An Internet Oddity That Bothers Me

[ThomWV]

Let me tell you this little story and see if you make anything of it. Last summer I found myself in the southern half of West Virginia looking for a camp ground. I had a map and knew where I was; the map had several camp grounds marked on it in the area and I was going to stop at the one I was closest to when I got tired of riding for the day. So I picked one and headed for it. The map showed a very small town on the road to it but I could not find the town. I saw a fellow out with a weed-eater and I stopped to ask assistance. He was a friendly fellow and so it amused him when I asked if he knew how I could get to the town. He told me that there actually wasn't a town anymore but if there had been one I would have already passed by it. The town, as he related it, was actually just the church that stood at an intersection I had passed by, but the church burned down a couple of years ago and there wasn't much interest in rebuilding it. The campground I was looking for was straight ahead where the dirt road ended at the river. It was a lovely spot. I'm going back.

So yesterday I was bored as hell and on a whim I did a search on Google for the name of the nonexistent town. I got 17,400 hits, 15 pages of links to information supposedly about a place that for any practical purpose does not exist. There were links offering used car deals in the town, real-estate referrals, links to car rentals and hotel accommodations, links to crime statistics and links to evangelical churches servicing the area, links to stock brokers and links to all of the fast food joints that might be found there. No history or demographic data mind you, nothing hard and worthwhile. Just page after page of shotgun advertising that has found a way to link itself to every spot on earth and even some that don't even exist.

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. Internet Fleas

They latch onto and infest anything you Google, hoping to get some of your blood.

It's a regular circus out there on the tubes.

To keep'em busy and not bothering you, you need this peripheral for you computer...

[gmoney]

2. Rand McNally puts fake items on maps

Just to make sure other map companies aren't just stealing theirs, but doing their own sourcing.

[Nickster]

3. Because the "non-existent" town probably has a more prestigious name so people use it for a mailing

address, we have that around here constantly.

[ThomWV]

4. I think I'd have to rule that one out

There are two reasons I'd rule that one out. First reason is that the guy I stopped and asked directions of was at the first house I had seen in miles so its doubtful that many people had even heard of this place let alone though it prestigious. The other is the name itself - which I sort of intentionally left out - that is certainly not one you'd ever expect to see except as an amusement on a post mark (the 'town' never did have a post office). The place was called "Bozoo". Sound prestigious to you?