Google Thinks Chips Beat Towns

Further proof, should proof be needed, that the internet won’t be truly useful until the tech sector’s dominance of online publishing comes to an end: Penryn the town is being displaced by Penryn the computer chip:

The Cornish coastal town of Penryn is rapidly disappearing. No, not from coastal erosion but from the decision by global microchip giant Intel to use the town’s name as the monicker for its new range of computer processors.

Since Friday, the town’s online ranking has diminished from the top spot to third on a UK search using Google. Sites boasting historical and tourist information about the town have been superseded by websites about the microchips.
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Businesses that have spent time and money ensuring their websites appear high up on the search engine’s rankings have been pushed down the results – with only one now appearing in the top 10 on the all-important first page.

Mind you, it’s worth noting that all you have to do is add the words “tourism”, “visit”, “hotel” or “cornwall” to the search, and the chip stuff vanishes.