I've done a bit more online experimentation with Google's “famous or not” algorithm, first described here. Unfortunately, one of the risks of experimentation is that it may raise more questions than it answers. That's what happened to me. So I'll simply report the results.
In short, the use of quotations in name searches seems to have an effect on when Google.co.uk displays the warning tag that it uses for non-famous people. Here are the results so far for several different searches on my name (quotation marks are part of the search). Remember that Google inserts the tag, warning that some entries may have been deleted due to EU data protection law, when it concludes that someone is not famous:
stewart baker = no tag (i.e., Google-famous)
stewart a. baker = no tag (i.e., Google-famous)
“stewart a. baker” = no tag (i.e., Google-famous)
“stewart baker” = tag (i.e., not Google-famous)
stewart baker steptoe = no tag (i.e., Google-famous)
stewart baker nsa = no tag (i.e., Google-famous)
“stewart baker” nsa = tag (i.e., not Google-famous)
Just to see how Google treats a genuinely famous person, I tried Robyn Rihanna Fenty (aka Rihanna):
robyn fenty = no tag (i.e., Google-famous)
robyn rihanna fenty = no tag (i.e., Google-famous)
“robyn fenty” = tag (i.e., not Google-famous)
“robyn rihanna fenty” = tag (i.e., not Google-famous)
rihanna = no tag (i.e., Google-famous)
“rihanna” = no tag (i.e., Google-famous)
So there's clearly something about the quotation marks that changes Google's fame algorithm, but not always, as witness the searches for rihanna" or "stewart a. baker." I also checked to see if the tag shows up when Google puts a wikipedia entry at the top of the results or when it autosuggests a name search in Google News. No joy.
So I haven't quite broken the code. But if you're checking your Google-fame status, be sure to search google.co.uk with and without quotation marks around your name and let us know what you find.
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