Persian and Proud

As you've seen in the linkdump in the past few days, the google bomb story was widely covered by news agencies world-wide. From making the front page of BBC and becoming one of the most popular Yahoo! News photos, to being featured in a multitude of newspapers and online portals across the world, our story had more of an impact than a thousand petitions could ever have and it made the world hear us, in style. When I started this I had no idea I was going to see this kind of response. The unity displayed by thousand of true Persians, fighting for the preservation of our history and heritage was truly moving. I am proud of what we have acheived, and I thank everyone who took part in this and made it happen. This will definitely be remembered for a long time.

The National Geographic are not backing down, just yet. As the great San Fransisco Chronicle article wrote:

Even computer techies were stirred to action and pulled off a "Google bomb," manipulating the search engine to obtain a high ranking. Type "Arabian Gulf" on Google, and the first link is to a Web site that announces, "The gulf you are looking for does not exist. Try Persian Gulf."

National Geographic remains unapologetic. The publication recognizes "Persian Gulf" as the primary name, but "we want people searching for 'Arabian Gulf' to be able to find what they're looking for and not confuse it with the nearby Arabian Sea," said Allen Carroll, chief cartographer on the National Geographic Web site.

Well, thanks to our effort, now people will definitely find what they're looking for when they search for 'Arabian Gulf'. *grin*