Type the name of a UK city into Google and search. The number of results is a clear indication of World and UK status.

As you would expect, London, as a world city and capital is way out in front, but the results for the provincials are also probably an accurate reflection of the correct order of size, historical and present day importance and, Global and UK perception and status.

Can you really argue with the results?

Remember though that there are other cities, towns, villages and moon craters with the same name as cities. That could really affect results. Totally unreliable.

Not to mention some hits will just be little sites, or some will just be pages where the word appears. Some results will appear twice; for example skyscrapercity can come up twice, but lead to different threads. It doesnt really give any indication of city statuses.

Lol. Ive got some thing that preddicts what your gonna type, and when I typed Manchester, it came up with Manchester United ahead of Manchester.

And it doesn't really work, seeing as when you type in Oxford, it comes up with nearly 3 times as many results as Leeds. And that's probably just cause of Oxford University.

^^ But surely on a world level Oxford is more well known than Leeds anyway. Even though its a smaller city.

Well its official. York is by far the most important city in the UK.:banana: :banana: :banana:

Yep. 3 time's more so than London.

Yep. 3 time's more so than London.

Hey! The only reason York has so many references is obviously because its name is sort of similar to a fairly large town to the north of Phili and south of Boston! But then again, it has a rich history and culture.

Let's keep this simple.

There's nothing to influence the 'scores' between Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Leeds, yet Manc is way ahead.

Liverpool should perhaps be ahead of Birmingham, having regard to its history and culture (Birmingham doesn't really have any in my view) and Leeds is about where it should be, in view of its limited international profile.

I suppose surnames will have a bearing on this too.

^^Although Leeds is barely ahead of Sheffield.

This is such a stupid thread =/ amusing all the same

I just like the fact that there's 3 time's more results for York than London.

Otherwise, yes it's a bit of a daft idea.

There's nothing to influence the 'scores' between Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Leeds, yet Manc is way ahead.


Manchester benifits from having a county named after it. All the cities have a namesake in America affecting the result as well.

Liverpool should perhaps be ahead of Birmingham, having regard to its history and culture (Birmingham doesn't really have any in my view) and Leeds is about where it should be, in view of its limited international profile.

Oh dear we have another one :ohno:

Apparantly, Manchester is less important than its own suburb, Sale

or that amusing tactic that all retailers on the internet use, whereby they reduce the price of their goods. just like the york one really, link through association.

If you insist on using Google to measure the hit counts of cities you should at least qualify it: eg. London, England. York, England. Glasgow, Scotland.

That way seems to yield a more credible result and diffuse the Manchester United syndrome.

I can't believe some of you guys can be so naive when it comes to internet searches. ;)

OLIMPIADE BELGRADE, 2088! WELLCOME!!! :banana:

^thanks, i'll probably be dead by then though, or i'll be 107 years old

The best way to do this is searching for the city names as well as "england" or "uk".

But Manchester, England or UK will still come up with Manchester United reulsts and such as it is bound to have England or UK in quite a few places in the site.

But Manchester, England or UK will still come up with Manchester United reulsts and such as it is bound to have England or UK in quite a few places in the site.

And quite rightly it should. Manchester United is a famous product of the city of Manchester and makes use of it's name. Why should that not contribute to the importance of the name Manchester? It's the same as London Stock Exchange has London in.

I was thinking just the same.

And quite rightly it should. Manchester United is a famous product of the city of Manchester and makes use of it's name. Why should that not contribute to the importance of the name Manchester? It's the same as London Stock Exchange has London in.

Because it doesn't "contribute" it eclipses. Look at P Diddy's recent statement that Manchester United play in London, or the film Eurotrip which does the same. Internationally, Manchester United is known, but the city's profile is limited.

Birmingham and Liverpool are much more famous cities internationally. Liverpool FC, arguably a bigger club than Man Utd, are never considered to be a London club. And Birmingham, with its "second city" tag is famous the world over. The same cannot be said of Manchester, or even larger cities such as Leeds or Sheffield.

Because it doesn't "contribute" it eclipses. Look at P Diddy's recent statement that Manchester United play in London, or the film Eurotrip which does the same. Internationally, Manchester United is known, but the city's profile is limited.

Birmingham and Liverpool are much more famous cities internationally. Liverpool FC, arguably a bigger club than Man Utd, are never considered to be a London club. And Birmingham, with its "second city" tag is famous the world over. The same cannot be said of Manchester, or even larger cities such as Leeds or Sheffield.

Sorry mistertee but you are wrong. I can actually prove it. Search for Liverpool and you get 65 million hits. Search for Birmingham and you get 81 million hits. Search for Manchester in pages that dont contain the word "united" and you get 92 million hits. Search for Manchester INCLUDING the pages containing "united" and you get 95 million hits. Thats 92 million hits for Manchester and 3 million hits for Manchester United. :)

Link me to your google searches then. And what proportion of those pages are written by Mancunians obsessed with their own city? How many refer to Manchester USA?

Link me to your google searches then. And what proportion of those pages are written by Mancunians obsessed with their own city? How many refer to Manchester USA?

Less than refer to Birmingham, AL. Disproves that theory slightly, eh?

Liverpool (64.7 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=liverpool&btnG=Google+Search

Birmingham (81.3 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=birmingham&btnG=Search

Manchester (94.6 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=manchester&btnG=Search

Manchester -United (91.8 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=manchester+-united&btnG=Search

Manchester NH (2.0 million)
Manchester TN (1.5 million)
Manchester MO (1.5 million)
Manchester UK (54 million)
(to give you an idea what proportion of the Manchester hits will relate to Manchester in the UK compared to the US ones)

Birmingham AL (23.1 million)
Birmingham UK (35.4 million)
(to give you an idea what proportion of the Birmingham hits will relate to Birmingham in the UK compared to the US one)

You mean fewer. and how do you know this? You just looked through 60 million webpages? And what theory does it disprove?

Most of them Manchester hits (on the first 2 pages) refer to Manchester in other countries, only 3 refer to Manchester in Greater Manchester. You also have to take that into account too. Manchester is associated with the county of 2.5 million people. Birmingham and the others refer to cities, not counties.

Manchester NH (2.0 million)
Manchester TN (1.5 million)
Manchester MO (1.5 million)
Manchester UK (54 million)
How do you know this? That's not how it appears on first look.

London UK - 327,000,000
Manchester UK - 54,000,000
Edinburgh UK - 47,400,000
Birmingham UK - 35,400,000
Glasgow UK - 33,700,000
Liverpool UK - 26,900,000
Leeds UK - 23,800,000
Sheffield UK - 22,400,000
Nottingham UK - 15,400,000

You mean fewer. and how do you know this? You just looked through 60 million webpages? And what theory does it disprove?

The fact that more pages refer to Manchester (without the word United) than refer to Birmingham or Liverpool (with or without the words City or FC) proves that more people around the world talk about Manchester than talk about Liverpool or Birmingham, regardless of our football team, which should be included anyway considering it is a part of the city.

Liverpool (64.7 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...=Google+Search
I got 64.8

Birmingham (81.3 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...am&btnG=Search
77

Manchester (94.6 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...er&btnG=Search
91

Manchester -United (91.8 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...ed&btnG=Search
64, the vast majority referring to american Manchesters. Why did you lie? How pathetic.

Now enter the names in Chinese.

Most of them Manchester hits (on the first 2 pages) refer to Manchester in other countries, only 3 refer to Manchester in Greater Manchester. You also have to take that into account too. Manchester is associated with the county of 2.5 million people. Birmingham and the others refer to cities, not counties.


How do you know this? That's not how it appears on first look.

Try searching for "Manchester NH" or "Manchester TN". It wont give you an exact figure but it will give you an idea roughly what proportion of the pages mention those places. A page about Manchester in New Hampshire or Tennessee or the UK are probably equally likely to mention NH, TN or UK in the page contents.

Liverpool (64.7 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...=Google+Search
I got 64.8

Birmingham (81.3 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...am&btnG=Search
77

Manchester (94.6 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...er&btnG=Search
91

Manchester -United (91.8 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...ed&btnG=Search
64, the vast majority referring to american Manchesters. Why did you lie? How pathetic.

The vast majority do not refer to american manchesters at all. It is simply an anomoly of the Google algorithm. "Manchester" returns Manchester City Council near or at the top. Search for Manchester -United and it slips down the rankings. Why? Because Google assumes the Manchester you want is not the Manchester that Manchester United are in. It compensates by ignoring the ranking of pages referring to Manchester United when ranking other pages.

Ok, you've proven yourself a liar. I looked at the first 3 pages and only 3 referred to your Manchester.

Ok, you've proven yourself a liar. I looked at the first 3 pages and only 3 referred to your Manchester.

I have not proven myself a liar at all. As I said, if you select "-United" in the search Google ignores all pages that include the word "United" when ranking other pages. Manchester City Council's site, the Manchester Evening News, the University of Manchester and others mention Manchester United. All the pages that do mention them are not included in the ranking calculations, which means that pages from other Manchesters will rank higher. It's quite a simple concept really. That's why the "-United" (or "-england" or "-uk" or whatever you want) seem to rank the other Manchesters higher.

When I clicked on your links I got more results for Birmingham and Liverpool. Your contribution isn't trustworthy.

Anybody who wants to check can click for themselves and they will see that the results I posted were accurate and yours embellished to suit your weird pro Manchester agenda. Fair enough, you love your city, us non Mancs are coming to terms with this weird thing, but to lie about google results? Come on, show some pride man.

When I clicked on your links I got more results for Birmingham and Liverpool. Your contribution isn't trustworthy.

Anybody who wants to check can click for themselves and they will see that the results I posted were accurate and yours embellished to suit your weird pro Manchester agenda. Fair enough, you love your city, us non Mancs are coming to terms with this weird thing, but to lie about google results? Come on, show some pride man.

As I said, I'm lying about nothing. Try "Birmingham -City" and you'll get the same result. Google doesn't remove Manchester-related pages from the index, it just moves them lower down the list because you didn't want any pages related to "Manchester United" to be taken into account. Go further down the list and you'll find more pages related to Manchester in the UK. It's obvious you don't understand the workings of the Google algorithm.

Liverpool (64.7 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...=Google+Search
I got 64.8

Birmingham (81.3 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...am&btnG=Search
77

Manchester (94.6 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...er&btnG=Search
91

Manchester -United (91.8 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...ed&btnG=Search
64, the vast majority referring to american Manchesters. Why did you lie? How pathetic.

LIAR!

Liverpool (64.7 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...=Google+Search
I got 64.8

Birmingham (81.3 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...am&btnG=Search
77

Manchester (94.6 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...er&btnG=Search
91

Manchester -United (91.8 million) - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...ed&btnG=Search
64, the vast majority referring to american Manchesters. Why did you lie? How pathetic.

LIAR!

Mistertee, I don't get the results you posted. As I said, I get:

Birmingham - 81.3 million
Liverpool - 64.7 million
Manchester - 94.6 million
Manchester -United - 91.8 million

Erm.

I got:

Liverpool - 66 million
Birmingham - 80.5 million
(Birmingham - alabama - 74.5 million)
Manchester - 94.9 million
Manchester -United - 92.4 million

So these were closer to Irwell's than your's mistertee.

I think this is related to Google datacentres...

From the Google datacentre I am using you have the following:

http://216.239.59.104/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=manchester+-united&btnG=Search

http://216.239.59.104/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=manchester&btnG=Search

http://216.239.59.104/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=birmingham&btnG=Search

http://216.239.59.104/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=liverpool&btnG=Search

Please show us which datacentre you are using so we know you aren't faking the results.

here's what I got:

Manchester: 94,600,000
Birmingham: 81,300,000
Liverpool: 64,700,000
Manchester -united: 91,800,000

from this datacentre: 216.239.59.104

And to preempt any claims that i faked that site by using my own IP address...

http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/ptr.ch?ip=216.239.59.104

lol :lol:

To be honest this thread does seem a little pointless. Out of interest, could anyone point out what genuine significance this actually has with regards the importance of each of these cities?

Subliving.

Very pointless indeed! It's like ratemyboner with cities! How very dare you!

Very pointless indeed! It's like ratemyboner with cities! How very dare you!

Yes, now come along Leonard, we have some real flaming to do! :eek2:

Subliving.

When I clicked on your links I got more results for Birmingham and Liverpool. Your contribution isn't trustworthy.

Anybody who wants to check can click for themselves and they will see that the results I posted were accurate and yours embellished to suit your weird pro Manchester agenda. Fair enough, you love your city, us non Mancs are coming to terms with this weird thing, but to lie about google results? Come on, show some pride man.
MisterTee, are you calling Irwell a liar because you don't agree with his (far more credible) method of Google results over your own (much more biased) results?
If so, Irwell would be quite within his right to call you a ****.
But I'm sure he's above that kind of personal name-calling.
It's obvious that his pro-Manchester agenda is equal to your anti-Manchester one, but when it comes to Google searches you are definitely much lazier and selective compared to his diligent and comprehensive style.

Get that pickle from out your arse and deal with it...

I clicked on HIS links and got different results. It's not a question of agree/disagree. Apparently it's to do with datacentres, whatever they may be.

And what the devil is a "method of Google results"? You mean research surely? And my research was the SAME AS HIS. I clicked on HIS links. Try keep up, chuckles.

I clicked on HIS links and got different results. It's not a question of agree/disagree. Apparently it's to do with datacentres, whatever they may be.

And what the devil is a "method of Google results"? You mean research surely? And my research was the SAME AS HIS. I clicked on HIS links. Try keep up, chuckles.
I'll try and make it simpler for you tee, your method is bush-league compared to Irwell's. I hope that helps.

And don't call me surely....:)

Jesus wept. My method was;
CLICKING ON THE LINKS PROVIDED BY IRWELL.
OUR METHOD WAS THE SAME.

Just in case you still don't understand, my method was;
CLICKING ON THE LINKS PROVIDED BY IRWELL.
OUR METHOD WAS THE SAME.

You have to do these things three times with a dog, apparently, so one last time Miles Platting, my method was;
CLICKING ON THE LINKS PROVIDED BY IRWELL.
OUR METHOD WAS THE SAME.

Calm down tee you've gone all red...

Nowthen, lets have some deep breaths, inhale slowly...in...out...in...out.

Count to ten...repeat the above.

There now! That feels better doesn't it?

Now...what were you trying to say?

I just googled "Platting is a ****" and got: 234252352290012255234589579575027590823457234895712490582758925789235723895725928924572895729582745982345756893475934572935872358912735982357289357923457293457293458712358927592347592357239587 results.

Beats Leeds that, as even mistertee'll have to admit.

Calm down tee you've gone all red...

Nowthen, lets have some deep breaths, inhale slowly...in...out...in...out.

Count to ten...repeat the above.

There now! That feels better doesn't it?

Now...what were you trying to say?

LMAO! Pretending I'm irate! Hilarious! Never seen that used on the internet before!

Miles Platting, you genius.

I was trying to say that you didn't understand, but you didn't get it. But don't worry, not important. You are a little bit thick though :)

I just googled "Platting is a ****" and got: 234252352290012255234589579575027590823457234895712490582758925789235723895725928924572895729582745982345756893475934572935872358912735982357289357923457293457293458712358927592347592357239587 results.

Beats Leeds that, as even mistertee'll have to admit.
Wow! I am famous after all...

Now, what method did you use wayo? I could only glean 817.

Our neurotic friend 'mr tee is a ****' however, garnered 136,000!!!
(I think that beats Leeds as well!!)

You on the other hand are just a titchy little **** in comparison, with a mere 125:cool: (like a mouses earhole if you catch my drift):yes: :naughty:

Mr.Tee, you should really try a bit harder to get along. It's not that difficult, you're only going to make yourself ill again.....

LMAO! Pretending I'm irate! Hilarious! Never seen that used on the internet before!

Miles Platting, you genius.

I was trying to say that you didn't understand, but you didn't get it. But don't worry, not important. You are a little bit thick though :)
You just called me a thick genius!!

You must be an oxymoron then...

You are part human after all...;)

Let it go man. You're not funny.

Let it go man. You're not funny.
What a bummer.

I'm here all fucking week too....