Google Hacks, 2nd Edition

Capture the Map

Capture the Map (http://www.capturethemap.de; Flash required) is altogether a little silly, but it’s a spot of fun nevertheless. A strategy game similar in flavor to the popular (at least it was when I was growing up) board game of Risk (http://www.google.com/search?q=risk+board+game), you attempt near-global domination by taking turns placing pins into a map of the world, claiming more territory than your opponent.

Would that it were that easy?

You don’t simply get to place pins into the map; that’s where Google comes in. You and your opponent battle it out by supplying queries to be run against the Google index. The first nine results are localized according to where in the world the server hosting the resulting page lives, each represented by a pushpin at a particular latitude and longitude on the map. For example, if you searched for news and one of the first nine results were the BBC News home page, you’d find yourself with a pin in the UK-York, to be precise. A CNN hit would net you a pin in Reston, Virginia.

But simply placing a pin isn’t enough to maintain your hold on any particular spot. A well-placed query can replace your pin with that of your opponent. Perhaps he searched for CNN directly and not only knocked your Reston pin out of its spot, but also chalked up three Reston pins of their own. The only way to protect your pins is by collecting several in one spot; for each pin placed, you also claim one of the adjacent squares. Amass a three-by-three grid ...