Tattoo Simplicity: google

Googlebots are not physical robots but programmed systems that have been created by Google.com to “spider” the web, gathering information about websites.

What is a Googlebot?

Googlebots are web crawlers. These computer programs have a number of different aliases; web spiders, web robots, spiderbots, web scutters, ants, bots and automatic indexers. ‘Googlebot’ is the term given to web crawlers that index the internet specifically for Google.com. The program is designed to work online, moving from one website to the next, making copies of the content on each website as it passes through. This copied information is then passed on to a search engine which indexes the information, making searching for content online faster and easier for internet users.

Not all web crawlers are designed specifically to fulfill a role for search engines such as Google or Yahoo. Some are put to a far more annoying task – searching for and storing e-mail addresses. These bots gather personal information, which is then passed on to evil puppet masters for the purpose of spam.

Googlebots are non-physical robots, dwelling in the realm of code and programming languages. The form that a Googlebot would take in the physical realm is left to the imagination. Below are several artworks and designs that depict what a Googlebot looks like to the individual artists.

Spiderbots

The phrase, ‘world wide web’, creates an image of a spiderweb made up of information. The tendrils of webbing between each join can be viewed as links; ways to move from one website to another. The points where the web joins can be seen as being websites. It doesn’t take a big leap of imagination to envisage a robot spider crawling across the web, climbing from site to site through links, gathering information from each site.

Note that in the following images, the spiders have a different character. To some artists, spiderbots are silly, fun or humorous, to others, these bots are given a darker aspect. In other images, the siderbot is fairly expressionless, belying the fact that spiderbots, even when rendered as physical beings, are not self-aware.

Searchbots

There’s no distinct form that is implied by the term, ’searchbot’, and so artists have given these bots whatever body shape they feel fits the term. The symbol for searching on the internet is customarily an icon of a spyglass, also called a magnifying glass, and so this symbol appears in most searchbot artworks. The image of an eye is also symbolic of searching or seeking, and so it also has a tendency to pop up.

Googlebots

Googlebots are searchbots that are created specifically to perform tasks for Google.com’s search engine service. They are commonly called spiderbots, and so spider forms often emerge in Googlebot art.

Web crawlers are used by a number of different search engines, but you don’t need to rely solely on these bots to search the internet. You can create your own search bot here, to search for content based on your personal preferences.

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Graffiti artists generally have an alternative view on current affairs, a view that they express through street art. This article shows the opinions held internationally by graffiti artists, on internet giant, Google.com

Dolores, San Francisco, USA

In an interesting post about anti-gentrification of urban areas, writer Chris Carlsson gives an example of anti-google, anti-gentrification graffiti, which states “Trendy Google professionals help raise housing costs”. Urban gentrification occurs when the cost of living in an area is raised by the influx of residents who can afford to pay higher rents and amenities. For residents who have lived in the area for many years, this often means that they suddenly find themselves unable to afford living in their own homes.

The stenciled graffiti was found in San Francisco’s Mission District, placed in such a way that it couldn’t be missed by Google drones. The search term in the graffiti art piece states, “Mission + Exploitation”. Over the last decade, this district has become home to a number of Google’s and other internet company’s employees, who earn more than their neighbors. This contrast in lifestyles has led to a number of protests by street artists and vandals, such as the “Mission Yuppie Eradication Project“, which in 1999 encouraged impoverished residents to vandalize the luxury cars of their wealthy neighbors. Although it is the natural order of things for an urban area to change with time, these changes often result in class conflicts such as this one.

Above: Mission Yuppie Eradication Project. Image by Telstar Logistics

Dunedin, New Zealand
A spoof on the common phrase, “Google it”, showing an image of Jesus Christ claiming, “I don’t have all the answers. Try Google.”

Unknown Locations – Stencils

Stencil street art has gained popularity over the last few years. These street artists have chosen to stencil the phrase “Google it” or simply “Google” in various locations around the world. Perhaps something in the area gives a pedestrian cause to use Google’s search engine. These could also just be attention-seeking designs.

Cairo, Egypt

An internet cafe in an impoverished area of Cairo, Egypt, painted Google’s logo above his shop entrance, to attract potential customers.

I Can Be Googled, Therefore I Am

For the creator of this simple scrawl, the phrase I think, therefore I am, is not enough. The statement of this piece is that by having search results of the creator’s name online, their existence has been proved.

Digital Graffiti

French graffiti artist, Zevs, has created a website, gzzglz.com, based on the layout of Google.com. He displays pictures of his art in a similar format to that of Google images, and has designed his home page to look pretty much exactly the same as Google’s home page.