Other uses for Google

Most of us, I assume, use Google to look up stuff. Who costarred with Bill Murray in Groundhog Day? What is the capital of North Dakota? When was The Grapes of Wrath published? Stuff like that. Autocomplete, a new book by Justin Hook, reveals that some people, perhaps many people, use Google for other purposes.

As users of Google know, when you begin a search, Google will, in the interest of saving time and effort, suggest possible destinations you may be going with your search, based upon what others have searched for. You can click on one of these autocompletes rather than continuing to complete the search on your own. So what Hook has done is to start provocative searches and then list how other Google users have completed similar searches. Thus he begins "can you sell your" and autocomplete suggests such possibilities as eggs, blood, poop, soul, hair and ovaries.

That is a search for information, sort of what we might assume Google was designed for. But Hook reveals the search engine is also being used as ...

A confessional

"my husband thinks I'm a" leads to completions like liar, nag, maid, bad mother, narcissist and gold digger.

"I cheated on my boyfriend with" gives us his best friend, a girl, my boss, his sister, his dad, etc.

A guru or spiritual advisor

"what's the secret of" brings us to life, happiness, a happy relationship, success and living a long life, among others.

"am I a bad person if I" offers eat meat, get an abortion, cheat, smoke weed, etc.

A genie

"I wish I were a" takes us to bar of soap, bird, fish, little bit taller, butterfly, girl and so on.

Dear Abby

"my son wants to be" suggests a youtuber, homeless, marine, a girl, a rapper, etc.

"why is my daughter so" takes us to mean, pale, beautiful, crazy, lazy and so on.

A ouija board

"does my boss" leads to like me, hate me, have a crush on me, want me to quit and others.

"should I quit" autocompletes to my job, Facebook, smoking weed and college, among others.

All this is mostly amusing, but sometimes obvious. And sometimes Hook just goofs. When he types in "I mistook my" he gets "wife for a hat" That sounds funny unless you know that The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" is the title of a book by Oliver Sacks. For "personally I don't like," the only autocomplete Hooks lists is cheesecake. But when I type in the same words, I also get Mondays, spiders and snakes, to sleep alone, your little games and others.

This entertaining book may make you marvel at Google, but mostly it will make you marvel at how people choose to use it.