Googlefight was a website that output a comparison of the number ofsearch results returned byGoogle for two queries, presented as the result of a fight. It was a project of Abondance, the company ofOlivier Andrieu.[1]
Googlefight was developed by Andrieu with two friends in 2002.[2][3] The results of comparing two Google searches are presented as a bar graph using animatedHTML segments, presented as the outcome of a fight. Historically the results were displayed graphically in a mixedFlash andJavaScriptanimation, with two animatedstick figures fighting on screen after the queries are entered and before an animated bar graph appeared showing the results.[4] The stick figure animation had no impact on the results.
Between 15 and 27 June 2015, the website was updated to a new version, designed by Andrieu, which the About page stated was powered bySemrush and took into account Google search volume as well as the number of results returned.[2]
The site also expanded in 2015 from French and English versions to 11 geographic versions, including German, Italian, Spanish, and Belgian.[5]
The site is used for entertainment, for example comparingMicrosoft and Google, with Google the winner.[6] The results may be comforting, funny or self-referential.[7][8] It has been used to check spellings.[9] It can also be used as a measure of competitiveness;Salam Pax posted a Googlefight result between himself andRaed Jarrar on their blog in 2002, as their worldwide readership rose in the prelude to the2003 invasion of Iraq.[10]
Googlefight has been highlighted as an example of a site making money fromcontextual advertising, as well as one that derives its longevity from community participation (in this case, the always changing search terms).[11]
Googlefight was originally designed by several friends (Sébastien, Frank and Olivier). This new version is conceived by Olivier.
I occasionally use Googlefight to check the more commonly used spelling of a word.
