should give people this option). If I want to launch a brand new query, I can alway untick this "Eliminate Urls already visited in session" or whatever option.
My second task would be less pragmatic. I would have a program (similar to the JumpingBox example of the jdk's applets), which basically means that every time a user tried to click on the "search" button, the button would jump out of range. Oh the frustration for the user! That'll teach them to complain about minor blips and make them appreciate Google more!
Kindest Regards
PBG

[Chndru]

Eliminate Urls already visited in session

Very cool idea, PBG.

[sidyadav]

I would probably sell all my "temporary-stock" to someone else and get the money out of that. But before that I would fire the current Google lawyers and hire new ones. No special reason. ;)

Sid

[Mr_Brutal]

I know its not quite in keeping with the original question but along the lines of pbg...

I'd change Google so that any site I didn't like, EVER, I could flag so that never appears in my search results... in fact, i'd change the toolbar so that it checks any page I view for flagged sites - and NEVER displays links to them, in results or any other page.

Then after 1 or 2 years of surfing and flagging up crap directory and annoying spammy sites my browsing would be pain free! Don't really know if Google and their toolbar should be responsible for this, but if I were in charge thats waht i'd set my workforce on :)

I now await a Firefox extension that allows me to define MY Internet...

[wonderboy]

Mr_Brutal - I am sure the spammers will ALWAYS be one step ahead, afterall it is their way of making money, they want to spam more than Google etc.. want to stop it.

I would put as much effort as possible into making money for myself. A few million dollars off Adsense (think they would pay!?)... Maybe give some coverage to some of the stuff going on around the world that most don't know about...
Maybe a nice flashing background with a large midi background music file for good measure =)
So many possibilities!
W.

[ska_demon]

Sell it on the stock market!

[Chndru]

>>I now await a Firefox extension that allows me to define MY Internet.

have you tried stumbleupon toolbar extension for FF?

[Please Be Gentle]

Actually, there are a few other things I would do to the front page. I would put up rotating tips to teach people how to search better. For instance, I would have little hints on how to use operators such as the tilde, minus,OR etc. I would also give people other tips such as the fact that when you search for X, even if Google says, "Did you mean Y", the Y results won't necessarily be more relevant than the X ones. People assume that just because the omniscient Google suggests something it must be better, which isn't necessarily true.
On a less than serious note, I would do the following to the front page.
1. I would put a note saying: "Owing to maintenance procedures, we are unable to service queries with the following vowels "a,e,u" and the following consonants "t,l,s" until further notice. Queries with other letters will be unaffected. Google thanks you for your understanding".
2. I would put a little note on top of the query input box that says, "To prevent the spread of viruses, Google requests that all users wash their hands thoroughly before and after executing a query."
Anyway, in the spirit of all things Google, Happy Birthday Sergey - hope all goes well and that I am never left in charge of Google's homepage.
Kindest Regards
PBG

[graywolf]

Page Rank ... this one goes to 11!