Various manipulations
February 16, 2006
You've probably noticed that when the Google page appears on the right, there are "commercial links." When you click on a keyword or a sequence of keywords, this search engine displays a list of HTML pages where this sequence is found, ordered by frequency of occurrence.
In Venice, there is an unfinished church, San Pantalon. If you type "san pantalon" into the Google search window, you'll see a link that takes you to this church, especially famous for its magnificent painted ceilings.
Church of San Pantalon, Venice
On the right, you'll see:
The company Les Trois Suisses simply paid Google the right to display this each time a search of this kind is performed. It could be Les Trois Suisses or any other entity. This is how Google earns its revenue.
But there's something even more striking. This time, try using these keywords:
Ségolène Royal(e) Laurent Fabius François Hollande
What do you see appearing this time?
Sarkozy paid Google the right to ensure that a link pointing to a website serving his interests appears every time a user clicks on the sequence:
Ségolène Royal(e)
It's Sarkozy who appears, not an advertisement for long-life jelly or Dutch cheese. You're encouraged to click on:
Express your ideas.
You do so. And what do you see appearing this time?
There's even an animation: Sarko appears from the right, like Punch in his booth. Yes, you've been tricked. On the internet, more than ever, you must apply the principle:
Learn to think for yourselves, or others will do it for you.
If we're going to paraphrase the film Fanfan la Tulipe, starring Gérard Philippe, I'd say:
If you want to think about nothing, let Sarko handle it for you.
Another experiment (dated February 16, 2006). Go back to Google and type:
jean-pierre petit
You get:
A bizarre mix: The Minister of Defense, Science, Extraterrestrials, and
Jean-Pierre Petit!
What's interesting is that Google places this "commercial link" not on the right side of the page, but "at the top of the pile," encouraging the user to believe it's a "normal search result," showing "the most visited page," when in fact it's simply the most expensive listing. This Google behavior isn't present at all times of day. This left-side mention is more expensive because it's more deceptive. What's surprising is seeing "The Minister of Defense," followed by content entirely unrelated. Normally, this ministry is very strict about the use of its brand image. Logically, these words should have disappeared immediately upon a simple reminder.
Who pays for this ad?
You click on the link, intrigued, and you get:
The White House, flying saucers, and... Iraq. And below:
To purchase the book, click here.
This final link sends you to Amazon. All that remains is to place your order.
This is called brand image manipulation.
Eric Julien
This isn't new. Thirty years ago, we already had books of this kind, as well as fake abductions (the Frank Fontaine case in Cergy-Pontoise). He's already pulled this trick before.
A gendarmerie investigation was launched following a report by his partner claiming he had been abducted by extraterrestrials, because they learned that a request for ASSEDICS payments had been transferred to Réunion Island, Julien's home region. This information reached the ears of M.T. de Brosse, who then broadcast it on the airwaves.
When questioned, he remains completely unfazed: "There, it was a clone." In fact, Julien, who doesn't actually go by that name, is taking flying lessons for flying saucers. So logically, this summer he won't need such tricks anymore.
If you'd like to contact "Eric Julien," here's his email:
He wrote to me the day I published this page, asking for... a right of reply on my site. I asked him for... explanations. Others did too. No reply.
By the way: Google charges 4 cents per click for this kind of ad. If everyone starts doing this, it'll significantly increase the bill for the aspiring UFO pilot.
A friend lent me his book. I'll read this one too, after having laboriously read from A to Z "The Universons, Energy of the Future."
I do read books, I don't just skim them. But perhaps this is normal for an aeronautical journalist:
I don't systematically discredit all books on the UFO subject. See the preface I wrote
for Christel Seval's book.
February 24, 2006:
Minor correction in the keyword operating system for "Jean-Pierre Petit"
Following my request for clarification, Mr. Eric Julien promptly provided it: being "a reference in the field of UFO studies," I had simply become a very effective "keyword," and therefore, he explained, it was only natural that he used it. Nevertheless, the way Google's commercial links system was used created (intentional) confusion in the reader's mind, given what appeared "at the top of the page":
Faced with my irritation, and after initially writing that "this wasn't his doing," he sent me a second email, the content of which I reproduce:
Dear Mr. Petit,
You wrote on your website:
"At the moment, there's another fool using me as a 'keyword'! I've never seen anything like this before. What he's gained: by Tuesday I'll have his book. I'll analyze it line by line and write a long review."
I've removed the keyword "Jean-Pierre Petit" you've been mentioning for a long time.
Furthermore, thank you for taking the time to read my book "The Science of Extraterrestrials." I'm deeply honored. I eagerly await your review. On my part, allow me to refer to your review at the appropriate time to hundreds of thousands of internet users who will be able to assess the level of your expertise. Your review will be analyzed with the help of American physicists and mathematicians. Thus, your influence will grow even further.
Thank you in advance.
Sincerely, Eric Julien.
Indeed, this is now what you find:
I occasionally mention analyses I've done of books. I've appreciated certain works, such as
those by Christel Seval
, to the point of agreeing to write a preface for her next book. I've analyzed other books, such as
Michael Greene's
The Elegant Universe, a reference in presenting superstring theory, or
Thibaud Damour's
( "Conversations on the Multiplicity of Worlds and the Multiplicity of Ideas"). I've also mentioned the ridiculous theory of the Universons (but, after careful thought, having warned my readers about the emptiness of the book, I preferred to dedicate just a single article to it). I will therefore analyze Julien's writings, one of whom is a neighbor of mine, an IT specialist, who happens to be...