It's like a whole bunch of tubes, see...

The federal government recently paid $65,000 for a report that told them :
1) people use search engines to find things on the net and
2) their website blows.
And to think I could have given them that exact same information for only about $50,000.

The relevant quotes from CanWest :

"Most searching was done through a search engine, felt to be by far the easiest way to find whatever one is looking for," the report's executive summary concluded.
"There was very little spontaneous recall of the Government of Canada Web site."

Really? Even with those pictures of Steve about to snort some kittens?

OK, to be fair, the report was not really about the gov site itself. It only assessed the public's ability to remember vanity URLs and the extent to which they use search engines.
(Ed : Never and lots. Where's my $50K?)

Still, the report did recommend changing the current "gc" suffix to "gov".
Just like, you know, in the States.

So how about www.themapleleafstate.gov? Did you try that one?
Or www.heyyoufrogsisthispotofwaterhotenoughforyayet.gov ?

But to really increase traffic from search engines, I would recommend the Canadian government use something more along the lines of
www.nakedabortionfagsmudwrestlingfetusnazis.gov.ca

Probably need a tinyhurl for that last one.