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Monologues with a Search Engine
December 19, 2007 | 54 Comments
B and I started our blog on Feb 1, 2007. Roughly 11 months and 300 posts later we are exhausted. Funnily enough we are energized at the same time. A great part of that is due to our readers from around the globe – 173 countries at last count. That’s quite humbling and exciting when you consider that the UN recognizes only 192 countries!
As we look forward to a new year filled with blogging, we wanted to find out more about our readers. We have a reasonable number of regular readers (yeah we know you from your IP even if you don’t comment) and a whole slew of random visitors.
Broadly these random visitors came from organic search engines like Google (80%), Yahoo (15%) and MSN (4%) etc. We were surprised to learn that Google Images sent 15% of the Google traffic.
We picked out from over 40,000 search parameters – some hilarious, many puzzling – that brought folks to our blog. We have no clue how some of these folks landed up in our site and why they stayed (BTW, we are not complaining).
More than 90% of the ones listed here are from folks who stayed to see at least one page in the blog. We hope you enjoy our selection. In typical Jugalbandi style, let’s have some fun at others’ expense. Shall we? All words within “quotes” in bold italics are actual searches.
Many wanted to celebrate Indian Food.
Hopefully the person looking for “indian food for breakfast, lunch and dinner,” got what they wanted. And the prayers of “aagaya aagaya halwa wala aagaya” were answered.
Maybe this worked out for the person who said “i want a blow-by-blow account of making indian sweets“. “How to make tasty kaju kathli using khoya” must have left empty handed as we have not posted ours, but then we wonder who would post a recipe saying, “here’s kaju katli, but it’s not tasty”. :tongue:
Thanks to Nupur, people all over were looking for “popular indian foods with letter q” and probably landed on our Qabuli.
Precision and perfection is always a good thing in cooking, although we tend to change things around a bit just to see what happens.
We were reminded that there are serious questions to consider, such as “i have a recipe that calls for cream of tartar and baking soda. can i substitute this combo with baking powder? what would the proportion be?”.
Other requests included “calories in 1 whole piece of nan“, “quantities for falafel using 400g tin chickpeas“, “preheat oven handvo” and “quantity of fat content to make tasty hyderabadi kheema recipes“.
Cyberspace simultaneously whets our curiosity and increases our wonderment. Increasingly we seem to be going to the web to figure out “what is difference between groundnut and peanut“, “what is cranberry called in malayalam“, “what is blackstrap molasses in hindi?“, “what is avocado called in tamil” or “what is a jaggery” or better still “what does pita bread look like“.
Ever wonder “what happens when a tea spoon of eno fruit salt is added to a table spoon of lemon juice“?
Or are there “recipes for homemade antimicrobial spice mixes“?
Or “what went on inside a hopi dwelling“? :shh:
Incredulity knows no bounds as we figured from “is there such a thing as a cashew brittle“.
What if you screwed up? Look no further, the web is there to help. Or maybe it didn’t for folks who typed “i planted a green leaf veggie and forgot what it is can you show me pictures off home grown green leaf veggies“. :hammer:
And the person who “ate too many almonds“. :hmm:
What if you are frustrated? The World Wide Web is there to help for post-procedural complications.
There are plaintive calls of “My idli batter never rise – Why?“.
Or “why my rasgullas break and become liquid“.
Or “why did my microwave explode when boiling water with soap“. 
Or “yogurt starter tired“.
Then there are deep metaphysical issues like “what century are we in 2007“. :cow:
And social ones like “men should learn cooking“. :rolleyes:
What if you are just a happy go lucky person? Taking life as it comes, accepting what life gives you?
Then you may ask for “some recipe of tarla dalal” or “making any item in paneer” or “take me to modern vegetarian blog“.
It is easy to put together a presentation or a school assignment these days. All you need to do is to ask for “things that grow in soil” :huh: or for “short sentences on what is the nutrient found in“.
To make the report snazzy and colourful with pictures, you can command the Google God to “locate picture of jackfruit“. Or be polite and deferential, as in “would like to see images of freshly baked bread” or “i would like to have a picture of jackfruit please“. Or provide precise pointers as in “tomato+ketchup+jpg“.
Some folks will go to great lengths in finding an ingredient – “where to buy tia maria chocolate liqueur” while others want the ingredient to come to them – “swiss chard in bangalore“.
We love Trader Joe’s but don’t have one near-by. We are envious of 11 folks who typed in exactly “buy queso blanco mexican cheese traders joe“. Or could it be persistence by one person? We thought of the same person typing that multiple times when we saw 18 searches named exactly “get lessons how to make home made cheese only lots pics“. Learning is always a good thing especially with pictures.
Ask “anyone has tried to make rasgulla” or “u make cheese” and your wishes may just be granted.
We were not the only ones trying to figure out “what to do with cauliflower leaves” or “what to do with mooli“. Glad we could help out with these and also provide answers to “why do pumpkin plants need bee“. 
We are awfully sorry, though, that we could not resolve a few mysteries such as “i love baba ghanouj why is it so good“. :dance:
And our favourite: “John is a baker. he is tall. he likes to eat cakes and ice cream. what does he weigh?” :hmm:
Wish we knew.
- Jai
Filed Under: blog, Google, MUSINGS, search-engine, traffic, vegetarian recipes
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54 Comments
haha :rofl: A few of them are just unbelievable ! And you guys sure know how to have fun :secret:
Way cool. Its hard to remember how I discovered your blog, but this is definitely the blog I’ve used most recipes from. Keep the fun coming!
B&J We are still waiting for the answer ” What are BEE & Jai Smoking “. Hillarious post.
This is the most adorable post of you guys! I came to your’s thru Mahanandi. But could not stop visiting every day. Become obsessive now
Woah that was an amusing read!!:)
There was this similar search (am not mentioning it):nono: that i did too on google that is listed here :embarrass:
c’mon, fess up. else, we’re assuming it’s the “john is a baker one…..”
– b.
Dunno how I came here. But sure stayed on. Always wondered how you guys blogged so regularly and maintained such high standards. Congratulations.
Truly enjoyed this one. BTW, as Sreelu asked, still waiting to know what you guys smoke!!
I have no recollection how I ended up here a couple months ago. But, right about then you were starting CLICK and I have been reading daily ever since! Great job! Always!
:rofl: great start to my day!!!
Congratulations!
Lovely write up!!!! :laugh: Congrats!!
Congrats on 300 posts! :horn:
hehehe.. its only been 11 months? i feel like i have known you forever!!
btw, i work with google. And yes, its no trouble at all.
Have fun!
300 posts in 11 months!! gosh you both are super humans arent you :horn:
Some of those phrases are unbelievable!!
Hilarious! The “Q” food seekers may well be school-going munchkins or their parents…apparently schools often have foods-by-alphabet series and I occasionally get mails for help with ideas for these.
Good stuff, keem em coming
-altoid
:dance:
Got to go. I’ll miss my bus if I don’t. I’ll read this offline. Congratulations ! :love:
I’m at work, and I can’t afford to laugh the way I really want to – tears are threatening to stream down my face as I laugh with both my hands covering my mouth. This is your bestest post yet!
A question for the WordPress lovers – does the comment come with the IP address in tow or do you have to check back in your stats for the timing and coincidence of the visit and comment and so deduce that so-and-so from wherever made the comment? That’s what I have to do with Blogger and Sitemeter, just curious.
wordpress can see the IP address. note: there’s wordpress.com and wordpress.org (the latter is where you use the wordpress script and build your site with your own domain name). we have wordpress.org, but don’t know about wordpress.com. must be the same, i’m guessing. b.
:laugh:
Very fun. Most of my search results are a bit more boring.
Congrats on 300 posts Bee & Jai. Those are some hilarious searches :rofl:
Hi Jai and Bee,
I sure am one of those silent visitors who visit your blog daily and this is the first blog i open every single morning.Came here through IFR or Mahanandi…am not sure but have become your loyal visitor…Just love your passion for food, travel, photography and your undying thirst to make this world a better place to live..You can really capture hearts by your sensitive posts…just love coming here and will always continue to do so.Love all your collection of cutlery and china too…:)
:rofl:That was sooo hilarious :rofl:…now, 300 posts in 11 months…did I get that right :no:…I too can’t remember how I found my way to your place over here, but am sure glad I did..you guys rock :bow:
Hahaha, this has got to be your best post ever….awesome B & J :yes:
Was always thinking if someone can do a better job than what U guyz come up with each n every time..Now I know who! Yourselves! This post was marvellous…. :rofl:
Hilarious!
Congratulations to you both for the 300th post
I have no clue how i came across your blog. Maybe through FBD. But i am always comming back to check what you guys are upto.
Love this post so fuuny some questions ppl ask.
Hi Jai & Bee,
I am regular cum silent visitor of your blog.I just simply adore your posts.Love your pictures and china collection.Lovely write up :rofl:
rashmi
The two of you scare me sometimes.
:laugh: A funny read. Though i havent left a lot of comments here, im a regular . i have a feeling that since u guys are health conscious, i can follow your recipes without much guilt!! ;;) And i have actually tried couple of them and am going to try some more, with lotus root chips lined up next in my kitchen. U both rock and looking forward for a lot more of your interesting posts and funny write-ups.
I see some weird searches too, but never set to think about ‘em. Congrats on yr 300th post. I am exhausted by just turning pages on yr blog.
:rofl:
I have said this many times already, but you guys ROCK! You are the funniest (and one of the most thoughtful) couples I know!! Love your blog!
This is so hilarious. I am still laughing.
You guys are freaky – but i love it. Congrats on hitting 300!
hi bee,
love your write up.
congrats on 300 woderful colorful posts.
vineela
“what went on inside a hopi dwelling?”- this one’s my fav!
Congratulations!
Hello Jai and Bee ,
Congratulations on ur 300 th post ! I love your site , and u guys are simply amazing !
:laugh:
I had such a light and hearty time reading this. You guys sure know what you are doing !
:yes: U guys rock. R has a good time looking at how one reaches our blog and yeah..totally fun. Hilarious post guys. Keep it coming!
Gees – congratulations buddies! I am typing this out after I forcefully stopped my laughs. :laugh:
wow!!! the best post ever, on your blog:) yeah, I’ve always wondered about the searches that lead people to my blog too, some of them are just out of the blue:) I seriously think Semantic web search should be a better idea, but hey, till Google sends visitors my way, I don’t care what kind of search algorith it uses :tongue:
Thanks for sharing the laughter!
Congratulations on your 300th Bee and Jai!
P.S.: I have dried fruits soaking in Grand Marnier for the last 5 days – can’t wait to bake your wartime fruit cake.
:rofl: :yak:
“(yeah we know you from your IP even if you don’t comment)”
Oh-oh…you do???? Its just that I am forever stuck at WOWWWWWWWW when I land up at your blog every day. I am sure you have a lot of fun with this blog, but you are really generous with your recipes and tips, and for all the time that you must be putting into this….a big big THANK YOU :bow:
Radhika
You mean you started blogging in Feb ’06 right??
Congrats, on the 300th & the new look- it’s fantabulous btw!
Wow, 11 months – 300 posts – readers from 173 countries.. :horn: those are some awesome statistics..
way to go B&J and just loved the post! :devil:
~ Siri :cow: (wish my blog was as popular as urs!
)
:laugh:..most funny…I get so lot of traffic on t..though I searched myself many times wondering how it gets…never could understand!…hahah…btw what are you guys smoking? :rofl:
Totally HILARIOUS and entertaining! You should start and document a section “Ask Jai & Bee” and see what you get
!