[Infowarrior] - Google thought MJ searches were an attack

[Richard Forno]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10274137-2.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Google has confirmed that the surge of Michael Jackson-related  
searches on Google News Thursday was first interpreted as an attack on  
its service.

Google News was inaccessible for some people Thursday afternoon right  
as rumors of Jackson's death began to circulate, replaced by an error  
message reading "We're sorry, but your query looks similar to  
automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To  
protect our users, we can't process your request right now."

Of course, those queries were quite legitimate, as millions around the  
world searched for accurate information regarding Jackson following  
reports that he had suffered cardiac arrest. The spike in queries  
began at about 2:45 p.m. PDT Thursday, and Google thought the traffic  
was an attack for about 25 minutes before realizing what was going on.

Google also noted that it saw a huge spike in mobile searches. Yahoo's  
data backed up Google's; it set a record for unique visitors in a  
single day with 16.4 million visitors, and its lead story on Jackson's  
death was the most highly-visited story in its history.