The Audacity of Barnes & Noble: Search for 'God' Yields Obama Book

The Audacity of Barnes & Noble: Search for 'God' Yields Obama Book

By Mark Finkelstein (Bio | Archive)
June 12, 2008 - 05:30 ET

NewsBusters reader Shane S. shared this experience:

I was searching for a book I read in college, "God: A Biography." I searched Barnes & Noble's website using the book's title as my search term. The book I was looking for was the first result given. The second result? "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" by the Messiah Himself, Barack Obama.

I tried the experiment myself, and sure enough, it produced the same results. Update: 6:05 PM. Searching for "God: a Biography" no longer leads to the Obama book. You don't suppose Barnes& Noble reads NewsBusters? But we have the screen capture after the jump, taken this morning, which shows that a search for "God: a Biography" led to The Audacity of Hope.

Shane was reluctant to accuse Barnes & Noble of bias, but I'm not. First, the book industry is notorious for its liberal leanings. Second, every other book on the first two pages of search results contains the search term "God" somewhere in its title. It's difficult to imagine that B&N's search algorithm put Obama's oeuvre, which does not contain the word "God," in second place without some definitely un-divine intervention.

Note: The quotation marks placed around 'God' in the headline are for the purpose of indicating the search term, not as scare quotes.

Comparison Shopping

Here are the results pages for a search for "God: a Biography" at Amazon.com and Borders. Neither turned up the Obama opus. Could Barnes be the most biased bookseller?

—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.

Comments Policy

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actually

June 12, 2008 - 05:55 ET by tysox45

I tried the search myself and you only get Obama's book when you use the words "God a biography," and the rest of the books that appear are people's stories about finding God. When you search only "God" Obama's book is nowhere to be found. Nice spin. It's misinformation like this that undermines our conservative cause. Good job, jerk.

I'll ignore the rudeness and

June 12, 2008 - 05:59 ET by Mark Finkelstein

I'll ignore the rudeness and comment on the substance of your comment. Limits on headline length prevented the use of the entire search term, but the verbatim quote from our reader and the search page I reproduced make very clear what the search term used was. Obama's is the only book in at least the first two pages of search results that does not contain the word "God." That suggests to me that there was human intervention in the algorithm.

I'll ignore the

June 12, 2008 - 09:25 ET by Newsbusterbrown

I'll ignore the rudeness

I won't, Mark: tysox, you're the jerk in this equation.

“There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.” - Ronald Reagan (1964 Republican Convention)

I agree, sounds like the

June 12, 2008 - 09:43 ET by CarlosS

I agree, sounds like the "Audacity of Barnes & Noble" working here:

I searched for "God: A Biography."

and got:

God: A Biography
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocasust
Save Me from Myself: How I found God, Kicked Drugs, Quit Korn, and Lived to Tell My Story
City of God
Searching for God Knows What
While out of my Body I saw God, Hell, and the Living Dead

Accurate

June 12, 2008 - 10:15 ET by cvgbuckeye

I believe that when you put in the word god that Barack Hussein Obama should come up.

As you read the Bible you will notice hundreds, if not thousands of entries of the word god. Of course they are with the lower case g and refer to false idols.

THEREFORE since the MSM, leftists, democrats and a high percentage of stupid women (the others are assumed to be stupid based upon their affiliations) consider this Obamanation to be a god (false idol, false prophet, false christian, false patriot; etc, etc.) then the title god would seem to be accurate.

Where am I going wrong here?

Rush's opening segment

June 12, 2008 - 11:18 ET by ThisnThat

Rush must have read NB this morning, because he brought this up within the first 2 minutes of his opening segment today.

___________________________________

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber

Thanks for mentioning,

June 12, 2008 - 11:24 ET by Mark Finkelstein

Thanks for mentioning, ThisnThat. I caught Rush's discussion and was interested to hear him express his opinion that this was no accident, based on his interaction with Barnes & Noble execs, whom he described as big liberals.

So where did MF say

June 12, 2008 - 06:12 ET by SickofLibs

So where did MF say searching for the single word 'God' returns Obama's book?

Lack of reading comprehension on your part, not misinformation or spin. You're probably not a good test-taker, either.

Sickoflibs: I'm guessing our

June 12, 2008 - 06:14 ET by Mark Finkelstein

Sickoflibs: I'm guessing our disgruntled reader was referring to the headline. As I've explained, limitations on headline length made it impractical to include the entire search term there, but in the body of the item I make very clear what search term was used.

Wow Tysox - Do you own a Barns & Noble or something?

June 12, 2008 - 08:16 ET by Dee Bunk

It's unbelievable how you could misread what Mark said let alone be so hostile about it.

He was completely clear about what the search was and it's right on the top of the page he links to and the screencap also. So even if you didn't read the article, it should have still been clear.

Who knows where your hostility comes from. It's very strange.

Let's see.. when you

June 12, 2008 - 10:00 ET by Jerry

Let's see.. when you search on "biography", it does not show up, at least not in the first several pages that I looked through. But when you search on "God" and "biography" it shows up THREE times in the first 2 pages, paperback, hardback, and CD versions. Yes, I can see that only a "jerk" would be suspicious.

When asked if he went to war with Iraq to derail the impeachment vote: “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).

Get a grip tysox, and read

June 12, 2008 - 11:24 ET by bassndude

Get a grip tysox, and read the article. It never fails that the morons always shoot off their mouths with some kind of athority, after only reading the headlines. Nice spin tysox.

Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!

You need to get a grip. It

June 12, 2008 - 15:01 ET by tysox45

You need to get a grip. It never fails for the narrow minded to only see the world from their life experience. Obviously, all the major news networks except Fox are in the tank for Obama, but to suggest that B & N changed their search algorithm to advance a political agenda is analogous to Clinton crying sexism, not to mention absurd. My guess would be that B & N is interested in the algorithm that generates the most revenue.

yes you are very narrow minded tysox

June 12, 2008 - 15:17 ET by Dee Bunk

we can all see that.

so you honestly think B & N

June 12, 2008 - 15:30 ET by tysox45

so you honestly think B & N changed their algorithm to advance the liberal agenda

Yes tysox - it's obvious. You've offered no good explanation

June 12, 2008 - 15:51 ET by Dee Bunk

for why Obama's book would appear above others that had the first most prominent word in the search in their title and his didn't. There is no good reason why it would appear on the first page of a search let alone the second spot with the only thing beating it out being THE EXACT MATCH.

There is obviously something that catapults his to the top because no logical mathematical formula would do it on it's own.

Even if you can't see it, there is certainly nothing about this post that warranted you calling Mark a Jerk. That was completely uncalled for. Disagreeing is fine, but Mark has shown himself to be nothing but the pillar of good manners, good writing and good humor. You owe him an apology at the very least.

You're absolutely right, I

June 12, 2008 - 21:29 ET by tysox45

You're absolutely right, I was out of line, and out of place to call Mark a jerk. My frustration stems from my experiences as a teacher in public schools, where my political beliefs often make me a minority. I am incessantly in a position where I have to defend so-called "conservative misinformation". Based on my understanding of search engine algorithms, it seemed plausible that this was a coincidence, rather than outright bias as suggested by Mark. I felt that his conclusive statements in regards to the issue, that I still believe is a coincidence, had put me in a dilemma. I apologize for making it personal.

Only a leftist would call

June 12, 2008 - 21:32 ET by bigtimer

Only a leftist would call this an apology.

"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson

Here we go again with the

June 12, 2008 - 21:54 ET by tysox45

Here we go again with the knee jerk reaction. Must be a lefty because you disagree.

bigtimer: 1 lefty: 0

June 12, 2008 - 21:57 ET by Free Stinker

bigtimer: 1

lefty: 0

Free gave BT a point! Yay!

June 12, 2008 - 22:03 ET by Dee Bunk

I'm doing a happy dance. : )

Dee... I see it

June 12, 2008 - 22:05 ET by Clear thinker

Dee...

I see it differently. Bt earned that point, it was not given to her.

;-)

"Abstain from McCain"

~

June 12, 2008 - 22:09 ET by Free Stinker

BT earned it.

I don't give out freebies. ;-)

Her leftist opponant deserves to be the object of mockery and derision . . . for being a leftist.

I know Free - I hardly ever get the points!

June 12, 2008 - 22:16 ET by Dee Bunk

They are hard to come by.

Ct... No offense...but

June 12, 2008 - 22:12 ET by bigtimer

Ct...

No offense...but Free isn't the be all end all to who decides if you get or earn points around here. ..in fact, I didn't know there was such a thing...

I had to earn that because?

"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson

No, you didn't 'have to'

June 12, 2008 - 22:18 ET by Clear thinker

No, you didn't 'have to' earn it and it didn't have to be Free giving out the points. I was just giving you a compliment because I enjoyed your response.

Does that make sense? I hope so, because I was in no way trying to offend you or belittling you.

Abstain from McCain"

Ct.. Well...thank you...I

June 12, 2008 - 22:24 ET by bigtimer

Ct..

Well...thank you...I may be a little too sensitive when it comes to all this silliness..I jut am so hot tempered and hot tonight from the SC decision today, I am fit to be tied...plus I may have trouble seeing a compliment when it is right before my face.

I apologize.

"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson

Free...I'm shocked!...

June 12, 2008 - 22:07 ET by bigtimer

Free...I'm shocked!... Shocked I tell ya'!

"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson

I do have to say that I'm not writing Tysox off yet

June 12, 2008 - 22:14 ET by Dee Bunk

I'm glad that he apologized. I still strongly disagree that this wasn't bias on Barns & Nobles part. I think Tysox is kind of new here and he's probably been pretty brainwashed more than he knows. If he hangs out here more, he'll probably start seeing what we are talking about.
It's hard to tell for sure. He could just be a liberal like many who have pretended to be conservatives before, but I'm personally willing to give him a couple more chances now that he at least apologized for the Jerk thing.

Hey Dee...Just saw this and

June 13, 2008 - 01:39 ET by bigtimer

Hey Dee...Just saw this and you have a great point...time will tell.

I've got to get up early...this is one day I'm not going to forget what the SC did during our WOT....I am still so hot and outraged...

Catch ya' all later...

"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Wilson

Public school teacher...Oh!

June 13, 2008 - 01:10 ET by amber

Public school teacher...Oh! That explains the lack of reading ability and the name calling. Thank the good Lord my husband and I had the good sense to remove our children from the ranks of public teachers. Although there are some who have brains and use them, sadly, the majority do not and are only satisfied when their subjects mimic their ineptitude.

"Always remeber that you are unique. Just like everybody else." --despair.com

Since you're so enlightened,

June 13, 2008 - 11:46 ET by tysox45

Since you're so enlightened, because of how well you use your brain, maybe you could inform us how you have reached the conclusion that the majority of public school teachers are inept. Obviously, since you have such good sense, you must have some compelling evidence that supports your stance. Or maybe that's just your programmed knee-jerk reaction to public school teachers. If you had the reading ability that you claim I lack, you would have seen that I already admitted to shooting my mouth off after only reading the headline. Perhaps I was imprudent, and in fact will admit to that, but your willingness to insult the majority of public school teachers shows the same level of imprudence that you have admonished me for.

"It's misinformation like

June 12, 2008 - 14:40 ET by ckc1227

"It's misinformation like this that undermines our conservative cause. Good job, jerk."

I suspect it's more likely a lack of reading comprehension, at least in your case.

tysox45, were you perhaps raised in a barn by farm animals?

June 12, 2008 - 22:26 ET by R D Helm

I have been acquainted with Mr. Finkelstein for nearly two years now, and have nothing but the utmost respect for the high-quality work he repeatedly does for this site. He is one of the most respected contributers here who, as a matter of routine, goes way, way out of his way help to maintain the stratospherically high level of credibility this site enjoys.

As I am sure you have now noticed, he has a very large number of friends and supporters among us members of this site.

He once risked his life to get a first-hand look at what was going on in Iraq and reported his observations back to the rest of us here, who read his posts from the safety and comfort of our homes and offices.

Your baseless accusation that his article was "spin" and "misinformation" is nothing short of accusing him of being a liar.

I'll put it this way, if Mr. Finkelstein were to PM me and tell me he found a $1,000,000 bill on a sidewalk somewhere in Ithaca, I would believe him.

I believe you owe the man an engraved apology. I strongly recommend you deliver such in short order else, as your profile suggests, you really will be "...left out to dry."

There is a jerk on this thread, alright, but is not Mr. Finkelstein.

BTW-Do you perhaps teach in a government school?

Who let the seagull in?

June 12, 2008 - 06:08 ET by expatriot

Mark,

I tried the link cutting and pasting from your report and received a different page. When I used just the title I get the same hit at B&N that you have posted.

From the first comment I get the feeling that the poster did not do a full investigation and is probably not up to par at the hour back in the states. Its 1300 here. Thats one in the afternoon for the first to reply.

Good job Mark and thank you for your service to true conservatives. Maybe the seagull will fly away and leave us alone. His rudeness is not warranted and is unnecessary.

One might try the excuse

June 12, 2008 - 07:00 ET by motherbelt

One might try the excuse that it came up as a biography. But "The Audacity of Hope" isn't even his autobiography; that would be "Dreams From My Father."

So there is something going on here.

I have figured out the link

June 12, 2008 - 07:10 ET by Killgrave

I have figured out the link between Obama and God.

It has to do with "The Gods Must be Crazy".

The star of that movie, and a certain presidential hopeful, bear a pretty striking resemblance.

I'm just say'n.

So here's the B&N algorithm:

June 12, 2008 - 07:54 ET by carolina conservative

Search for "God: a biography"

God > "The Gods Must be Crazy" > Obama definitely IS crazy > Obama looks like the star of "The Gods Must be Crazy" >

Obama=God

Please don't sully one of my

June 12, 2008 - 13:48 ET by Tim the Enchanter

Please don't sully one of my favorite movies by linking it with BHO!

Barrack Obama worker ?

June 12, 2008 - 08:18 ET by American Taxpayer

"Nice spin. It's misinformation like this that undermines our conservative cause. Good job, jerk."

I have to ask are you working for the newly formed group that monitors the net for Barack Obama?

Technical Explanation for Barnes and Noble's search

June 12, 2008 - 08:31 ET by Terry Trippany

In my day job I am a software architect for some of the nation's largest e-commerce sites. It's important to realize that these search engines are very complicated. I don't believe B&N is seeding the searches intentionally in a manner to tie both God and Obama into the result set. It is likely an artifact of dynamic ranking and perhaps descriptive content gleaned from their own editorial reviews.

These search engines usually are very complex; especially in the case where content such as a book needs to be targeted correctly based on both title and content.

In the Barnes and Noble case it appears that they might be using editorial reviews as trigger. The B&N editorial review for Obama's book used a line from Obama's DNC speech in the first line with the phrase "We worship an awesome God in the Blue States". You can get similar search results by using a combo of God and most other words in that first sentence of the Barnes and Nobles editorial review. God We, God awesome, ...

The site probably also uses a ranking system to help drive popular books to the top of the search. Not sure why Obama's book is so far up because I would give precedence to titles above content but I am not marketing, so who knows.

Note that God Biorap also brings up Obama's book which leads me to believe that they are doing some sort of matching technology, perhaps on the letters in the full title.

As a test I also searched on the words "Fresh Thoughts" and the result gave me a book titled "Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality". Thoughts matched the title and "Fresh" matched the Barnes and Nobles editorial review.

I think this is a case of coincidence and sheer happenstance.

- Trip

Terry, While your

June 12, 2008 - 18:10 ET by ThisnThat

Terry,

While your software explanation seems plausible, there is just too much here that I can't see being linked to coincidence and sheer happenstance. How many months have we been hearing about "Obama the Messiah"? How many MSM articles have pictured Obama with a halo around his head? How much [fake?] fainting has occured at his early wintertime rallies, with him being the center of attention as the "victims" have been resussetated (SP?)? This whole Obama thing has been set up to lead everyone in a certain direction and a certain mindset. This search issue is just one more step in that direction, IMO.

___________________________________

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber

Barack Obama Worker ?

June 12, 2008 - 08:48 ET by American Taxpayer

That does a very good job of explaining the technical aspects of the search. The motive of the first comment is still in question. To the writer I still ask, are you working for the newly formed group that monitors the net for Barack Obama?

Barnes and Noble search for Obama

June 12, 2008 - 09:03 ET by jefflebowski

Maybe it brings up Obama because of "GD America"! I wouldn't be surprised at all if that phrase had fallen from the "chosen one's" lips many times over the past 20 years.

Jeff Lebowski

www.angrywhitedude.c...

"G-d d*** America"

June 12, 2008 - 09:58 ET by Tom1969ca

If we are a fortunate people, then on the morning of November 5th, 2008, B.Hussein Obama will be wandering through his house in his bathrobe muttering, "G-d d*** Americans..."

~~~

I admire FDR for not insisting on getting the approval of France and Germany before going to war.
--Anne Coulter

Its more like trying to

June 12, 2008 - 12:20 ET by tysox45

Its more like trying to not always pull the battered conservative card. Everything that happens in the media is not necessarily part of a liberal plot to bring down conservatives. We always accuse democrats of not being able to see beyond race and gender. As one reader already stated there is a technical explanation for this. Automatically pulling the conservative card undermines the cause. I did not read the whole article. I saw the headline with the word "God" in quotes. The headline is misleading. We often accuse journalists of emboldening liberals by doctoring headlines or failing to provide pertinent information in the first paragraph, i.e. party affiliation when a democrat's conduct is in question. How is this headline any different?

Well, the full search term

June 12, 2008 - 18:46 ET by Indiana Joe

Well, the full search term is in the second line of the article, first line of the quote. You seem to have your panties in a bunch over not such of a much.

And your polite use of the term "jerk" doesn't help your case any, either.

You still owe Mark an apology, but I'm sure no one's holding their breath.

people like you undermine the cause tysox

June 12, 2008 - 18:57 ET by Dee Bunk

Your knee jerk reaction to label people as playing the battered conservative card shows that you are very much brainwashed by those very liberals.

Liberals won't even go on Fox News which is completely fair by comparison to others and we play the "battered conservative card"? Liberals try to legislate conservative Free speech away and we play the battered conservative card? Liberals intelligentsia and their media stars call us racist, homophobic, haters of poor people and war mongers. They do it loudly and without apology and we play the battered conservative card?

Give me a break. I said it earlier and I agree with IJ. You owe Mark an apology for your uncalled for rudeness. I won't hold my breath either.

Mark, thank you for always

June 12, 2008 - 09:03 ET by marpel

Mark, thank you for always bringing something very interesting to Newsbusters. This being said, none of this surprises me.

Looking at Morning Joe this a.m., it seems like the Obama wolves are now howling about how old and senile John McCain is. "Confused" is the libs' key word of the week...

But try to say something about Obama's inexperience and everyone cries foul and RASCIST...yikes.

Again, thanks for bringing this to our attention. Seems like B&N is just another free campaign ad for Obama...sad.

Oh, yeah, marpel...the

June 12, 2008 - 13:50 ET by motherbelt

Oh, yeah, marpel...the "same old politics" are alive and well in the Obama camp. They will harp on McCain's age in any number of ways...every time he forgets a date or mixes up two numbers, or whatever. "Confused" is the code word for this week. Next week it might be "got turned around" or "lost his place" (while giving a speech) or "went off track." And they will insist it is all innocent and has nothing to do with his age.

Hi, Mother... And the other

June 12, 2008 - 17:38 ET by marpel

Hi, Mother...

And the other catch phrase is "lost his bearings". LOL

Barry's fans

June 12, 2008 - 09:38 ET by cest moi

BarackHO's followers seem to be a mite thin-skinned, no? Omigosh, did I make a racist comment? My bad...

Yes you did! You said

June 12, 2008 - 13:53 ET by motherbelt

Yes you did! You said "skin" which implies skin color, which is a subtle way of saying Obama is black (well, half-black....not that there's anything wrong with that!)

So thin-skinned is obviously a "code word" for black.

You racist!

I tried it

June 12, 2008 - 10:54 ET by Delsa

This is such a gross display.

This Marxist Racist having his book #2 in the list of book about God, makes me sick.

I will NEVER go to B&N in person or on line again.

Thank you for shining this light of information.

Mark, why is that not an

June 12, 2008 - 10:58 ET by buddyc

Mark, why is that not an illegal campaign contribution. Don't conservatives have attorneys that can go after for this stuff. I have noticed the same thing in my "searches". Google and Yahoo are cooking the searching books. There is no doubt about it. Try to type in a negative comment in search about obama and see what you get. Then do the same for McCain and see what you get.

Search Engine Bias

June 12, 2008 - 12:04 ET by Sam

Great point Buddyc. I've noticed the same thing when searching Google and other popular search engines. It seems obvious that it's politically motivated and a way of affecting preceptions & elections. There should be something done about it finally.

Question Mark. Who in their

June 12, 2008 - 11:26 ET by bassndude

Question Mark. Who in their right mind is going to spend $12.10 of their hard earned money on this book?

Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!

Hold on a sec...

June 12, 2008 - 11:58 ET by Rackie

I googled barnes & noble, clicked on "books", entered "god" in the search box and in the first 20 listings there was NO sign of anything by BHO.

Please read the item

June 12, 2008 - 12:05 ET by Mark Finkelstein

Please read the item carefully, including the opening quoted para from the reader. What triggers the Obama book is not the one word, "God," but "God: A Biography."

I've played around with some other combinations. If you enter "biography God", Obama's book comes up . . . first!

God and Obama at Barnes & Noble

June 12, 2008 - 12:40 ET by Jer

Mark [and others]...

It you go to page three of the B&N list under "God: A Biography" you will note that #28 is The Reagan Diaries. There is no reference at all to "God" in the title or anywhere on the book jacket.

I doubt you would attribute such occurrence to conservative bias. This is merely a function of the B&N search engine and has nothing to do with a political statement. In fact, if you proceed through the entries on the ensuing pages, you will find there are many items which are "biographical" in nature but do not contain the word "God" in their titles.

Jer

I believe there is liberal

June 12, 2008 - 13:01 ET by Mark Finkelstein

I believe there is liberal bias involved. Obama's book is the only one in the first two pages of results that doesn't have "God" in the title. For that matter, search for "biography God" and Obama's book comes up first! How can that be explained other than by bias?

Jer

June 12, 2008 - 13:12 ET by Delsa

YOU make the point!

#28? vs #2 and #3??

Delsa...

June 12, 2008 - 14:07 ET by Jer

The sales ranking of Obama's books [hardback and paperback] are #21 and #224 while The Reagan Diaries [actually the 27th B&N entry under this topic] is #2,305 in sales.

My guess is that is a significant factor in the item's placement in the list [which contains thousands of entries].

Jer

Jer,

June 12, 2008 - 18:55 ET by Indiana Joe

I find it interesting, and somewhat telling, that you replied to Delsa's somewhat-softball query, while ignoring Mark's more pointed question. His post, in it's entirety:

"I believe there is liberal bias involved. Obama's book is the only one in the first two pages of results that doesn't have "God" in the title. For that matter, search for "biography God" and Obama's book comes up first! How can that be explained other than by bias?"

I'd like to see what your answer to that is. As, I'm sure, would others.

Indiana... I don't have

June 12, 2008 - 19:33 ET by Jer

Indiana...

I don't have any special insights into the intricasies of Barnes & Noble's website search engine. Terry Trippany's earlier post advances reasonable explanations.

I likewise had seen the word "God" in one of the first reviews associated with Obama's book, but I was further struck by the following: There were other political and biographical books on the same list with Obama's which had nothing to do with "God" [at least in the title]-- biographies of Teddy Roosevelt and the Buckley family to name a couple...The Reagan Diaries was another. But the sales rankings of those latter books were no where near what was reported for The Audacity of Hope. By the way, Obama's book was not the first listed. God: A Biography was #1. (Note, however, that its title is a perfect match for the words that Mark had originally entered into the search box.

Accordingly, it appeared there were credible explanations for the positioning of Obama's book wholly apart from any political bias. Now, what is curious is the sudden removal of The Audacity of Hope from the first page of the B&N list and burying it deep into the bowels alongside unheard-of publications and revising its sales ranking over the course of a few hours from top 20 and 220 to 14,000+. The Reagan Diaries didn't budge [well, it actually rose a couple of spots]. Very strange.

Jer

Yeah, Jer, well maybe it's

June 12, 2008 - 20:06 ET by Indiana Joe

Yeah, Jer, well maybe it's really a conservative bias. Kind of a bait-and-switch-type thing. Or maybe B&N's site is just easy to hack. Or maybe they cleaned up their search engine's programming.

There is no reasonable explanation for TAOH coming up second on that search. Or coming up FIRST on the "biography God" search. Sorry, won't fly.

Well, I'll await the

June 12, 2008 - 20:27 ET by Jer

Well, I'll await the official ruling, but it seems to fly as well as the left-wing conspiracy theory. Why should The Reagan Diaries be listed as high as #27--or now #25--when its sales ranking was well over 2000...way behind TAOH?

Jer

"Biography" Is The Trigger

June 12, 2008 - 12:47 ET by Intellectual Honesty

It seems clear that the term "biography" is probably what pulls up Obama's book. Still the premise is sound. Since the term "biography" would surely pull up numerous other biographies it clearly shows a bias in the search engine. The complete lack of "God" in the title of Obama's book and yet titles with "God" in it immediately following his title make it clear. And even if the search engine considered key words from the text surely many other books have a mention of "God" in their content.

Chances are the website pros responsible for creating, maintaining and refining the website are also responsible for maintaining the search engine and it's search parameters. I presume nowadays that when a book is released the publisher includes a set of keywords for use in search engines. My guess is some B & N IT employee decided to tack on the "God" keyword all themselves. No surprise. Heck, after this publicity maybe they will get a raise.

And we wonder why these

June 12, 2008 - 13:29 ET by greenfairie

And we wonder why these bookstores frequently hide conservative books or don't discount them.

Audio version is missing some book copy!!

June 12, 2008 - 15:44 ET by shavingcream

Has anyone in the media reported that the audio version of this book...read by the "Messiah" himself, IS MISSING KEY EXCERPTS of Obama's thoughts on white people???

...and don't tell me they did it to save space.

They changed the website! Too Funny!

June 12, 2008 - 16:48 ET by a12iggymom

Seems they couldn't change the website quick enough. I search the first time and found it right away. I did a second search to show someone else a little while later and...THEY CHANGED IT!!!!

Talk about the power of Newsbusters! LOL

Same here. I just tried it

June 12, 2008 - 17:12 ET by capitolguy

Same here. I just tried it and it didn't work as stated this morning. I guess B/N caught on that the rest of us know they are in the tank along with the rest of the mainstream media.

Thanks for letting us know:

June 12, 2008 - 17:13 ET by Mark Finkelstein

Thanks for letting us know: I've done an update to reflect that. If as some here have suggested the original search was totally on the up-and-up, why would B&N have changed it?

Mark,

June 12, 2008 - 18:21 ET by ThisnThat

"Why would B&N have changed it?"

I think the real question is "How did B&N change it"? If they were able to change it so quickly, then this shows that their algorithm (or seeding, more than likely) is very easily manipulable. And if it's that easy, then (given their very liberal leanings) what would prevent them from having done as you suggested in the first place -- take advantage of the "halo" thing, and the "Obama-messiah" remarks, and set their search engine up accordingly?

Questions, suspicions, curiosity about the workings of the liberal machine....

___________________________________

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber

Intimidating Barnes & Noble?

June 12, 2008 - 17:48 ET by Jer

It's still there...the book version is well down the list now, and the sales rankings have been mysteriously altered from #20+ and 200+ [depending on hardback or paperback] to somewhere in the 14,000s--lower than that for obscure publications that only a handful of persons have ever heard of.

My guess is that General Rove has hacked into B&N website. :-)

Jer

Once again, the "God: A Biography" search yielded many political biographies that had nothing to do with a deity or "God" appearing anywhere in the title, e.g. Reagan, Teddy Roosevelt, the Buckley family, etc.

Jer,

June 12, 2008 - 19:00 ET by Indiana Joe

"Once again, the "God: A Biography" search yielded many political biographies..."

Yeah, but at number 2?

I love the "conspiracy"

June 12, 2008 - 19:07 ET by balboa

I love the "conspiracy" stories. So the idea here, if I'm getting this correctly, is that BN.com rigged their web site so that if someone entered "God: A Biography" in their search engine, Obama's book would appear.

And in this way, people originally interested in reading "God" will be lured into reading about Obama instead?

It's not a conspiracy balboa - it doesn't take a lot of people

June 13, 2008 - 12:41 ET by Dee Bunk

No one said their purpose was to lure people away from God and to Obama. It's obvious that they just gave preferential treatment to his book over others. That's it.

As has been pointed out, they have changed it now that it's been discovered. Even they can't defend it.