Wikipedia:Google searches and numbers

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WP:GNUM

A Google Search of the letter "a" produced over 12 billion hits. But that is not a factor in determining the letter or word a's notability for getting its own Wikipedia article.

Google searches and numbers can be used to help identify a subject to ascertain WP:notability.

One of the biggest fallacies in determining the notability of a subject, which is part of determining whether a topic should have its own Wikipedia article, is the view that the results of a Google search alone can be used to assess notability. A Google search using the title or keywords of an article or subject has become known as a "Google test". It may be easy to view a subject as being notable solely because a Google search produces a huge number of hits, not notable because the search produces very few hits, or a hoax because it produces none at all. While such searches are indeed a very useful starting point, they do not in themselves determine notability or the lack thereof.

An obscure 1700s philosophical theory that is referenced in a number of widely respected older paper books may not show up on a Google search. But no Google hits does not mean that this theory is non-notable or a hoax. In fact, this theory may be notable under Wikipedia's rules, as it is described in multiple reliable sources. On the other hand, a reality TV contestant's name may generate a thousand Google hits–fan chat pages and blog posts regarding his or her sex life–but none of these may be reliable sources.

When performing a plain web search, it is possible that a lot of hits will turn up. Most probably, the majority of these will not count as reliable sources. Google News, Google Books, and Google Scholar provide results that are more likely to be reliable sources, but only if these hits are able to be verified and are reliable sources by reading the articles or books. While all of them may not be able to be viewed on the Google site itself, and many of them are previews, the search can at least show that the sources exist.