Sorry if you are experiencing site slowness

You may have noticed some trouble with Google and its products today – and it doesn’t just affect Google directly, it has the potential to affect much more, as so many sites (ours included) incorporate some Google features – for example, Google has the gold-standard statistics program (Google Analytics), and that code to count visitors is part of every page of our site and millions of others. We have tried taking the Google search box off the sidebar for the short run but that hasn’t helped much. We know it’s not just us – here for example is what the Twitter-verse is saying. Here’s hoping the problem’s solved soon.

GenHillOne December 8, 2008 (8:04 pm)

THANK YOU. I came home from meeting up with my bacon dealer (!) to my son getting nothing but junk sites from his search – was sure he had picked up a phish, but nothing was showing on a quick scan. Now I can end the full scan. Leave it to WSB to fill us in :)

WSB December 8, 2008 (8:28 pm)

I have had to resort to using Yahoo search to try to get anything … someone with insider Google contacts told me she hasn’t even been able to get the scoop on exactly what the problem is/was (looks as of a moment ago like things have improved … maybe …).

Vanessa Fox December 8, 2008 (8:51 pm)

It does seem to be getting better. The best place for the Google Analytics code to be to minimize slowness from this type of thing is at the end right before the body close tag, which of course, is exactly where your code already is, so nothing much more you can do there.

I’ve never seen *everything* slow down like this — even web search! I’m guessing a router somewhere got knocked offline.

d December 8, 2008 (9:31 pm)

Thanks for mentioning this odd behavior WSB! I though my mac got buggy somehow or I am just growing increasingly impossibly impatient as I grow older.

You are SO on it.

Jill December 8, 2008 (10:24 pm)

Hooray for WSB! I was quick to blame our network connection, but I’m glad to know the real culprit and that it’s not something I have to fix somehow. :)

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