Internet Importance

In the beginning we Googled ourselves. It looks like the next new thing might be looking up our QDOS rating. Today's IHT has an article about Garlik, a British company which developed a site called QDOS which will rate someone's "importance" on the internet. The measuring technique

uses a sophisticated formula that goes beyond how many times a name appears in a search engine, factoring in criteria like popularity, impact and activity.

For the moment, QDOS is focused only on Britain. But when I played around with the site, I found non-Britons in the search results, including our current president and Britney Spears...although I don't remember whose score was higher. My guess is that people - regardless of country of origin - will factor in British search engine results if they are prominent enough. I'll be interested in seeing how the US responds to QDOS when it's launched here in March. Prominent politicians, actors, musicians, and bloggers with the highest ratings will naturally be the first to adopt the rankings as proof of their own importance. On the other hand, I'd expect an equally vocal backlash against the rankings by people with lower numbers in the same industries. Eventually we'll probably see child psychologists on the Today show offering their opinions to parents on how to explain to their children that they're more than a QDOS rating. Whatever happens, there'll definitely be no ignoring of QDOS.