Gapers Block has ceased publication.

Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
 Thank you for your readership and contributions. 

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Friday, March 29

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Fuel

jennifer / January 27, 2008 8:27 PM

mmm...not very. I don't have a unique name. in fact, there is another grad student at my university with the exact same name (first, middle, and last). needless to say, I occasionally receive emails for her.

I suppose that if someone types in words like 'chicago,' 'marathon,' 'rwanda,' or my blog name, he/she might find me. but with just my name, you hit up several dozen people...just not me. and really, I'm cool with it.

thumper / January 27, 2008 8:29 PM

I'm all over Google. I actually learned something about myself from a Google search. Luckily, it wasn't an unwelcome surprise.

Andrew / January 27, 2008 8:33 PM

I own seven of the top 10 results for my full name, and was surprised recently to find that I'm in the first page of results for "Andrew." Pretty amazing, actually.

adam / January 27, 2008 8:53 PM

Apparently, I'm more Googleable than I used to be, thanks to an Amazon, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

I used to just get a cute little historic cottage in Austria with my name in it, which maybe someday I'll visit.

Mikey / January 27, 2008 9:12 PM

Not very. I only came up once that I saw (second page), and that was just some lame employment listing...

The one other guy who shares my moniker came up all over the place because he's the CEO of some company. Hifalutin bastard.

maardvark / January 27, 2008 9:18 PM

I used to show up behind a drag racer from Ulster of the same name. Now there's also a director of short films from Canada. Between the two of them, you don't get to me until page three. This is understandable: I never use my full name on the net if I have other choices. (But since I'm a lawyer, it's unavoidable in certain contexts, so there I am.)

And as for "maardvark" itself, I'm like the 1,963rd person to come up with that little portmanteau word. (Which I only use sometimes in any case.)


SR / January 27, 2008 9:34 PM

You have to reach the 5th page of google results on my name before you start to see things that aren't related to me. Now, I'm frightened. Thanks GB...

Brian / January 27, 2008 10:01 PM

I'm all over Google. And Yahoo! And Live Search/MSN. And Ask. *shrug* Nothing I'm too worried about.

PMan / January 27, 2008 10:05 PM

My name is too common, especially in this town (i.e. Irish). However, there are some people with my name doing really remarkable things, so I'm sometimes tempted to assume their careers in casual conversation.

Justin / January 27, 2008 10:37 PM

"In case of loss," my Moleskine directs, "please search and email." That googlable. Despite a world of Justins with more ambition than (God help me) I'll ever have, the one who shares my surname is a doctor, not a web developer.

r / January 27, 2008 10:52 PM

I'm extremely googleable, as no one has my name. The problem? I think only I have googled myself. :(

Jill / January 27, 2008 10:59 PM

I too am the only one with my name, and I love that.

However, the Boy has a really common name, and we did have a fun day playing, "Is this the guy you're dating?" over e-mail.

w------ / January 27, 2008 11:03 PM

Very googl-able, including a picture in "google image search". Nnnnice.

Kate / January 28, 2008 12:14 AM

Having an extremely common name gives me the freedom to screw up my life and start over, confident that most Googlers would give up tracing the threads in frustration.

Whateverland / January 28, 2008 12:33 AM

I am very googleable... every result is directly related to me. Is this what e-fame is like?? Calgon, take me away!

mary / January 28, 2008 8:46 AM

pretty googleable. but only a handful of entries (2 for gapers block!, 2 for flickr, & linkedin)

karen / January 28, 2008 9:02 AM

i'm crazy googleable... the first two pages of results, they are all good. things i've willingly signed up for, my design portfolio, etc.

get to the third & fourth pages... now we have a problem. everything is in japanese. i cannot figure out why or how this has happened. its all my design work that has been posted on a bunch of japanese websites, and i cannot get in contact with anyone to take it down. :(

cory / January 28, 2008 9:03 AM

i was surprised to find that i am a filer of crank lawsuits in Ohio....

Lori / January 28, 2008 9:09 AM

pretty dang.

I share the first page with an aquatic director of the same name, and some other similarly named folks, but most of it is me.

clearly my connection with GB has helped with my web fame, such as it is. not.

d / January 28, 2008 9:51 AM

Being that I share a name with only 4-5 people in the world it appears that I'm quite googlable.

First several google image search results are me.

About half of the first regular search results page is me.

All of this really makes me think that I should update or remove my old web page which was last updated in 2000.

CC / January 28, 2008 9:52 AM

I finally got sick of my post on the GB Flickr group being the one connection between my real name and my Flickr identity and deleted it. I've never had a submitted photo chosen for the GB front page anyway.... :(

pantagrapher / January 28, 2008 10:25 AM

Eminently googlable.

eep / January 28, 2008 10:28 AM

Barely Googleable. The only two direct mentions are the article on B-Fest that I wrote for Gapers Block, and my LinkedIn profile. Otherwise, I'm a ghost. And you can't connect my online username to my real-life name, as my domain is registered to my friend's company, not to me. Ha ha!

David / January 28, 2008 12:01 PM

So very easy. There's only one other living person with my name (and another that's close), so yeah...

CC, I hope you still contribute posting photos -- of course, keep in mind we don't always have time to email people about their names, so if your name isn't there, it reduces the likelihood an image'll get picked.

printdude / January 28, 2008 12:03 PM

Under my nom-de-web, I can be found and found much.
Under my birth name, I have a definite googleganger. He is an inventor in Colorado.
i'm cool with that, though.

Veronica / January 28, 2008 12:22 PM

Umm...the first couple pages that come up with my name are for some female impersonator. After that it's my GB and Bookslut stuff. Then You Tube videos of someone singing Britney Spears. I find this odd because I really don't think my name is all that common. Or drag queen worthy, for that matter.

If I Google "exxie" the first thing that comes up is my book blog and "exxiep" is my flickr page. So I guess I'm happy they've at least got it right with my internet moniker.

Magda / January 28, 2008 3:44 PM

The only things that come up with my real name are things related to me (and a couple things from my brother)... I had never googled my usual user name and mostly it's me... except for some weird avatar person who has stolen my name.

Luckily, that is pretty obviously NOT me.

Carrie / January 28, 2008 3:46 PM

Well, death notices and porn used to come up for my name, but now I see me under LinkedIn and donators to the Elephant Sanctuary. Phew, the porn and death have moved a few spots down.

Val / January 28, 2008 4:17 PM

Not! You can never catch me!!

Go Cubs Go / January 28, 2008 4:51 PM

A pro golfer, artist, Connecticut state rep, California landscaper, a dude who's written several books on physical education, a tech guy at Pennsylvania State University, another tech guy in Southhampton, UK and a Texan who specializes in real estate for senior citizens all get top billing over me and my lone Google entry.

e----a / January 28, 2008 5:15 PM

Pretty darn Googleable. The results just for my first name used to all me, but now a professional photographer has bumped me down the first page. Still, I've managed to snag e----a at aol, gmail, etc, so take that! Years of having my name mispronounced have paid off.

Ramsin / January 28, 2008 5:32 PM

My name is Ramsin Canon.
I write about extremely local politics and labor unions.
So, no.

A / January 28, 2008 5:58 PM

I'm more googleable than I'd like to be. I'm trying to put some distance between my real name and my online moniker these days. Not sure how successful I'll be.

JD / January 28, 2008 6:10 PM

Un-googlabel. And happy.
My name brings up a British owned island and a German F1 racer.
Perfect. Under the radar.

jasmine / January 28, 2008 6:11 PM

one gb entry

two entries for the booking agency my ex and I ran years and years ago

a few entries of my AWFUL finishing times for 5 & 8Ks

not bad.

Leelah / January 28, 2008 8:42 PM

I'm incredibly google-able. There are pages of me (including a link to Gapers Block from when we made up slogans). I'm bummed that the "supreme goddess of Chicago" that used to be attached to my name has now been bumped to the second page.

Wendy / January 28, 2008 8:46 PM

I am the third most important Wendy. Only a knitter and a hamburger chain stand in the way of Wendy supremacy.

flips / January 28, 2008 9:08 PM

oh woah. I am #5. That's weird. Makes me rethink that photo on LinkedIn. Is that a good idea?

vit / January 28, 2008 10:00 PM

not very. I searched 5 pages into google and I still haven't come across a reference to me. Which is just how I like it.

Hal / January 28, 2008 10:31 PM

I'm in my third most distinct phase. From the beginning of Google, I had several pages. Originally, it was comics stuff, mainly copied/archived posts from usenet.

Then 3 or 4 years ago, when I helped found and coach the Dragons rugbyteam, there were pages of posts related to that. And it was all me, all the time.

Then sometime last year, someone updated the wikipedia entry on "Dr. Harold F. " (a recently deceased English serial killer who was no relation). They added that Law & Order had based an episode on the elder Shipman's case and one of the red herring characters was named "Hal ." So, now that bastard and I are linked in cyberspace. In fact, the only reason I'm coy about the name here is so I don't create ANOTHER instance.

Hal / January 28, 2008 10:35 PM

Fuck. My editing skills suck. I just did it, didn't I?

flange / January 29, 2008 8:46 AM

More googleable than my ancestors.

Goody / January 29, 2008 11:54 AM

not very...my name isn't very common but i share it with someone who has obviously been involved in some illegal activity..

taj / January 29, 2008 12:29 PM

some linkedin, some creativehotlist and some other interest groups..nothing too personal...
yeah

Eamon / January 29, 2008 5:10 PM

Used to be pretty high until some misogynist chucklehead had a hit single a few years back.

Brandy / February 4, 2008 6:11 PM

Brandy Agerbeck > a name like that + a site since 1999 = Extremely googlagble.

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