No worse than his real-life fans who are crying over the wrong star on the Hollywood walk of fame. They aren't driven by computer algorithms and so should know better...
On the corner of Hollywood and Vine sits a star along the "Hollywood Walk of Fame," with loads of flowers, candles and pictures, surrounded by fans of Michael Jackson. (Pictured in almost every newspaper over the last few days).
The star they have been surrounding all day is marked with the name, Michael Jackson. But the star does not belong to The King of Pop, it belongs to British born radio host Michael Jackson, who has been an L.A. radio personality for over 30 years.
The other Michael Jackson’s star has been covered since early Thursday morning. Covered by a red carpet leading to The Chinese Theatre Hollywood premiere of Bruno.
echoskope
· 5 months ago
Seems you think that google can not only search the web, but also read minds since you searched "Michael Jackson died" and expected it to only show up Michael Jackson the musician....
dyegov
· 5 months ago
Completely agree with echoskope. Now, the writer should sue for being confused with someone else.
It's writer, not singer. And he died in 2007. So what?
Shem Quo
· 5 months ago
personally don't think google is the right source for this content anyway anymore most people learned about this news through informal sources (word of mouth, twitter, facebook) blending news and these informal sources is the key http://tweetnews.me for learning about mj with authority at the speed of social networking
Soggy Dave
· 5 months ago
Looks like Bing is struggling with it too. Great post.
Soggy Dave
TrafficBlogger
· 5 months ago
Bing struggles with relevant search results for every term it seems :). I love how everyone jumps on Google when they slip up, gotta keep them on their toes.
sacha Dratwa
· 5 months ago
Wikkipedia is UGC the problem is not about google is only a child who played and changed the date on wikkipedia
software_critics
· 5 months ago
I supposed Google's algorithm's just can't figure out relevant search results based on the timeliness of a search query.
Sims Galore
· 5 months ago
btw that was Michael Jackson the WRITER as at the end of the url it says _(writer) :)
Well, it's a shame people don't read enough to know it's the writter and not the musician.
tluv
· 5 months ago
It's amazing how many people commented without actually reading. This is the reason Social Media cannot be a valid news source. A) people don't check facts, b) people are stupid and c) people are stupid.
dyegov
· 5 months ago
What made you both think I didn't read? I well aware of what the article says. However, a lot of people who found that were complaining and saying Google sucked, w/o even reading that it was the writer and not the singer.
Next time think about the possibilities before flaming people. Thanks.
tluv
· 5 months ago
I was agreeing with you. I replied directly to your comment and if you look at the content of my reply it agrees with your statement that people don't read article before commenting and retweeting.
Anonymous
· 5 months ago
It's a shame that people don't read articles completely before they comment on them.
tluv
· 5 months ago
That's a completely different person slick. There is more than one Michael Jackson in the world. That one happens to be a writer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson_(w...). You may want to remove this post before too many people see it.
dyegov
· 5 months ago
Now you should read the article completely, because you're a little bit lost.
tluv
· 5 months ago
I was agreeing with you. I replied directly to your comment and if you look at the content of my reply it agrees with your statement that people don't read article before commenting and retweeting.
TrueSongMedia
· 5 months ago
I don't see anything wrong here. The author died first and is just as important as the 'singer.'
Craig S
· 5 months ago
All people are equally important, but there's no way the writer was as culturally/societally relevant as the singer
markfinch
· 5 months ago
Tell that to Mark Twain and Hemingway, maybe a little Arthur Conan Doyle, Shakespeare, Plato, ... oh such a long list of incredibly relevant writers. While I have never been a big fan one certainly could make the case for a number of modern writers such as Stephen King, Agatha Kristi.
pfony
· 5 months ago
Dude, i don't think he was saying writers aren't relevant, just that this one clearly wasn't as well known as the singer. Also, please don't be one of the people who intentionally post confused comments to get people to respond, AND I think this article is a disguised promo for Microsoft's rebranded search engine (Are you guys getting the "Bing" Banners on the side?) with that I'm out.
"Start your day with a smile, and get it over with"
Bruno Tran
· 5 months ago
hehe it's not false...
Fireman17
· 5 months ago
Hate say but google did not fail on that search... You did not say Michael Jackson Singer died.. You just ask it Michael Jackson died and it gave you the writer cause he die first and has been in the database longer.. Only fail here is misreporting on something that is common sense...
Fireman17
· 5 months ago
oops some how i had a double post this one can be deleted..
swag
· 5 months ago
MJ should sue from beyond the grave. How dare he stomp all over his fame and tarnish his good name?
Ladymystery38
· 5 months ago
It did say writer at the end, but when i searched early thursday i didnt see that, i got the correct info. well
Eamon
· 5 months ago
2007 aside MJ is 65? lol indeed
Ladymystery38
· 5 months ago
Michael Jackson' name is not unique. Where I live the surname Jackson is common and so is the name Michael, making it easy for persons to have that name and I know a Michael Jackson in my area so the name is not unique.
tekunik
· 5 months ago
Looks like Google has taken this seriously.They have already changed the result .So expecting google to think that when you are searching for MJ,it's the singer and not the writer requires a bit of AI and the results should be based on the current trends . http://tekunik.blogspot.com
flo
· 5 months ago
i don't think this is specific to google, and I call another BS post ... I mean seriously, apart from "recentness", how do you expect a machine to determine that you mean one michael jackson over another? Even when you incorporate recentness, then maybe king of pop fans would be happy, but everyone searching for the other one would be disappointed by all kinds of irrelevant results. (and lots of em) So, even if google or another algorithm would be intelligent enough to actually "see" the two as two different entities, how, apart from time (which isn't a very good indicator i think) would it go about to distinguish if your query searches for the musician or the author?
Donna Molinari
· 5 months ago
Google needs to invest in Master Data Management to get the Best Version of the Truth by using trust and validation settings from their source database systems. :-)
SRoyster
· 5 months ago
Does Google "really" need to get the search "exactly" right all of the time? I mean, if you were searching for MJ, then I'd be willing to "ass-bet" a million dollars at a Brooklyn Cee-Lo spot that you knew he was dead or in a serious health situation. And, reasonably smart people can deduce that Google's talking about another MJ....Just use the search function along with your brain and you'll be fine.
flo
· 5 months ago
well, some people have their brain switched off most of the time. That would also be a good reason for someone to think this would be worth a seperate post on mashable. ofc, very unlikely that it is just another of those annoying attention grabbing posts without much real value, who only seem to get posted so as many people as possible retweet them and give mashable more clickx or whatever. But seriously mashable, do you really want to become the yellow press of social media news?
flo
· 5 months ago
well, some people have their brain switched off most of the time. That would also be a good reason for someone to think this would be worth a seperate post on mashable. ofc, very unlikely that it is just another of those annoying attention grabbing posts without much real value, who only seem to get posted so as many people as possible retweet them and give mashable more clickx or whatever. But seriously mashable, do you really want to become the yellow press of social media news?
flo
· 5 months ago
well, some people have their brain switched off most of the time. That would also be a good reason for someone to think this would be worth a seperate post on mashable. ofc, very unlikely that it is just another of those annoying attention grabbing posts without much real value, who only seem to get posted so as many people as possible retweet them and give mashable more clickx or whatever. But seriously mashable, do you really want to become the yellow press of social media news?
SRoyster
· 5 months ago
Does Google "really" need to get the search "exactly" right all of the time? I mean, if you were searching for MJ, then I'd be willing to "ass-bet" a million dollars at a Brooklyn Cee-Lo spot that you knew he was dead or in a serious health situation. And, reasonably smart people can deduce that Google's talking about another MJ....Just use the search function along with your brain and you'll be fine.
Carmen Krushas
· 5 months ago
I wonder how many search phrases it took from mashable to pull this "inaccurate" wiki. Clearly, it appears from further review that mashable is simply trying (very hard) this time to pull news when news doesn't exist. The search phrase used simply reads, Michael Jackson died and the algorithm pulled the oldest in the range set, which happened to be Michael Jackson, the author and not Michael Jackson, the singer. For the future, the writer of this blog post should reanalyze his logic and discuss the actual failure of google and delve into this issue: the google algorithm regarding wikis is at best good for date-based search and needs serious fine-tuning for real-time news, rather than focus on google posting something incorrectly. It didn't post anything incorrectly.
Guest
· 5 months ago
This is total link baiting Mashable BS. Why don't you chose Google options and the last 24 hours? We all know how Google search works. Really, if a bug crawled out your ars* and google didn't report it you'd be doing your job by reporting #googlefail wouldn't you? I expect more from Mashable.
BoBoMisiu
· 5 months ago
Google's organic listings are not perfect. What Google judges as relevant and unique may not be what users judge pertinent.
Steven
· 5 months ago
Urm... that's for a different Michael Jackson, the writer, who died in 2007... as Google says. Ahem. Bet you feel like a little bit of a twat.
I don't think this is a failure on Google's part. Names just make for horrible primary keys.
BoBoMisiu
· 5 months ago
I disagee, names are great primary keys. If I know the name I will first search for the name. If I don't find what I'm looking for neer the top of the search results, I then search for the name and another key word or phrase.
Josh Fraser
· 5 months ago
But there are hundreds of people who share exactly the same name. How is Google supposed to know which one you are looking for? PageRank favors the person with the greatest online presence who has collected the most inbound links from reputable sources. I'm #1 in Google for my name because I've worked hard to get there. But I'll be the first to admit that there are plenty of other Josh Fraser's who probably deserve it more -- or at least are more successful or famous than myself. You can improve relevancy by adding in other details like occupation and location, but even then, you have no guarantee of having a truly unique key.
Johan
· 5 months ago
Lol that is hilariosu, and that is too from wikipedia? people shoudl stop referening wiki i guess.
preston2190
· 5 months ago
OMG...I just found a detailed report of what happened and a real transcript of the 911 call at
That's becouse its an algorithm and not a human... no reason to blame on google. it takes some time to do good work. If the People want top news the should go go read it or watch TV and do not a search.
what's the point? for some people mike jackson the writer might have been the desired search result. also, as wikipedia protected the singer's page due to his death, how do you expect google to immediately index new information that only has been added with a delay? not a great showcase of showing lack of competence at google, rather sounds like jumping on the train of rainbow press.
nickpthinks
· 5 months ago
IMO that is not an problem. People who do searches must learn how to do them properly, in this case "Micheal Jackson singer" not simply "Michael Jackson". Is this a sign of the times, people expecting unrealistic things from their search engines? JMO
Matt
· 5 months ago
Micheal Jackson that died in 2007 was the worlds best beer journalist and also wrote several books and guides on the subject .Micheal had long suffered with Parkinson's diesese so his death wasn't that unexpected especially later in his life
I had Dinner With Micheal Jackson once in Sydney and he signed his hardcover book "BEER" for me when I worked at a brewery that was up and coming at the time .
.
kiedis
· 5 months ago
well it must be a nightmare to have the same name and last name as someone that popular. people must get confused all the time, just imagine the guy going in vacation and booking a hotel room somewhere and when he arrives there is all the paparazzi waiting...i guess some other people would think its a joke or something...
Matt
· 5 months ago
Micheal Jackson the beer writer would be mobbed by drunks at beer shows and brewing conventions :p
fiend
· 5 months ago
Hum? yeah google was slow updating the news around Michael Jackson, but this is going a bit too far, like let me change http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Cashmore and say you died today so google can pick it up right away and keep it on their archives for a couple of weeks telling everyone you died... come on... google can be certain that Michael Jackson the writer died (cause it was a couple of years ago), i'm sure with time it will put Michael Jackson singer as well...
nidan
· 5 months ago
for more information..http://www.mujra007.tk
OldHat
· 5 months ago
This is why companies like Tribune Media make $$ with unique ID's. There's a white comedian named Bob Marley, statues called Madonna, etc. An additional layer of info in the algorithm, specifically around 'productized' names is necessary.
OldHat
· 5 months ago
This is why companies like Tribune Media make $$ with unique ID's. There's a white comedian named Bob Marley, statues called Madonna, etc. An additional layer of info in the algorithm, specifically around 'productized' names is necessary.
John Dorain
· 5 months ago
WOW!!!!!!!!! No wait.... Thumbs Down Douche Thanks for wasting my time.
Conrad Seidl
· 5 months ago
The British Michael Jackson was probably more influential than the singer that passed away recently. He taught millions of beer drinkers to enjoy the world's most interesting beverage. And he has inspired thousands of brewers to open their own brewery.
Scott Brooks
· 5 months ago
Ha ha ha .. Great post. I think the biggest breakthrough in the search technology will happen when the search engine can understand the mindset of the users and retrieve results based on it. In my opinion, real-time search engines do a better job in this dimension. For example, if you search for Michael Jackson in http://www.boilingpage.com, the most recently popular pages will be retrieved which will obviously be the ones about the musician MJ. I found this post in http://www.boilingpage.com which was shown in their home page, apparently means people are talking about this post.
Scott Brooks
· 5 months ago
Ha ha ha .. Great post. I think the biggest breakthrough in the search technology will happen when the search engine can understand the mindset of the users and retrieve results based on it. In my opinion, real-time search engines do a better job in this dimension. For example, if you search for Michael Jackson in http://www.boilingpage.com, the most recently popular pages will be retrieved which will obviously be the ones about the musician MJ. I found this post in http://www.boilingpage.com which was shown in their home page, apparently means people are talking about this post.
DwightStegall
· 5 months ago
There are probably at least 5 thousand Micheal Jacksons in the world.
Jack Niu
· 5 months ago
Good bye M.J. I like 'black and white' best!
Sylvia
· 5 months ago
psh i like Yahoo! better anyway
Leonard
· 5 months ago
... That's a wiki entry not a goole entry....
grungebob
· 5 months ago
So what!!!! The article is a waste of kb. Change this article to.... BREAKING NEWS: Different People Have the Same Name. WOW! Honestly, you wasted our time with this article.
grungebob
· 5 months ago
So what!!!! The article is a waste of kb. Change this article to.... BREAKING NEWS: Different People Have the Same Name. WOW! Honestly, you wasted our time with this article.
Comma8Comm1
· 5 months ago
What I find more interesting, hilarious and sad about this is did anyone notice the suggested related searches? "How did Michael Jackson died" The majority of people out there searching for this are really that dumb or is this google showing of its awesome grammar skills? If it is suggested because that is what most people are searching for I guess it doesn't surprise me. I still got a laugh out of it.
nana
· 5 months ago
That says michael jackson the writer died its at the end of the url. The real michael jackson the singer died June 25, 2009.
matt
· 5 months ago
wow....people can have the same name????
Art Freek
· 5 months ago
What ever prompted you to even post such a thing? It was a different person, a beer maker. A middle name would have helped - but not the post . . . stupid.
Kent Leonhart
· 5 months ago
Just remember first and foremost that you need to know what exactly you're looking for. Otherwise, it might mislead you to certain information which is far from what you're searching. In order to get the right answer, you have to ask the right question.
I'm hoping to see some improvements on google. Although most of us already rely on it's capabilities, a room for improvement is still best especially in this age of cloud technology. I'm pretty sure google is on it's toes now that a new improve microsoft search engine "bing" is out also. Well, that's competition for ya.
Holly
· 5 months ago
that is refering to a different michael jackson. there are alot of people on earth some have the same name.
ahsja
· 3 months ago
on mashable it shows a video of micheal jackson is alive is it true. i think its someone else.
Ali
· 3 months ago
oh cannot believe this. Google made such mistake.
gavin
· 3 months ago
are u thick or something, try looking at the end of the link, it has in brackets (writer) so why would you assume google is wrong, fucking numb nuts, people do have the same names in this world, and whoever typed in michael jackson died, could have wanted michael the writer, think about it logically you half wits, if i typed in leonardo do u think ill get all dicaprio results or davinci, exactly my point, read the whole link it saya writer, get a life people
Name
· 3 months ago
this is about a totally different person NOT Michael Jackson-King of Pop
chloe4mj
· 2 months ago
What the helll GOOGle Suck Mj did not die in 2007!!! lol he died in 2009 lol Sucker boo yoooo!! I Love Mj xx
All Comments
On the corner of Hollywood and Vine sits a star along the "Hollywood Walk of Fame," with loads of flowers, candles and pictures, surrounded by fans of Michael Jackson. (Pictured in almost every newspaper over the last few days).
The star they have been surrounding all day is marked with the name, Michael Jackson. But the star does not belong to The King of Pop, it belongs to British born radio host Michael Jackson, who has been an L.A. radio personality for over 30 years.
The other Michael Jackson’s star has been covered since early Thursday morning. Covered by a red carpet leading to The Chinese Theatre Hollywood premiere of Bruno.
It's writer, not singer. And he died in 2007. So what?
most people learned about this news through informal sources (word of mouth, twitter, facebook)
blending news and these informal sources is the key http://tweetnews.me for learning about mj with authority at the speed of social networking
Soggy Dave
I love how everyone jumps on Google when they slip up, gotta keep them on their toes.
Next time think about the possibilities before flaming people. Thanks.
"Start your day with a smile, and get it over with"
http://tekunik.blogspot.com
For the future, the writer of this blog post should reanalyze his logic and discuss the actual failure of google and delve into this issue: the google algorithm regarding wikis is at best good for date-based search and needs serious fine-tuning for real-time news, rather than focus on google posting something incorrectly. It didn't post anything incorrectly.
What Google judges as relevant and unique may not be what users judge pertinent.
Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
He did die in 2007.
http://transformerswallpaper.blogspot.com/
http://wallpapercars.blogspot.com/
If I know the name I will first search for the name.
If I don't find what I'm looking for neer the top of the search results, I then search for the name and another key word or phrase.
www.dailypennies.com/mjackson.htm
Crazy stuff man.
http://blablabla.ee/Artiklid/artikkel/368
http://blablabla.ee/Artiklid/artikkel/256
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson_%2...
I had Dinner With Micheal Jackson once in Sydney and he signed his hardcover book "BEER" for me when I worked at a brewery that was up and coming at the time .
.
people must get confused all the time, just imagine the guy going in vacation and booking a hotel room somewhere and when he arrives there is all the paparazzi waiting...i guess some other people would think its a joke or something...
No wait....
Thumbs Down Douche
Thanks for wasting my time.
I like 'black and white' best!
Otherwise, it might mislead you to certain information which is far from what you're searching.
In order to get the right answer, you have to ask the right question.
I'm hoping to see some improvements on google. Although most of us already rely on it's capabilities, a room for improvement is still best especially in this age of cloud technology. I'm pretty sure google is on it's toes now that a new improve microsoft search engine "bing" is out also. Well, that's competition for ya.