There’s this search-related concept I’ve been thinking about, and it keeps coming back to me in slightly different ways. What’s strange is that I don’t think there’s a term for this idea, so I thought I’d step up and offer a suggestion.
Google egg: A small piece of information [most likely a name or phrase] published on the web for the purpose of being "found" by a specific person(s), via an anticipated [or pre-arranged] search query.
Illustrative examples
-
Perhaps there’s this person who you went to school with, and you’d like to get in touch but don’t know what ever happened to them, so you lay a Google egg by posting [on an indexable web page] their name and the name of the town you went to school in, as well as any other relevant information that this person may one day be likely search for – sooner or later, anyone who’s anyone does an ego search, right? If you prepare your egg with enough relevant information, there is a high probability that the person in question will find your egg. [ Whether or not they follow up by contacting you is another matter, but as the seekee it is probably best left up to them anyway. ]
-
Or maybe you’ve just dispensed with your last few shreds of dignity and started using an online dating service. These sites generally won’t allow you to publish contact information [or so I'm told], but many people get around this by planting obfuscated email addresses in their descriptions, eg: "You can call me romanticguy57 at the place where it’s hot" is typical code for "email me at romanticguy57@hotmail.com". Wouldn’t it be more playful/romantic to instead create a Google Egg allowing you to specify any phrase you like as a unique query? eg: "Look for me by the mysterious dancing sausage"
-
Or maybe… ermmm… ok, so I haven’t got a great third example right now, but you get the idea.
Hopefully now I have you convinced of the fabulous potential of Google eggs – both the concept and the term – and you will immediately start laying Google eggs, or at least talking about Google eggs, so that the term gains widespread acceptance and I can look forward to boring my grandchildren about how I was the one who coined Google egg and I still don’t get no respect. Google egg.
__________
NB: Google egg is not to be confused with Google bomb, a widely recognized and distinctly different term – although it should be noted that in the few cases where Google egg currently appears as a expression it is actually a misnomer for Google bomb. Because the information is planted I guess Google seed is another possibility, but a seed is something that germinates and grows, whereas an egg is something that might be found [especially if you think Easter egg].
Although bearing some resemblance to the idea of the honeypot, a Google egg is different in that it is not intended to deceive, ensnare or divert the intended audience; rather to attract, direct or surprise them.
__________
DISCLAIMER : I should note that I did not invent the concept, only the term, and, as is pointed out in the comments section, there are other places out there where people were already using the idea, eg http://waxy.org/lost