Stupid Headline Writing 101: Wall St Journal and Google Gears
We’ve had some bad headline writing here at GBM on occasion and no one is really immune to a bad day, but you would think that the Wall St Journal would know better. This morning they published a headline that stated Google Gears Down for Tougher Times.
The article speaks about how Google, like any business is having to cut back and retrench during the recession (now that we know we’ve been in one for quite awhile after yesterday’s news), and that is certainly to the point. But I’m guessing I’m not the only user of the Google Gears software who saw that headline and did a double-take, thinking that the app was on the fritz.
Oh, well.
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About the Author: Warner Crocker is a professional theatre director, producer and playwright and also a Tablet PC enthusiast. He is also a Microsoft MVP for Tablet PCs. 
Kevin C. Tofel | Dec 3, 2008 | Reply
It was the first headline I read this morning and my first thought was: “wow, times are so tough that Google is disbanding the team that works on Gears. Oh no!” Big “Duh!” earned by the WSJ from me. ;)
Rob Bushway | Dec 3, 2008 | Reply
I thought the same thing, Warner, and I couldn’t believe they would begin to cut back on Google Gears
Sumocat | Dec 3, 2008 | Reply
In fairness, Google sticks their name in front of so many services, misleading headlines about them are unavoidable, particularly if you go out of your way to fabricate them…
“Google Maps Dead” — Google is creating the first comprehensive map of all cemeteries in the world.
“Google Docs on Life Support” — Doctors working with Google’s charitable section discuss emerging life support technologies.
“Schmidt: No More Google Talk” — Eric Schmidt has asked journalists to stop discussing Google during interviews intended to focus on his support of Barack Obama.
“Google Blogger Suspended” — A blogger working for Google has been suspended for endorsing Yahoo!
“Google Checkout GONE!” — Dear Google, please checkout GONE, a new data recovery service designed specifically for large server farms.
kornel | Dec 3, 2008 | Reply
haha nice one sumocat :)
Stephen Feger | Dec 3, 2008 | Reply
HA! Now I don’t feel so bad. I was on the subway coming home and I saw someone else reading the article on the train and I thought “Huh?? there’s an article on Google Gears in the WSJ?” Kinda obscure for them. So like everyone else in this thread, I did a double take and kinda squinted to see what the article was about.
Glad to see I wasn’t the only one. :-)
Ajay | Dec 3, 2008 | Reply
Yeah, I got confused too. Its bad enough that Google is pulling the plug on other projects. :P