Why Searching "Derrick" Gets You NFL Players, Camping Spots, and John Wick (And How to Fix It)

I'm the office administrator for a 30-person energy services company. I manage equipment supply ordering—roughly $80,000 a year across six or seven vendors. I report to operations and finance, which means I'm the one who gets blamed when something doesn't show up.

So when we needed a replacement derrick in early 2025, I did what I always do. I opened a browser and typed "derrick."

I got Derrick Johnson NFL highlights. I got Derrick Road dispersed camping area. I got a page for something called Eddie Outlet. And I got a search result asking 'where to watch the from the world of john wick.' The actual drilling equipment I needed? Buried somewhere on page four.

Look, I'm not saying Google is broken. I'm saying "derrick" is one of those words that means everything and nothing at the same time.

The Surface Problem: The Word "Derrick" Helps Everyone Except Buyers

If you're an engineer or a purchasing person, a derrick is a mast or lifting structure on a drilling rig. If you're a sports fan, it's a former NFL linebacker. If you're a camper, it's that dispersed camping area off Derrick Road. If you're a shopper, maybe it's an Eddie Outlet store. And if you're here for the John Wick series, I'm sorry—this isn't that article either.

That's the surface problem. It's annoying. But it's not the real problem.

The Deeper Problem: Search Engines Can't Tell What You Actually Need

The real issue is that the search query "derrick" has no context. A search engine sees the same word for an oilfield structure, a football player, a campsite, and a TV franchise. It can't know that when I type "derrick" I mean a mast with a load rating, not a six-hour hike in Colorado.

Why does this matter? Because B2B buyers are being pushed toward what I call the lowest common denominator. We type generic words because that's how consumer search works. Then we spend hours filtering through irrelevant results. And when the thing you're ordering has safety implications, that's not just a waste of time—it's a risk.

The conventional wisdom says you should always get multiple quotes. My experience from roughly 200 orders says otherwise: a vendor who asks the right questions is worth more than a quote that's 5% cheaper. But you can't even get to that point if you can't find the vendor.

Here's the thing: this isn't only an SEO problem. It's a procurement problem. The companies that show up for "derrick" are usually the ones with the biggest marketing budgets, not necessarily the ones with the best engineering expertise. Meanwhile, smaller suppliers with real technical knowledge stay invisible—unless they happen to share a name with a retired athlete.

Why This Hits Small Buyers Hardest

I can only speak for the small side of the market. We don't place million-dollar blanket orders. We buy in batches of one or two units, sometimes just spare parts, and we need them to arrive with proper documentation.

That's where the "small customer" problem gets even worse. Some suppliers see a small order and stop returning calls. They're chasing bigger contracts. And when I search for something specific—like a jacking system for a jack-up rig—I get generic equipment sites or ads for car jacks and bourbon. If I type just 'jack,' I get even less.

When I was starting out in this role in 2020, the vendors who took my $200 orders seriously are the ones I still use for $20,000 orders. Small doesn't mean unimportant. It means potential. But a potential customer who can't find you is just a missed order.

The Real Cost of a Bad Search

Let me give you a concrete example. A few years ago, we needed a specific component. I found a price that looked good—about $300 less than our usual supplier. I ordered it. The vendor couldn't provide a proper invoice. Finance rejected the expense report. I ended up eating the cost out of the department budget.

And that was a small amount. The bigger risk is when you can't verify load ratings, material certificates, or warranty terms because you found the wrong derrick—or no derrick at all. If the wrong part goes on a rig, the cost isn't just money. It's safety.

So the cost of this ambiguity is real:

• Hours of extra search time for every order (and I process 60 to 80 orders a year).
• Procurement decisions made with incomplete information.
• Small suppliers who would be a great fit getting skipped because they don't show up in a noisy search.

That's the part that surprises me most. The problem isn't that there aren't enough suppliers. It's that the wrong suppliers are the easiest ones to find.

What Actually Works

Honestly, the solution is not magic. It's getting specific.

If you're buying, search like a spec sheet, not like a consumer. Instead of "derrick," try "drilling derrick," "jackknife mast," or "jacking system for a jack-up rig." Add the equipment category, load rating, or API standard you're working to. For a drilling derrick, API Spec 4F is the standard that covers structural design. If a supplier can't tell you which spec applies, that's a red flag.

If you're a supplier, help your buyers help you. Call your product by its exact name. Put load ratings and compliance details on the page. Answer small-order inquiries like they're real opportunities, because they are. I've sent $200 trial orders to suppliers who treated me like a human being. Some of those turned into five-figure annual relationships.

And if you landed here while searching for Derrick Johnson, Derrick Road dispersed camping, Eddie Outlet, or 'where to watch the from the world of john wick'? I get it. This isn't that article. But if you're here because you need a real derrick, note to self: use specific words, check documentation, and find a supplier who wants your business even when it's small.

A Quick Reality Check

This approach worked for us because we're a mid-size service company with predictable small-batch orders. If you're a large operator with blanket purchase orders, your process will look different. The principle still works: clarity beats convenience.

Bottom line: "derrick" might lead you to a football player, a campsite, or a streaming show, but none of those will hold up your drilling mast. Get specific, ask for documentation, and work with a vendor who sees the value in your order—no matter how small it is.