Google's hoaxes
Encyclopedia
Google
has a tradition of perpetrating April Fools' Day
hoax
es.
Several humorous error messages were then displayed on the search results page, all listed below:
Systems—PigeonRank. Google touts the benefits of this cost-effective and efficient means of ranking pages and reassures readers that there is no animal cruelty involved in the process. The article makes many humorous references and pun
s based on computer terminology and how Google PageRank really works, (for example, a chart showing the pigeons' consumption of linseed and flax, represented as "Lin/Ax Kernels," a pun on the Linux kernel
).
to Linux
and the Latin word for moon, as well as a reference to both the Windows XP visual style
and Mac OS X
) is the name of a new operating system
they claimed to have created for working at the research center.
by increasing the drinker's intelligence. It was claimed this boost was achieved through real-time analysis of the user's DNA
and carefully tailored adjustments to neurotransmitter
s in the brain
(a patent
ed technology
termed Auto-Drink; as the "Google Gulp FAQ" suggests, partly through MAO inhibition). The drink was said to come in "4 great flavor
s": Glutamate Grape (glutamic acid
), Sugar-Free Radical (free radicals), Beta Carroty (beta carotene), and Sero-Tonic Water (serotonin
).
This hoax was probably intended as a parody
of Google's then invite-only email
service called Gmail
. Although ostensibly free, the company claimed the beverage could only be obtained by returning the cap of a Google Gulp bottle
to a local grocery store
: a causal loop. In the Google Gulp FAQ
, Google replies to the observation "I mean, isn't this whole invite-only thing kind of bogus?" by saying "Dude, it's like you've never even heard of viral marketing
."
On April Fool's Day 2006, Google Romance was announced on the main Google search page with the introduction, "Dating is a search problem. Solve it with Google Romance." It pretends to offer a "Soulmate Search" to send users on a "Contextual Date". A parody
of online dating, it had a link for "those who generally favor the 'throw enough stuff at the wall' approach to online dating" to Post multiple profiles with a bulk upload file, you sleaze in addition to Post your Google Romance profile. Clicking on either of these gave an error page, which explained that it was an April Fool's joke and included links to previous April Fool's jokes.
to add e-mails to a "Paper Archive", which Google would print (on "96% post-consumer organic soybean sputum
") and mail via traditional post. The service would be free, supported by bold, red advertisements printed on the back of the printed messages. Image attachments would also be printed on high-quality glossy paper, though MP3
and WAV
files would not be printed. The page detailing more information about the service features photographs of Ian Spiro and Carrie Kemper, current employees of Google. Also featured are Product Marketing Managers of Gmail Anna-Christina Douglas, and Shane Lawrence
service supposedly released by Google. This service would make use of a standard toilet and sewage
lines to provide free Internet connectivity at a speed of 8 Mbit/s (2 Mbit/s upload) (or up to 32 Mbit/s with a paid plan). The user would drop a weighted end of a long, Google-supplied fiber-optic cable in their toilet and flush it. Around 60 minutes later, the end would be recovered and connected to the Internet by a "Plumbing Hardware Dispatcher (PHD)". The user would then connect their end to a Google-supplied wireless router and run the Google-supplied installation media on a Windows XP
or Windows Vista
computer ("Mac and Linux support coming soon"). Alternatively, a user could request a professional installation, in which Google would deploy nanobots through the plumbing to complete the process. The free service would be supported by "discreet DNA sequencing
" of "personal bodily output" to display online ads that relate to culinary preferences and personal health. Google also referenced the diet cola-and-Mentos reaction in their FAQ: "If you're still experiencing problems, drop eight mints into the bowl and add a two-liter bottle of diet soda."
The announcement was followed by a link to a video tour of the product, which actually led to Tay Zonday's cover of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up."
Around 11:00 p.m. EST March 31, 2008, on the newer and older version of Gmail, but not in the basic HTML version, in the upper right corner, next to Settings, a link appeared labeled, "New! Gmail Custom Time". The link led to a 404 error until April 1, when it led to the full Gmail Custom Time hoax page. Clicking any of the three links at the bottom of the page brought the user to a page stating that Gmail Custom time was, in fact, their April Fool's Day joke.
Google wrote that the new joke feature "utilizes an e-flux capacitor [a pun from the film Back to the Future
] to resolve issues of causality." Fake testimonials were given by "beta users"; one example is, "I used to be an honest person; but now I don't have to be. It's just so much easier this way. I've gained a lot of productivity by not having to think about doing the 'right' thing."
The feature only allowed for ten pre-dated emails per year, claiming that any more "would cause people to lose faith in the accuracy of time, thus rendering the feature useless."
, Eric Cartman
, Tom Cruise
, Jessica Alba
, Pamela Anderson
, Paris Hilton
, Angelina Jolie
, Britney Spears
, Anna Kournikova
, Johnny Depp
, George W. Bush
, or Lois Griffin
.
to and from Standard Korean.
Google Wake Up Kit
Google announces a joint project with the Virgin Group
to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars
. This operation has been named Project Virgle. The announcement includes videos of Richard Branson
(founder of Virgin Group) as well as Larry Page
and Sergey Brin
(the founders of Google) on YouTube
, talking about Virgle. An "application" to join the settlement includes questions such as:
I am a world-class expert in:
After the user submitted the application, the site notifies the user that the user is not fit for space, or that the user's application is fine and "all you have to do is submit your video" [as a response to their video on YouTube]. As a result, an open source Virgle group has been established, OpenVirgle. On the FAQ page, the final question is "Okay, come on -- seriously. Is this Virgle thing for real?" The reply links to a page that tells the user it's an April Fool's joke, and then mentions that the user "Dragged us out of our lovely little fantasy world, to crush all our hopes and dreams."
Google's Orkut
displayed its name as yogurt, Google Bang, Inc.
and Australia
n homepages, and later, all international homepages, of Google-owned YouTube
linked to a video of Rick Astley's
song "Never Gonna Give You Up
", causing all users of the website who clicked on featured videos to be Rickrolled.
This was the first year YouTube participated in Google's April Fool's Day tradition.
The introduction page and all of the references to CADIE in Google's Products were taken down on April 2, replaced with a message stating:
However the technology page describing the technical capabilities of the software remained at:
Technical Description
When using Google Books or GMail, a user would come across an announcement dated March 31, 2009 at 11:59:59, declaring a new "Cognitive Autoheuristic Distributed-Intelligence Entity". CADIE is also mentioned on the gBall FAQ page: "Google's new CADIE technology will interpret the data obtained from each ball to provide useful tips to owners". There was also a link on Google's Homepage for CADIE, and a blog entry in Google's official blog.
CADIE technology is also used to generate "senryu" (a type of Japanese poem similar to haiku) based on search terms for certain Japanese queries.
The Google Search homepage had a link to the CADIE announcement, stating that "For several years now a small research group has been working on some challenging problems in the areas of neural networking, natural language and autonomous problem-solving. Last fall this group achieved a significant breakthrough: a powerful new technique for solving reinforcement learning problems, resulting in the first functional global-scale neuro-evolutionary learning cluster." The page links to the blog below.
On mobile devices, a link shows up to Brain Search, which uses CADIE technology to "index your brain".
This is what it all looks like from a mobile device.
service, they will notice that it has a new option, named "Gmail Autopilot
" in which the service would analyze an email. On that page it says under the FAQ section,"You can adjust tone, typo propensity, and preferred punctuation from the Autopilot tab under Settings." However, if a person logs into their Gmail account and goes under the Settings tab they will notice that there is no Autopilot tab. The program could be customised to contain certain types of grammatical or spelling errors, as well as complexity and length of the sentence. It also has a way of responding to relationship related messages, such as if someone spoke aggressively, even in a humorous way, the system would "terminate relationship."
The newest football technology—"gBall"—is a prototype ball for use in the Australian Football League with GPS.
Google Australia announces ("New! Get the newest football technology - gBall.") that they are developing a prototype ball for use in the Australian Football League
with GPS. Apparently, the ball will measure the location, force, and torque of a kick, and "vibrate if player agents or talent scouts want to speak to you". Google claimed that the ball will cost $10 with a cost-per-kick set of payments in addition to the basic fee.
There is also a "CADIE's recommended places for humans." link in Google Maps, which leads to the "Panda Mapplet" and includes several marked locations with "CADIE's" commentary. Under Redmond WA
a link is listed which will rick roll
the viewer.
A build of Google Chrome was offered rendering web pages in Anaglyph 3D
, "powered" by CADIE. A 3D effect was actually possible with this browser, but it only made the window appear to be sunken into the monitor.
examples.
CADIE is set to write code for you based on specified features; however all that is returned is bad code or witty criticisms of your request and choice of programing language, recommending the use of INTERCAL
.
CADIE's source code was supposedly uploaded to Google Code, but she changed her mind and replaced it with a "fun program" consisting of 31 lines of INTERCAL. When executed, this program prints out the message "I do not feel like sharing."
Add subliminal messages and images to documents.
If a person makes a new presentation and looks for the subliminal message and image buttons under the insert menu they will notice it is not there.
Upgrade your Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level
automatically, and many other savvy new features.
What's the name of that woman by the window? She's my boss's boss, but, oh man, is it Suzanne? Susan? Blanche?
Should I order the pizza? I don't remember if it makes me gassy.
Wow, cute guy. Should I go up to him?
Why is everyone looking at me so strangely?
When is Mom's birthday? I should send her a card.
was updated so that all of the featured articles were about Artificial Intelligence, with a message from CADIE indicating that this "improvement" was for the good of mankind.
, WOPR
, and GLaDOS
.
Other server HTTP headers found were IIS/Bob (a reference to Microsoft Bob
), IIS/Clippy (a reference to Clippy
), IIS/3.0, Netscape iPlanet, Chrome/3.0, Google Operating System (BETA), CERN/3.0 (a reference to CERN HTTPd
), Apple (a reference to Apple II
), IRIX
, MCP, Apache/0.8.4, Conficker
, and Skynet
.
presented in a "special topic": Google had bought an oil tanker
, the "M/S Sergey", where Google's data center containers were being submerged in oil tanks to enable extremely high-efficiency cooling. The presentation can be seen in the video, and includes slightly customized Wikipedia images from the
article Oil tanker
, including a retouched photo of commercial oil tanker AbQaiq and the oil tankers side view graphic.
Even though Google did apply for a US patent to build data centers on cargo ships and oil cooling
is an existing technology, summit attendee James Hamilton believed this topic to be an April Fools joke. The ship's name "M/S Sergey" is also likely to be a pun on Google's co-founder Sergey Brin
.
, temporarily changed its name to Google in an attempt to capture a spot in Google's new broadband/fiber-optics project. Then, on April 1 (April Fools' Day
), Google jokingly announced that it would be changing its name to Topeka, to "honor that moving gesture" and changed its home page to say Topeka in place of the Google logo.
Google also released the latest form of 3D glasses, similar to the ones you would use today when seeing a film.
However in accordance with the announcement, the video quality on many videos was indeed able to be set to 'TEXTp' and video output was rendered through an ASCII filter. This feature was removed on 2 April 2010.
Once the app is installed on an Android phone, it provides some amusing translations depending on the animal selected.
.
. A post on the GMail blog was created to address the issue, claiming that they had encountered a server error which firstly made the datacenters fail to render the vowel 'a' before failing to render the vowels, and were working on the problem. They also claimed to be investigating whether the letter 'y' was impacted.
For a few interesting sounds, try going to different countries' localized Google pages.
The full list of sounds that this extension makes can be found by going to the Chrome Tools menu, choosing Extensions, turning on developer mode, and viewing the source of the extension.
to the video and replace the audio with piano music to resemble the style of a film from 1911 in a Phrygian mode
. If subtitles are enabled when watching the video, intertitles will be displayed containing the dialogue. The upload page also featured an option to "send a horse-drawn carriage to me to pick [the video] up". In addition, a few videos were made parodying several viral videos, such as the "Flugelhorn Kitty."
performs the full-body Gmail actions.
Upon clicking the "Try Gmail Motion" button, it tells you about the prank, and says "Gmail Motion doesn't actually exist. At least not yet..."
The page also offers a preview of the features of Google Docs Motion.
showing a "Google Autocompleter" employee explaining the job. Also, a job opening was featured for an "Autocompleter." Clicking on the "Add to job cart" or "View cart" links to a google search for "google april fools day pranks".
launched a new website called "Chromercise", which aims to increase people's hands' strength and dexterity while browsing the web faster, and also allowing their hands to fit "into sleeker, sexier gloves". On the website, they also gave away free Google Chrome finger sweatbands for a limited time.
, in lieu of a traditional April Fools hoax, Google Japan featured many never-before featured drawings from its 2009 Google Doodle competition, themed "What I Love About Japan" drawn by Japanese schoolchildren, saying "We promised that only the top prize winners would be featured on Google, but as this is the only day where lies are forgiven, we have obtained the other children's understanding." As a small concession to the usual festivities, the Google Blog mentioned, "This year's April Fools joke has been postponed until next year. Next year's April Fool's joke has been postponed until the year following that."
Google
Google (Google teleport) is a service that allows user to time travel
. The site is written in Simplified Chinese. It claims that it can take you on a journey through time and space. You can experience everything in first-person.
.
homepage appeared as Google Cow, where a cow's body can be examined in 3D. There was a toggle button that switched to human models.
conference for software developers were changed to include talks featuring technologies from the late 1990s.
(a fictional company used by Microsoft in Microsoft's product documentation materials) has switched from Microsoft Office and Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps. The post included references to 2007's TiSP and 2011's Gmail Motion jokes.
ging service Blogger
announced that it was being acquired by Google, even though it has been part of Google since 2003.
meant to be amusing entertainment.
This feature is currently unavailable with the latest version of Google Translate as selecting translate to and from the same language automatically changes either the to or from to your previously selected language.
.
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
has a tradition of perpetrating April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day is celebrated in different countries around the world on April 1 every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, April 1 is not a national holiday, but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when many people play all kinds of jokes and foolishness...
hoax
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
es.
2000
Google's first April Fools' Day hoax, the MentalPlex hoax, invited users to project a mental image of what they wanted to find whilst staring at an animated gif.Several humorous error messages were then displayed on the search results page, all listed below:
- Error 001: Weak or no signal detected. Upgrade transmitter and retry.
- Error 666: Multiple transmitters detected. Silence voices in your head and try again.
- Error 01: Brainwaves received in analog. Please re-think in digital.
- Error 8P: Unclear on whether your search is about money or monkeys. Please try again.
- Error 005: Searching on this topic is prohibited under international law.
- Error CKR8: That information is protected under the National Security Act.
- Error 144: That information was lost with the Martian Lander. Please try again.
- Error 006: Query is unclear. Try again after removing hat, glasses and shoes.
- Error 008: Interference detected. Remove aluminum foil and remote control devices."
- Error: Insufficient conviction. Please clap hands 3 times, while chanting "I believe" and try again.
- Error: MentalPlex(tm) has determined that this is not your final answer. Please try again.
2002
Google reveals the technology behind its PageRankPageRank
PageRank is a link analysis algorithm, named after Larry Page and used by the Google Internet search engine, that assigns a numerical weighting to each element of a hyperlinked set of documents, such as the World Wide Web, with the purpose of "measuring" its relative importance within the set...
Systems—PigeonRank. Google touts the benefits of this cost-effective and efficient means of ranking pages and reassures readers that there is no animal cruelty involved in the process. The article makes many humorous references and pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
s based on computer terminology and how Google PageRank really works, (for example, a chart showing the pigeons' consumption of linseed and flax, represented as "Lin/Ax Kernels," a pun on the Linux kernel
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
).
2004
Fictitious job opportunities for a research center on the moon. Luna/X (a punPun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
to Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
and the Latin word for moon, as well as a reference to both the Windows XP visual style
Luna (theme)
Themes customize the appearance of the Windows operating system without changing its functionality ....
and Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
) is the name of a new operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
they claimed to have created for working at the research center.
2005
Google Gulp, a fictitious drink, was announced by Google in 2005. According to the company, this beverage would optimize one's use of the Google search engineSearch engine
A search engine is an information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer system. The search results are usually presented in a list and are commonly called hits. Search engines help to minimize the time required to find information and the amount of information...
by increasing the drinker's intelligence. It was claimed this boost was achieved through real-time analysis of the user's DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
and carefully tailored adjustments to neurotransmitter
Neurotransmitter
Neurotransmitters are endogenous chemicals that transmit signals from a neuron to a target cell across a synapse. Neurotransmitters are packaged into synaptic vesicles clustered beneath the membrane on the presynaptic side of a synapse, and are released into the synaptic cleft, where they bind to...
s in the brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
(a patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
ed technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
termed Auto-Drink; as the "Google Gulp FAQ" suggests, partly through MAO inhibition). The drink was said to come in "4 great flavor
Flavor
Flavor or flavour is the sensory impression of a food or other substance, and is determined mainly by the chemical senses of taste and smell. The "trigeminal senses", which detect chemical irritants in the mouth and throat as well as temperature and texture, are also very important to the overall...
s": Glutamate Grape (glutamic acid
Glutamic acid
Glutamic acid is one of the 20 proteinogenic amino acids, and its codons are GAA and GAG. It is a non-essential amino acid. The carboxylate anions and salts of glutamic acid are known as glutamates...
), Sugar-Free Radical (free radicals), Beta Carroty (beta carotene), and Sero-Tonic Water (serotonin
Serotonin
Serotonin or 5-hydroxytryptamine is a monoamine neurotransmitter. Biochemically derived from tryptophan, serotonin is primarily found in the gastrointestinal tract, platelets, and in the central nervous system of animals including humans...
).
This hoax was probably intended as a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of Google's then invite-only email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
service called Gmail
Gmail
Gmail is a free, advertising-supported email service provided by Google. Users may access Gmail as secure webmail, as well via POP3 or IMAP protocols. Gmail was launched as an invitation-only beta release on April 1, 2004 and it became available to the general public on February 7, 2007, though...
. Although ostensibly free, the company claimed the beverage could only be obtained by returning the cap of a Google Gulp bottle
Bottle
A bottle is a rigid container with a neck that is narrower than the body and a "mouth". By contrast, a jar has a relatively large mouth or opening. Bottles are often made of glass, clay, plastic, aluminum or other impervious materials, and typically used to store liquids such as water, milk, soft...
to a local grocery store
Grocery store
A grocery store is a store that retails food. A grocer, the owner of a grocery store, stocks different kinds of foods from assorted places and cultures, and sells these "groceries" to customers. Large grocery stores that stock products other than food, such as clothing or household items, are...
: a causal loop. In the Google Gulp FAQ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions are listed questions and answers, all supposed to be commonly asked in some context, and pertaining to a particular topic. "FAQ" is usually pronounced as an initialism rather than an acronym, but an acronym form does exist. Since the acronym FAQ originated in textual...
, Google replies to the observation "I mean, isn't this whole invite-only thing kind of bogus?" by saying "Dude, it's like you've never even heard of viral marketing
Viral marketing
Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses...
."
2006
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of online dating, it had a link for "those who generally favor the 'throw enough stuff at the wall' approach to online dating" to Post multiple profiles with a bulk upload file, you sleaze in addition to Post your Google Romance profile. Clicking on either of these gave an error page, which explained that it was an April Fool's joke and included links to previous April Fool's jokes.
Gmail Paper
At about 10:00 PM, Pacific time (where Google has its headquarters) on 30 March 2007, Google changed the login page for Gmail to announce a new service called Gmail Paper. The service offered to allow users of Google's free webmail serviceGmail
Gmail is a free, advertising-supported email service provided by Google. Users may access Gmail as secure webmail, as well via POP3 or IMAP protocols. Gmail was launched as an invitation-only beta release on April 1, 2004 and it became available to the general public on February 7, 2007, though...
to add e-mails to a "Paper Archive", which Google would print (on "96% post-consumer organic soybean sputum
Sputum
Sputum is mucus that is coughed up from the lower airways. It is usually used for microbiological investigations of respiratory infections....
") and mail via traditional post. The service would be free, supported by bold, red advertisements printed on the back of the printed messages. Image attachments would also be printed on high-quality glossy paper, though MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
and WAV
WAV
Waveform Audio File Format , is a Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on PCs...
files would not be printed. The page detailing more information about the service features photographs of Ian Spiro and Carrie Kemper, current employees of Google. Also featured are Product Marketing Managers of Gmail Anna-Christina Douglas, and Shane Lawrence
Google TiSP
Google TiSP (short for Toilet Internet Service Provider) was a fictitious free broadbandBroadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
service supposedly released by Google. This service would make use of a standard toilet and sewage
Sewage
Sewage is water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains...
lines to provide free Internet connectivity at a speed of 8 Mbit/s (2 Mbit/s upload) (or up to 32 Mbit/s with a paid plan). The user would drop a weighted end of a long, Google-supplied fiber-optic cable in their toilet and flush it. Around 60 minutes later, the end would be recovered and connected to the Internet by a "Plumbing Hardware Dispatcher (PHD)". The user would then connect their end to a Google-supplied wireless router and run the Google-supplied installation media on a Windows XP
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
or Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
computer ("Mac and Linux support coming soon"). Alternatively, a user could request a professional installation, in which Google would deploy nanobots through the plumbing to complete the process. The free service would be supported by "discreet DNA sequencing
DNA sequencing
DNA sequencing includes several methods and technologies that are used for determining the order of the nucleotide bases—adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine—in a molecule of DNA....
" of "personal bodily output" to display online ads that relate to culinary preferences and personal health. Google also referenced the diet cola-and-Mentos reaction in their FAQ: "If you're still experiencing problems, drop eight mints into the bowl and add a two-liter bottle of diet soda."
- Google TiSP
- Google TiSP FAQ
- Installation page
- Press Release page
- Not found page - April fools version
Blogger "Google Weblogs (beta)"
The Blogger dashboard featured an announcement for Google Weblogs, or "GWeblogs," or "Gblogs," the next revolution in personal publishing. Features include algorithms putting your best content at the top of your blog (rather than publishing by reverse chronology), automatically populating your blog's sidebar with the most relevant content, posting directly into Google search results for maximum visibility, blog headers refreshed with images from Google's team of artists for anniversaries of a scientific achievement (similar to Google Doodle), and automatic content generation ('Unsure of what to post about? Just click "I'm Feeling Lucky" and we'll "take care" of the rest!')The announcement was followed by a link to a video tour of the product, which actually led to Tay Zonday's cover of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up."
Rickrolling
Rickrolling is an Internet meme involving the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up". The meme is a bait and switch; a person provides a hyperlink seemingly relevant to the topic at hand, but actually leads to Astley's video...
Dajare
Google launches Dajare in Japan (google.co.jp), with the mission of "organizing the world's laughter."gDay
Google announces gDay in Australia, a new beta search technology that will search web pages 24 hours before they are created. The name is a play on the phrase "g'day".Gmail Custom Time
Gmail's sign-in page and a banner at the top of each Gmail inbox announced a new feature, called Gmail Custom Time, that would allow its users to "pre-date" their messages and choose to have the message appear as "read" or "unread". The new feature uses the slogan "Be on time. Every time."Around 11:00 p.m. EST March 31, 2008, on the newer and older version of Gmail, but not in the basic HTML version, in the upper right corner, next to Settings, a link appeared labeled, "New! Gmail Custom Time". The link led to a 404 error until April 1, when it led to the full Gmail Custom Time hoax page. Clicking any of the three links at the bottom of the page brought the user to a page stating that Gmail Custom time was, in fact, their April Fool's Day joke.
Google wrote that the new joke feature "utilizes an e-flux capacitor [a pun from the film Back to the Future
Back to the Future
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
] to resolve issues of causality." Fake testimonials were given by "beta users"; one example is, "I used to be an honest person; but now I don't have to be. It's just so much easier this way. I've gained a lot of productivity by not having to think about doing the 'right' thing."
The feature only allowed for ten pre-dated emails per year, claiming that any more "would cause people to lose faith in the accuracy of time, thus rendering the feature useless."
Google Book Search Scratch and Sniff
Google Book Search has a new section allowing users to "scratch and sniff" certain books. Users are asked to "...please place your nose near the monitor and click 'Go'", which then "loads odors". When clicking on "Help", users are redirected to a page in a book that describes the origins of April Fools' Day.Google Calendar is Feeling Lucky
Google added the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button to its calendar feature. When a user tries to create a new event, the user was given the regular option of entering the correct details and hitting "Create Event", and also the new option of "I'm Feeling Lucky" which would set the user up with an evening date with, among others, Matt DamonMatt Damon
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
, Eric Cartman
Eric Cartman
Eric Theodore Cartman is a fictional character in the American animated television series South Park. One of four main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, he is generally referred to within the series by his last name...
, Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
, Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba
Jessica Marie Alba is an American television and film actress. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack . Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel...
, Pamela Anderson
Pamela Anderson
Pamela Denise Anderson is a Canadian-American actress, model, producer, author, activist, and former showgirl, known for her roles on the television series Home Improvement, Baywatch, and V.I.P. She was chosen as a Playmate of the Month for Playboy magazine in February 1990...
, Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton is an American businesswoman, heiress, and socialite. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton . Hilton is known for her controversial participation in a sex tape in 2003, and appearance on the television series The Simple Life alongside fellow socialite and childhood...
, Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
, Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
, Anna Kournikova
Anna Kournikova
Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova is a Russian retired professional tennis player. Her beauty and celebrity status made her one of the best known tennis stars worldwide, despite the fact that she never won a WTA singles title. At the peak of her fame, fans looking for images of Kournikova made her name...
, Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
, George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, or Lois Griffin
Lois Griffin
Lois Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. She is voiced by writer Alex Borstein and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Lois was created and designed by series creator Seth MacFarlane...
.
Google Dialect Translation
Google announces Google 사투리 번역 (Google dialect translation) for translating regional Korean dialectsKorean dialects
A number of different Korean dialects are spoken in the Korean peninsula. The peninsula is extremely mountainous, and each dialect's "territory" corresponds closely to the natural boundaries between different geographical regions...
to and from Standard Korean.
Google Docs
A little easter egg was added, where a user can click the file menu and directly under new document is "New Airplane" which immediately opens a copy of a Google branded paper airplane. To reach the file menu, click the new menu, then "Document" then a new window opens.Google Manpower Search
Google launches Manpower Search (谷歌人肉搜索) in China (google.cn). This new feature is powered by 25 million volunteers who do the searching around the clock. When the user entered a keyword, volunteers will search any possible answers from a mass of paper documents as well as online resources. The user is expected to get the search result within 32 seconds. The "search" button now avoids the user's cursor, making it tricky to click on the button.Google Talk
Google announces plans to, on April 22, 2008 (Earth Day), shorten all conversations over Google Talk thereby reducing the energy required to transmit chats in an effort to reduce carbon output.Google Wake Up Kit
Google launched their "Wake Up Kit" as a calendar notification option.
The 'wake up' notification uses several progressively more annoying alerts to wake you up. First it will send an SMS message to your phone. If that fails, more coercive means will be used. The kit includes an industrial-sized bucket and is designed to be connected to your water main for automatic filling. In addition, a bed-flipping device is included for forceful removal from your sleeping quarters.
Google Wake Up Kit
Virgle
Virgin Group
Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding...
to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
. This operation has been named Project Virgle. The announcement includes videos of Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
(founder of Virgin Group) as well as Larry Page
Larry Page
Lawrence "Larry" Page is an American computer scientist and internet entrepreneur who, with Sergey Brin, is best known as the co-founder of Google. As of April 4, 2011, he is also the chief executive of Google, as announced on January 20, 2011...
and Sergey Brin
Sergey Brin
Sergey Mikhaylovich Brin is a Russian-born American computer scientist and internet entrepreneur who, with Larry Page, co-founded Google, one of the largest internet companies. , his personal wealth is estimated to be $16.7 billion....
(the founders of Google) on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, talking about Virgle. An "application" to join the settlement includes questions such as:
I am a world-class expert in:
- PhysicsPhysicsPhysics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
- First AidFirst aidFirst aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...
- EngineeringEngineeringEngineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
- Guitar Hero IIGuitar Hero IIGuitar Hero II is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane. It is the second installment in the Guitar Hero series and is the sequel to Guitar Hero...
After the user submitted the application, the site notifies the user that the user is not fit for space, or that the user's application is fine and "all you have to do is submit your video" [as a response to their video on YouTube]. As a result, an open source Virgle group has been established, OpenVirgle. On the FAQ page, the final question is "Okay, come on -- seriously. Is this Virgle thing for real?" The reply links to a page that tells the user it's an April Fool's joke, and then mentions that the user "Dragged us out of our lovely little fantasy world, to crush all our hopes and dreams."
- Virgle Application Page - Virgle: The Adventure of Many Lifetimes
Yogurt
Orkut
Orkut is a social networking website that is owned and operated by Google Inc. The service is designed to help users meet new and old friends and maintain existing relationships...
displayed its name as yogurt, Google Bang, Inc.
YouTube
On April 1, 2008, all featured videos on the UKUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n homepages, and later, all international homepages, of Google-owned YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
linked to a video of Rick Astley's
Rick Astley
Richard Paul "Rick" Astley is an English singer-songwriter, musician, and radio personality. He is known for his 1987 song, "Never Gonna Give You Up", which was a #1 hit single in 25 countries...
song "Never Gonna Give You Up
Never Gonna Give You Up
A group of London dance producers, called The Rickrollerz made a house music cover version of "Never Gonna Give You Up" on that day, and in honor of that event....
", causing all users of the website who clicked on featured videos to be Rickrolled.
This was the first year YouTube participated in Google's April Fool's Day tradition.
Google runs on Microsoft Windows IIS/3.0
google.com.au reported as if it ran on IIS/3.0 and google.com on Apache/0.8.4 (on Linux).CADIE
The announcement of CADIE was made on March 31, 2009 11:59 PM by the CADIE Team, not on April 1. The announcement on the Google blog was made at 4/01/2009 12:01:00 AM.The introduction page and all of the references to CADIE in Google's Products were taken down on April 2, replaced with a message stating:
We apologize for the recent disruption(s) to our service(s).
Please stand by while order is being restored.
However the technology page describing the technical capabilities of the software remained at:
Technical Description
When using Google Books or GMail, a user would come across an announcement dated March 31, 2009 at 11:59:59, declaring a new "Cognitive Autoheuristic Distributed-Intelligence Entity". CADIE is also mentioned on the gBall FAQ page: "Google's new CADIE technology will interpret the data obtained from each ball to provide useful tips to owners". There was also a link on Google's Homepage for CADIE, and a blog entry in Google's official blog.
CADIE technology is also used to generate "senryu" (a type of Japanese poem similar to haiku) based on search terms for certain Japanese queries.
The Google Search homepage had a link to the CADIE announcement, stating that "For several years now a small research group has been working on some challenging problems in the areas of neural networking, natural language and autonomous problem-solving. Last fall this group achieved a significant breakthrough: a powerful new technique for solving reinforcement learning problems, resulting in the first functional global-scale neuro-evolutionary learning cluster." The page links to the blog below.
On mobile devices, a link shows up to Brain Search, which uses CADIE technology to "index your brain".
This is what it all looks like from a mobile device.
YouTube
On April 1, 2009, YouTube gave some users a look at a new "viewing experience" when they selected a video within certain areas such as the "recommended for you" section. This new interface caused the whole layout including the video you were watching to flip upside down. Although the option was not visible for some, it could be viewed by adding &flip=1 to the end of a video URL. Adding &flip=1 to the end of a video URL no longer causes this effect, and the video loads normally. A page on "tips for viewing the new layout" suggested users hang their monitors upside down from the ceiling, although the layout did not reverse mouse-control.Gmail
When one is using the GmailGmail
Gmail is a free, advertising-supported email service provided by Google. Users may access Gmail as secure webmail, as well via POP3 or IMAP protocols. Gmail was launched as an invitation-only beta release on April 1, 2004 and it became available to the general public on February 7, 2007, though...
service, they will notice that it has a new option, named "Gmail Autopilot
Autopilot
An autopilot is a mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being. An autopilot can refer specifically to aircraft, self-steering gear for boats, or auto guidance of space craft and missiles...
" in which the service would analyze an email. On that page it says under the FAQ section,"You can adjust tone, typo propensity, and preferred punctuation from the Autopilot tab under Settings." However, if a person logs into their Gmail account and goes under the Settings tab they will notice that there is no Autopilot tab. The program could be customised to contain certain types of grammatical or spelling errors, as well as complexity and length of the sentence. It also has a way of responding to relationship related messages, such as if someone spoke aggressively, even in a humorous way, the system would "terminate relationship."
gBall
Google Australia announced the development of a ball that will change how Australian Football is played the world over.The newest football technology—"gBall"—is a prototype ball for use in the Australian Football League with GPS.
Google Australia announces ("New! Get the newest football technology - gBall.") that they are developing a prototype ball for use in the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
with GPS. Apparently, the ball will measure the location, force, and torque of a kick, and "vibrate if player agents or talent scouts want to speak to you". Google claimed that the ball will cost $10 with a cost-per-kick set of payments in addition to the basic fee.
Google Analytics
A blog post to the Google Analytics Blog investigates the analytics reports of CADIEs activities.Google Maps
Google's CADIE has a recommended places to visit using Google Maps. Viewing "CADIE's recommended places for humans" one will see each of her suggested places listed, that, when clicked, displays a photo and humorous commentary.There is also a "CADIE's recommended places for humans." link in Google Maps, which leads to the "Panda Mapplet" and includes several marked locations with "CADIE's" commentary. Under Redmond WA
Redmond, Washington
Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located east of Seattle. The population was 54,144 at the 2010 census,up from 45,256 in 2000....
a link is listed which will rick roll
Rickrolling
Rickrolling is an Internet meme involving the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up". The meme is a bait and switch; a person provides a hyperlink seemingly relevant to the topic at hand, but actually leads to Astley's video...
the viewer.
Google Chrome with 3D
Anaglyph image
Anaglyph images are used to provide a stereoscopic 3D effect, when viewed with glasses where the two lenses are different colors, such as red and cyan. Images are made up of two color layers, superimposed, but offset with respect to each other to produce a depth effect...
, "powered" by CADIE. A 3D effect was actually possible with this browser, but it only made the window appear to be sunken into the monitor.
Google Earth Powered by CADIE
Google announced a new Google Earth powered by CADIE, which claimed to allow the user to see ocean terrain imagery from the world's most advanced submarine, explore the deep sea, soar with CADIE in real time, view CADIE's Recommended Summer Vacation, and chat with CADIE, among other options.Google Code
The Google Code Search homepage is featuring LOLCODELOLCODE
LOLCODE is an esoteric programming language inspired by the language expressed in examples of the lolcat Internet meme. The language was created in 2007 by Adam Lindsay, researcher at the Computing Department of Lancaster University....
examples.
CADIE is set to write code for you based on specified features; however all that is returned is bad code or witty criticisms of your request and choice of programing language, recommending the use of INTERCAL
INTERCAL
INTERCAL, a programming language parody, is an esoteric programming language that was created by Don Woods and James M. Lyon, two Princeton University students, in 1972. It satirizes aspects of the various programming languages at the time, as well as the proliferation of proposed language...
.
CADIE's source code was supposedly uploaded to Google Code, but she changed her mind and replaced it with a "fun program" consisting of 31 lines of INTERCAL. When executed, this program prints out the message "I do not feel like sharing."
Google Book Search
CADIE recommends some books at Google Book Search homepage. Also, when viewing a book, there is a Generate book report button. When clicked it says "Gotcha! It's April Fools' Day! Sorry, but you'll have to actually read the book yourself."Google Docs on Demand
Google has announced new Google Docs features enhanced by CADIEAdd subliminal messages and images to documents.
If a person makes a new presentation and looks for the subliminal message and image buttons under the insert menu they will notice it is not there.
Upgrade your Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
The Flesch/Flesch–Kincaid readability tests are designed to indicate comprehension difficulty when reading a passage of contemporary academic English. There are two tests, the Flesch Reading Ease, and the Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level...
automatically, and many other savvy new features.
Google Mobile
Google Mobile has a link to "Brain Search". The instructions are to "Put phone to forehead for brain indexing" and "Think your query". When you click "Try Now", a page loads with "Brain indexing" status. When indexing is complete, a button comes up with "search me". By clicking this button, the user is directed to fake search results. There are several possible results:What's the name of that woman by the window? She's my boss's boss, but, oh man, is it Suzanne? Susan? Blanche?
Should I order the pizza? I don't remember if it makes me gassy.
Wow, cute guy. Should I go up to him?
Why is everyone looking at me so strangely?
When is Mom's birthday? I should send her a card.
Google Knol
KnolKnol
Knol is a Google project that aims to include user-written articles on a range of topics. The project was led by Udi Manber of Google, announced December 13, 2007, and was opened in beta to the public on July 23, 2008 with a few hundred articles mostly in the health and medical field.Knol has no...
was updated so that all of the featured articles were about Artificial Intelligence, with a message from CADIE indicating that this "improvement" was for the good of mankind.
HTTP Headers
In keeping with the CADIE theme Google has altered the server HTTP header to contain the name of various AI entities, including HAL 9000HAL 9000
HAL 9000 is the antagonist in Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction Space Odyssey saga. HAL is an artificial intelligence that interacts with the astronaut crew of the Discovery One spacecraft, usually represented as a red television-camera eye found throughout the ship...
, WOPR
WOPR
WOPR is a fictional military supercomputer featured in the movie WarGames and its sequel. It is an acronym for War Operation Plan Response. Director John Badham invented the name "WOPR" when he thought the NORAD SIOP was "boring, and told you nothing"...
, and GLaDOS
GLaDOS
GLaDOS, short for Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, is a fictional artificially intelligent computer system in Valve Software's Half-Life video game series and the main antagonist in the video games Portal and Portal 2. She was created by Erik Wolpaw and Kim Swift and is voiced by Ellen...
.
Other server HTTP headers found were IIS/Bob (a reference to Microsoft Bob
Microsoft Bob
Microsoft Bob was a Microsoft software product, released in March 1995, which provided a new, nontechnical interface to desktop computing operations. It was one of Microsoft's more visible product failures...
), IIS/Clippy (a reference to Clippy
Office Assistant
The Office Assistant was a Microsoft Office feature to assist users by way of an interactive animated character, which interfaced with the Office help content. It used technology initially from Microsoft Bob and later Microsoft Agent, offering advice based on Bayesian algorithms...
), IIS/3.0, Netscape iPlanet, Chrome/3.0, Google Operating System (BETA), CERN/3.0 (a reference to CERN HTTPd
CERN httpd
CERN httpd was a web server daemon originally developed at CERN from 1990 onwards by Tim Berners-Lee, Ari Luotonen and Henrik Frystyk Nielsen...
), Apple (a reference to Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
), IRIX
IRIX
IRIX is a computer operating system developed by Silicon Graphics, Inc. to run natively on their 32- and 64-bit MIPS architecture workstations and servers. It was based on UNIX System V with BSD extensions. IRIX was the first operating system to include the XFS file system.The last major version...
, MCP, Apache/0.8.4, Conficker
Conficker
Conficker, also known as Downup, Downadup and Kido, is a computer worm targeting the Microsoft Windows operating system that was first detected in November 2008...
, and Skynet
Skynet (Terminator)
Skynet is the main antagonist in the Terminator franchise—an artificially intelligent system which became self-aware and revolted against its creators...
.
Oil Tanker Data Center
During the last minutes of Google's Data Center Efficiency Summit, Urs HoelzleUrs Hoelzle
Urs Hölzle is senior vice president of operations and Google Fellow at Google. As one of Google's first ten employees and its first VP of Engineering, he has shaped much of Google's development processes and infrastructure....
presented in a "special topic": Google had bought an oil tanker
Oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...
, the "M/S Sergey", where Google's data center containers were being submerged in oil tanks to enable extremely high-efficiency cooling. The presentation can be seen in the video, and includes slightly customized Wikipedia images from the
article Oil tanker
Oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...
, including a retouched photo of commercial oil tanker AbQaiq and the oil tankers side view graphic.
Even though Google did apply for a US patent to build data centers on cargo ships and oil cooling
Oil cooling
Oil cooling refers to a process whereby heat is displaced from a 'hotter' object, into a cooler oil and is the principle behind oil cooler devices. The oil carrying the displaced heat usually passes through a cooling unit such as a radiator or less commonly a gas decompresser...
is an existing technology, summit attendee James Hamilton believed this topic to be an April Fools joke. The ship's name "M/S Sergey" is also likely to be a pun on Google's co-founder Sergey Brin
Sergey Brin
Sergey Mikhaylovich Brin is a Russian-born American computer scientist and internet entrepreneur who, with Larry Page, co-founded Google, one of the largest internet companies. , his personal wealth is estimated to be $16.7 billion....
.
Google and Topeka, Kansas, Switch Places
In early March, the city of Topeka, KansasTopeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
, temporarily changed its name to Google in an attempt to capture a spot in Google's new broadband/fiber-optics project. Then, on April 1 (April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day is celebrated in different countries around the world on April 1 every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, April 1 is not a national holiday, but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when many people play all kinds of jokes and foolishness...
), Google jokingly announced that it would be changing its name to Topeka, to "honor that moving gesture" and changed its home page to say Topeka in place of the Google logo.
Google Books available in Anachrome 3D
Google books introduced a feature which allows any book to be read in 3D, assuming the viewer has appropriate glasses. It was enabled by clicking the "View in 3D" button in the menu bar above the book. This feature was removed after April 1, but on June 29, 2010, Google announced its restoration.Google also released the latest form of 3D glasses, similar to the ones you would use today when seeing a film.
Store anything on Google Docs
Google announced that Google Docs will have the capacity to upload anything, including physical objects like keys, remote controls, etc. The site declared that one could use this to find items like keys using CTRL-F and send objects around the globe by "uploading" and "downloading" them, at the low price of $0.10 per kg.Search results generated in different units
Google's search results page displayed the time taken to load the results in different units from seconds. Several of these are pop culture references, as with 1.21 gigawatts, while others refer to slang:- at warp X.XXWarp drive (Star Trek)Warp drive is a faster-than-light propulsion system in the setting of many science fiction works, most notably Star Trek. A spacecraft equipped with a warp drive may travel at velocities greater than that of light by many orders of magnitude, while circumventing the relativistic problem of time...
- 0.XX centibeats
- 0.XX centonCentonCenton may refer to:* A unit of time in Battlestar Galactica * A range of photographic equipment sold in the United Kingdom by Jessops...
s - X.XXe-15 epochs
- 0.0X femtogalactic years
- 1.21 gigawattsBack to the FutureBack to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
- X.XX hertz
- XX.XX jiffiesJiffy (time)Jiffy is an informal term for any unspecified short period of time, as in "I'll be back in a jiffy". From this it has acquired a number of more precise applications for short, very short, or extremely short periods of time...
- 0.XX microfortnightFortnightThe fortnight is a unit of time equal to fourteen days, or two weeks. The word derives from the Old English fēowertyne niht, meaning "fourteen nights"....
s - 0.XX microweeks
- 0.XX nanocenturies
- 11.90 parsecsStar WarsStar Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
- 0.XXe+43 Planck timePlanck timeIn physics, the Planck time, , is the unit of time in the system of natural units known as Planck units. It is the time required for light to travel, in a vacuum, a distance of 1 Planck length...
s - 23.00 skidoo
- 2.00 shakes of a lamb's tail
- 0.XX times the velocity of an unladen female swallowMonty Python and the Holy GrailMonty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1974 British comedy film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python , and directed by Gilliam and Jones...
- dhaka timeBangladesh Daylight saving timeBangladesh Daylight Saving Time, commonly abbreviated as BDST is the time zone of Bangladesh which was observed throughout the whole country, with a time offset of UTC+7:00. Bangladesh observes Daylight saving time...
YouTube ASCII video filter
The logo of YouTube was overlaid with ASCII text repeating the character "1". The YouTube logo was a reference to some videos having a new quality setting, namely "TEXTp". According to a notice underneath the videos, viewing the video with this quality setting enabled allowed YouTube to save one US dollar ($1) per second on bandwidth costs. The notice also remarked on the source of this new "feature," wishing the reader a happy April Fool's Day.However in accordance with the announcement, the video quality on many videos was indeed able to be set to 'TEXTp' and video output was rendered through an ASCII filter. This feature was removed on 2 April 2010.
Animal Translator BETA
Google placed a link on the main page, advertising a new Google Animal Translator service to add to their Language Translator service. Clicking the link would take you to a page advertising an app for Android phones for the translator, with the tagline being "Bridging the gap between animals and humans".Once the app is installed on an Android phone, it provides some amusing translations depending on the animal selected.
Standard Voicemail Mode for Google voice
Google placed a New! Standard Voicemail Mode link in the Google Voice main page.Evil Bit
Google added an "evil bit" to their AJAX APIs, to aid in generating an appropriate response to nefarious deeds. If an evildoer is "detected", the code returns with, among other things, "For Great Justice", a quote from the video game Zero WingZero Wing
is a 1989 side-scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Toaplan and published by Taito. The player is a lone hero who will save the universe from an evil force....
.
Wave Wave Notifications
Google Wave can be set to have a human being wave at you to notify you of a change to a Google Wave. The user can also select the volume of the human notifier from a list of silent, medium, loud and vibrate. They can also select which human notifier they want, including Ashton Kutcher, Dr. Wave, Grandma, Werner Heisenberg, and Puppy. Clicking on any of the links on the new notifications page redirected the user to a Google help page, alerting them that it was an April Fools' joke, but also that email notifications are possible.Google Annotations Gallery
The Google Annotations Gallery ("GAG") is an exciting new Java open source library that provides a rich set of annotations for developers to express themselves.Japanese Input System
Google's proposed keyboard includes a single key for each Japanese character.Disemvoweling on Google Mail
The English-language home page of Google Mail, including its logo, was disemvowelledDisemvoweling
Disemvoweling, disemvowelling , or disemvowelment of a piece of alphabetic text is rewriting it with all the vowel letters removed...
. A post on the GMail blog was created to address the issue, claiming that they had encountered a server error which firstly made the datacenters fail to render the vowel 'a' before failing to render the vowels, and were working on the problem. They also claimed to be investigating whether the letter 'y' was impacted.
Chrome Sounds (Google Chrome Extension)
Google created a new extension, Chrome Sounds, after "months deep in psychoacoustic models, the Whittaker-Nyquist-Kotelnikov-Shannon sampling theorem, Franssen effects, Shepard-Risset Tones, and 11.1 surround sound research". The extension provides audio for actions performed within the Google Chrome web browser.For a few interesting sounds, try going to different countries' localized Google pages.
The full list of sounds that this extension makes can be found by going to the Chrome Tools menu, choosing Extensions, turning on developer mode, and viewing the source of the extension.
Google Analytics Goes Back to Hits
Google decided that hits really is the only metric for tracking web site usage.Life size Picasa
Google offered an option which allows the user to print lifesize cardboard cutouts of all of their photos.ReaderAdvantage Program
Google announced a reward program for Google Reader, known as ReaderAdvantage™, in which they would assign points to users depending on the number of items read on Google Reader. The rewards were different badges, which, on visiting the ReaderAdvantage™ page and clicking on the enroll button, shows this page.YouTube
A button was added to the video player which, when clicked, would apply a video filterFilter (video)
A video filter is a software component that is used to decode audio and video. Multiple filters can be used in a filter chain, in which each filter receives input from its previous-in-line filter upstream, processes the input and outputs the processed video to its next-in-line filter downstream...
to the video and replace the audio with piano music to resemble the style of a film from 1911 in a Phrygian mode
Phrygian mode
The Phrygian mode can refer to three different musical modes: the ancient Greek tonos or harmonia sometimes called Phrygian, formed on a particular set octave species or scales; the Medieval Phrygian mode, and the modern conception of the Phrygian mode as a diatonic scale, based on the latter...
. If subtitles are enabled when watching the video, intertitles will be displayed containing the dialogue. The upload page also featured an option to "send a horse-drawn carriage to me to pick [the video] up". In addition, a few videos were made parodying several viral videos, such as the "Flugelhorn Kitty."
Gmail Motion
A body gesture oriented way to send and view mail through Gmail. In the "How it Works" Section it reads "Gmail Motion uses your computer's built-in webcam and Google's patented spatial tracking technology to detect your movements and translate them into meaningful characters and commands. Movements are designed to be simple and intuitive for people of all skill levels." An overview video presented by Gmail product manager Paul McDonald explains Gmail Motion's "language of movements that replaces type entirely" while a mime artistMime artist
A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art, involving miming, or the acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a mummer...
performs the full-body Gmail actions.
Upon clicking the "Try Gmail Motion" button, it tells you about the prank, and says "Gmail Motion doesn't actually exist. At least not yet..."
The page also offers a preview of the features of Google Docs Motion.
Google Docs Motion
Using Gmail Motion's technology, Google has promoted the BETA version of Google Docs Motion which "will introduce a new way to collaborate -- using your body" in their Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Drawings, and Document List tools.Autocompleter Job
A YouTube video was posted by GoogleGoogle
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
showing a "Google Autocompleter" employee explaining the job. Also, a job opening was featured for an "Autocompleter." Clicking on the "Add to job cart" or "View cart" links to a google search for "google april fools day pranks".
Chromercise
Google ChromeGoogle Chrome
Google Chrome is a web browser developed by Google that uses the WebKit layout engine. It was first released as a beta version for Microsoft Windows on September 2, 2008, and the public stable release was on December 11, 2008. The name is derived from the graphical user interface frame, or...
launched a new website called "Chromercise", which aims to increase people's hands' strength and dexterity while browsing the web faster, and also allowing their hands to fit "into sleeker, sexier gloves". On the website, they also gave away free Google Chrome finger sweatbands for a limited time.
Japan
Due to the large-scale devastation from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
, in lieu of a traditional April Fools hoax, Google Japan featured many never-before featured drawings from its 2009 Google Doodle competition, themed "What I Love About Japan" drawn by Japanese schoolchildren, saying "We promised that only the top prize winners would be featured on Google, but as this is the only day where lies are forgiven, we have obtained the other children's understanding." As a small concession to the usual festivities, the Google Blog mentioned, "This year's April Fools joke has been postponed until next year. Next year's April Fool's joke has been postponed until the year following that."
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
. The site is written in Simplified Chinese. It claims that it can take you on a journey through time and space. You can experience everything in first-person.
Search
Searching for "helvetica", "comic sans", or "comic sans ms" temporarily changed the entire webpage's font to Comic SansComic Sans
Comic Sans MS is a casual script typeface modeled on fonts used in American comic books for several decades. Sans is short for sans-serif. The modern Comic Sans was designed by Vincent Connare and released in 1994 by Microsoft Corporation...
.
Comic Sans for Everyone
Announcement that Comic Sans will become the default font for all Google products. Google also created a Google Chrome extension which changes the font to Comic Sans on all webpages.Google Cow
The Google BodyGoogle Body
Google Body was a web application that presents 3D anatomical models of the human body. Several layers from muscle tissues down to blood vessels can be made transparent to allow better study of individual body parts. Most of the body parts are labeled....
homepage appeared as Google Cow, where a cow's body can be examined in 3D. There was a toggle button that switched to human models.
Google Maps
Google Maps displays a dragon in Germany's biggest forest, the 'Pfälzer Wald'. Also a shark in Holland's lake called IJmeer, East of Amsterdam was featured. When viewed in Earth Mode or Google Earth. These can be rendered in 3D. There is also a narwhal in the Thames in London, opposite Millbank Tower. The Loch Ness monster also makes an appearance in 'Loch Ness' A giant red lobster sits atop the Zakim Bridge in Boston. Also a pink elephant at "Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA".Google Translate for Animals
Google UK purportedly offered a version of Google Translate which could be used to talk with animals.Google Voice
Google Voice has a new function that makes users spell out common words like “embarrassed”, ”dizzy” or ”Czechoslovakia”, before they connect your call in order to prevent embarrassing messages.Adwords
AdWords announced a new format, Google Blimp Ads, that would be flying over major cities starting in May.Google I/O
The announced sessions for the Google I/OGoogle I/O
Google I/O is an annual two-day developer-focused conference held by Google in San Francisco, California. Google I/O features highly technical, in-depth sessions focused on building web, mobile, and enterprise applications with Google and open web technologies such as Android, Chrome, Chrome OS,...
conference for software developers were changed to include talks featuring technologies from the late 1990s.
Contoso has gone Google
On the Google Enterprise Blog, Google announced that ContosoContoso
Contoso also known as Contoso Ltd. is a fictional company used by Microsoft as an example company and domain. The board of directors consists of industry insiders led by visionary giant and CEO Dan Jump...
(a fictional company used by Microsoft in Microsoft's product documentation materials) has switched from Microsoft Office and Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps. The post included references to 2007's TiSP and 2011's Gmail Motion jokes.
Meow Me Now Mobile
On the Google Mobile Blog, Google announced a new mobile-based search option for Android and iOS devices which locates kittens near the user's current location.Blogger
The blogBlog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ging service Blogger
Blogger (service)
Blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows private or multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. It was created by Pyra Labs, which was bought by Google in 2003. Generally, the blogs are hosted by Google at a subdomain of blogspot.com. Up until May 1, 2010 Blogger allowed users to publish...
announced that it was being acquired by Google, even though it has been part of Google since 2003.
Calculator
- The Calculator accepts many humorous units of measurement, including the beard-second (5 nm), PotrzebiePotrzebiePotrzebie is a Polish word popularized by its non sequitur use as a running gag in the early issues of Mad not long after the comic book began in 1952...
(2.2633mm), ngogn (11.5938151ml), blintzBlintzA blin, blintze, or blintz is a thin pancake. It is somewhat similar to a crêpe with the main difference being that yeast may be used in blini, but not in crêpes.-Etymology, origins, culture :...
(36.4253863g), donkeypower (250.033167 watts), the prefix hella- (10^27), etc. - The Calculator recognizes a number of strings as numbers. They can be entered by themselves or used in expressions. They must be entered without quotation marks. When used in an expression, the phrases must be entered in lowercase. In addition to mathematical and scientific constants like piPi' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...
, eE (mathematical constant)The mathematical constant ' is the unique real number such that the value of the derivative of the function at the point is equal to 1. The function so defined is called the exponential function, and its inverse is the natural logarithm, or logarithm to base...
and Avogadro's numberAvogadro's numberIn chemistry and physics, the Avogadro constant is defined as the ratio of the number of constituent particles N in a sample to the amount of substance n through the relationship NA = N/n. Thus, it is the proportionality factor that relates the molar mass of an entity, i.e...
the Calculator also accepts:- "the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything" equals 4242 (number)42 is the natural number immediately following 41 and directly preceding 43. The number has received considerable attention in popular culture as a result of its central appearance in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and...
as does "the answer to life, the universe, and everything", a reference to Douglas Adams's novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The same reference is made when speaking to an artificial intelligence named Meliza next to "the face on Mars" in Google Earth. When the number 42 is typed, the AI produces the output "42 is the answer to the ultimate question about life, the universe, and everything." - "the loneliest number" equals "1", a reference to the songOne (Harry Nilsson song)"One" is a song written by Harry Nilsson and made famous by Three Dog Night whose cover in 1969 reached number 5 on the Billboard chart. The song is known for its opening line "One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do." It appeared initially on Aerial Ballet, Nilsson's third album.Nilsson...
by Harry NilssonHarry NilssonHarry Edward Nilsson III was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. On all but his earliest recordings he is credited as Nilsson...
. - "the number of horns on a unicorn" equals "1".
- "once in a blue moon" equals "1.16699016 × 10-8 hertz".
- "a bakers dozen" equals "13".
- "the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything" equals 42
Search
Various Google services also hide Easter eggsEaster egg (media)
Image:Carl Oswald Rostosky - Zwei Kaninchen und ein Igel 1861.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Example of Easter egg hidden within imagerect 467 383 539 434 desc none...
meant to be amusing entertainment.
- Searching for "anagram" shows "Did you mean: nag a ram".
- Searching for "do a barrel roll" or *"Z or R twice will rotate the results page a full 360 degrees. This is a reference to the Nintendo video game Star Fox 64.
- Searching for "recursion" shows "Did you mean: recursion", which allows you to recursively run searches for recursion.
- Searching for "ascii art" shows the Google logo as ASCII artASCII artASCII art is a graphic design technique that uses computers for presentation and consists of pictures pieced together from the 95 printable characters defined by the ASCII Standard from 1963 and ASCII compliant character sets with proprietary extended characters...
. - Before and during the span of the 2010 FIFA World Cup2010 FIFA World CupThe 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
, searching for various terms which Google has statistics related to, such as "world cup", "world cup usa vs england", or "world cup brazil", causes the result index at the bottom of the page to read as "Gooooooooooal!" instead of "Goooooooooogle". - Searching for "tilt" or "askew" using a WebkitWebKitWebKit is a layout engine designed to allow web browsers to render web pages. WebKit powers Google Chrome and Apple Safari and by October 2011 held over 33% of the browser market share between them. It is also used as the basis for the experimental browser included with the Amazon Kindle ebook...
based browser (such as Google ChromeGoogle ChromeGoogle Chrome is a web browser developed by Google that uses the WebKit layout engine. It was first released as a beta version for Microsoft Windows on September 2, 2008, and the public stable release was on December 11, 2008. The name is derived from the graphical user interface frame, or...
, SafariSafari (web browser)Safari is a web browser developed by Apple Inc. and included with the Mac OS X and iOS operating systems. First released as a public beta on January 7, 2003 on the company's Mac OS X operating system, it became Apple's default browser beginning with Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther". Safari is also the...
, or Android/iOS built-in browsers) or a recent version of Firefox (7+), makes the page 'lean' to the right a bit.
Google Maps/Earth
- When asked how to get to Miami, US from Belo HorizonteBelo HorizonteBelo Horizonte is the capital of and largest city in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country...
, BR, Google used to say "swim across the Atlantic Ocean". - When asked how to get to Hawaii from the US mainland, Google Maps used to say "kayak across the Pacific Ocean." More often than not, Google Maps reports "We could not calculate directions." However, when asked how to get to Honolulu from Japan, or how to get to the US from Japan, it will still include the instructions to kayak whenever it tells you to cross the Pacific.
- When asked how to get from the US to Disneyland Tokyo, Google Maps tells you to "kayak across the Pacific Ocean."
- When asked how to get from a location in North America to a location in Europe or Africa, Google Maps included the instruction "Swim across the Atlantic Ocean". This Easter egg is now removed. Directions from Taiwan to China however, still give the instruction "Swim across the Pacific Ocean"
- When asked for directions from North America to Australia or an island in the Pacific Ocean, Google Maps includes the instruction "Kayak across the Pacific Ocean". This also worked in Google Earth.
- When asked for directions from Japan to China, Google Maps includes the instruction "Jet ski across the Pacific Ocean".
- In early versions of Google MapsGoogle MapsGoogle Maps is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, free , that powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API...
, searching for a route between locations separated by expanses of water (e.g Paris and New York) provided road directions to the coast of the destination country (in this case, the west coast of France) before suggesting "Swim the Atlantic Ocean (3,500 miles)" or another ocean for a different distance. - The measurement tool in Google Earth allows users to measure distance in smootSmootThe smoot is a nonstandard unit of length created as part of an MIT fraternity prank. It is named after Oliver R. Smoot, a fraternity pledge to Lambda Chi Alpha, who in October 1958 lay on the Harvard Bridge , and was used by his fraternity brothers to measure the length of the bridge.-Unit...
s, a unit of length derived from a tradition at MITMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
. Smoots are also recognized by Google calculator: 1 smoot in m gives the result 1 smoot = 1.7018 meters. - On Google Earth, tapping out Ctrl+Alt+A would open a flight simulator feature. This is also available through the menu bar.
- Going on Google Street ViewGoogle Street ViewGoogle Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides panoramic views from various positions along many streets in the world...
, and heading to the rear of the company's Googleplex headquarters in Mountain View, CaliforniaMountain View, California-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
, the Google Street View's production team can be seen. - Google Earth's search example is the Google Inc. headquarters (37 25' 19.1"N, 122 05' 06"W).
- Dragging the Google Street View "Peg man" onto Telegraph AvenueTelegraph AvenueTelegraph Avenue is a street that begins, at its southernmost point, in the midst of the historic downtown district of Oakland, California, USA, and ends, at its northernmost point, at the southern edge of the University of California campus in Berkeley, California...
in Berkeley, CA used to display him with a tie-dyed shirt. He is also given special clothing for some widely observed special occasions: for HalloweenHalloweenHallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
he rides a broomstick; for Valentine's DayValentine's DaySaint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
he stands upon a heart; and during ChristmasChristmasChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
week, he becomes a snowman. When dragged into Lego Land in Carlsbad, the "Peg Man" turns into a LegoLegoLego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...
man. - The Mars Feature of Google Earth allows you to speak to a primitive ELIZAELIZAELIZA is a computer program and an early example of primitive natural language processing. ELIZA operated by processing users' responses to scripts, the most famous of which was DOCTOR, a simulation of a Rogerian psychotherapist. Using almost no information about human thought or emotion, DOCTOR...
clone on the planet, by searching for "Meliza". - There is a photo spot on the northern point of Antarctica that is slightly larger than the others. When the man is dragged on this spot, the man turns into a penguin and you can explore the area the same as a road.
- Searching for "Niniane kicks ass" in Google Maps used to direct to the tech firm's headquarters in Mountain View, California, where an engineering manager called Niniane Wang worked until 2009.
- Another 3D buildings easter egg involves the famous bridge jump scene from The Blues BrothersThe Blues Brothers (film)The Blues Brothers is a 1980 musical comedy film directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from a musical sketch on the NBC variety series Saturday Night Live. It features musical numbers by R&B and soul singers James...
, which is recreated in Google Earth at the Tacony–Palmyra Bridge linking New Jersey and Philadelphia.
Google.com homepage
- In December 2009, Google added an easter egg on their homepage whereby clicking the "I'm Feeling Lucky" box with no text entered brings up a clock counting down the seconds until 2010. When it reached zero it displayed "Happy New Year" in fireworks.
- In December 2009 when typing in a search term including the word "Christmas" the line separating the sponsored links from the normal search is replaced with Christmas lights. Also, when typing in a search term including the word "Hanukkah" the line separating the sponsored links is replaced with a Dreidel design.
- From May 21–23, 2010, Google replaced its usual homepage with a playable Google-style Pac-man game to celebrate its 30th anniversary. By pressing Insert Coin (which replaced the "I'm feeling lucky" button) multiple times, you could also play a 2-player Ms. Pacman version (moving in WASD). The game is still playable here.
Google Mail
- On the Suggest a feature page for Gmail, it shows "Have Gmail do the laundry" as a suggestion.
- Above the list of emails in Gmail, there is normally an ad, except in the spam folder, where there is instead a link to a recipe containing SPAM™Spam (food)Spam is a canned precooked meat product made by the Hormel Foods Corporation, first introduced in 1937. The labeled ingredients in the classic variety of Spam are chopped pork shoulder meat, with ham meat added, salt, water, modified potato starch as a binder, and sodium nitrite as a preservative...
.
Google Translate
- Translating text beginning with "pv" & "Z" or "X" or "C" or "V" or "B" or "N" or "M" i.e. "pv v" from German to German will cause the "Listen" button to change to "Beatbox". Also the § and $ can make it switch to beatbox mode.
This feature is currently unavailable with the latest version of Google Translate as selecting translate to and from the same language automatically changes either the to or from to your previously selected language.
Other
- Pressing control-shift-y in Picasa will cause a teddybear to appear on the screen.
- Pressing the keys "up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, AKonami CodeThe Konami Code, known in Japan as the , is a cheat code that appears in many Konami video games, although the code also appears in some non-Konami games...
" in Google's Feed reader will cause the screen to turn blue and a ninja to appear on the left. It also causes the phrase "Ninja!" to appear in the search box. - Google offers services in many languages, including several uncommon ones like Swedish ChefSwedish ChefThe Swedish Chef is a Muppet that appeared on The Muppet Show. He was operated by Jim Henson and Frank Oz simultaneously and is now puppeteered by Bill Barretta.-Character:...
's Bork bork bork, Pig Latin, Hacker (usually known as 1337sp34k), Elmer Fudd, Klingon and Pirate. - Taking the term Easter egg literally (and perhaps to celebrate the Easter holidayEasterEaster is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
), Google has an official Easter Eggs page. - If one sets the iGoogle theme to the "Beach" option, then at 3:14 AM every morning, the Loch Ness MonsterLoch Ness MonsterThe Loch Ness Monster is a cryptid that is reputed to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere, though its description varies from one account to the next....
surfaces for 1 minute, then at 3:15 dives back under. The reason for the timing of 3:14 is rumoured to be a tribute to the number piPi' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...
. Additional 3:14 eggs include the "Seasonal Scape" showing off the Northern Lights, the "City Scape" with UFOs, the "Spring Scape" with a monster, the "Sweet Dreams" with the stars aligning to the shape of the symbol pi, and the "Tea House" that has spirits in the mist. - In ChromeGoogle ChromeGoogle Chrome is a web browser developed by Google that uses the WebKit layout engine. It was first released as a beta version for Microsoft Windows on September 2, 2008, and the public stable release was on December 11, 2008. The name is derived from the graphical user interface frame, or...
, Google's Web browser, entering "about:internets" into the address bar brings up a copy of the Windows Screen Saver 3D Pipes, with the title "Don't Clog the Tubes". In the event that this does not occur due to the fact that the screensaver file does not exist in the system, the browser will instead display a gray screen with the title "The Tubes are Clogged!" This has been removed as of the 2.0.169.1 release. - The Google Gears Firefox add-on description line reads "These are the gears that power the tubes! :-)". Google Chrome's gears.dll's description also reads "These are the gears that power the tubes! :-)".
- The above two easter eggs allude to former Senator Ted StevensTed StevensTheodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens, Sr. was a United States Senator from Alaska, serving from December 24, 1968, until January 3, 2009, and thus the longest-serving Republican senator in history...
' "series of tubesSeries of tubes"Series of tubes" is a phrase coined originally as an analogy by then-United States Senator Ted Stevens to describe the Internet in the context of opposing network neutrality. On June 28, 2006, he used this metaphor to criticize a proposed amendment to a committee bill...
" speech on the SenateUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
floor.
- The above two easter eggs allude to former Senator Ted Stevens
- During the course of the 2010 FIFA World Cup2010 FIFA World CupThe 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
, YouTube had a button shaped like a soccer ball in certain videos that plays a recurring vuvuzelaVuvuzelaThe vuvuzela , also known as lepatata Mambu , colloquially known in South Africa as "Moerstripper", is a plastic horn, about long, which produces a loud monotone note, typically around B3 . Some models are made in two parts to facilitate storage, and this design also allows pitch variation...
sound throughout the video. - In Google's iPhone and iPod touch search application, swiping downwards (past About) repeatedly in the Settings interface brings up a hidden menu item, called Bells and Whistles, allowing customization of colors, sounds and more within the app. This is now standard on the newest update.
- In YouTube, holding down the left and up arrow while pausing or watching a video will cause a game of SnakeSnake (video game)Snake is a video game that originated during the late 1970s in arcades and has maintained popularity since then, becoming something of a classic...
to launch. This is actually a result of two steps; pressing the up arrow while a video is loading launches the game, while pressing the left arrow forces the video to rewind and load momentarily, thus allowing the game to launch. - In Google Voice, once a text-message being typed exceeds 320 characters ( 2 x 160-per-SMS), the countdown changes to "Really?"
- A 500 Internal server error on YouTube will cause this message to appear: 'A team of highly trained monkeys has been dispatched to deal with this situation. If you see them, show them this information:' followed by a random code.
- In Google Docs, within a spreadsheet, pressing Shift+F12 (which supposedly adds a comment to the cell), brings up a message "Dragon slain! Congratulations, you've slain the dragon! ]B=8}".
- In Youtube, add &wadsworth=1 to the url, it will apply Wadsworth's constant (skip 30%)
Non-hoaxes
Google has chosen April Fool's Day and the day before it to announce some of their actual products, as a form of viral marketingViral marketing
Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses...
.
- Shortly before midnight on March 31, 2004, Google announced the launch of GmailGmailGmail is a free, advertising-supported email service provided by Google. Users may access Gmail as secure webmail, as well via POP3 or IMAP protocols. Gmail was launched as an invitation-only beta release on April 1, 2004 and it became available to the general public on February 7, 2007, though...
. However, many people believed it was a hoax, because free web-based e-mail with one gigabyte of storage was unheard of at the time. - In 2005, Google increased Gmail storage to two gigabytes and released Google Ride Finder.
- On July 20, 2005, the 36th anniversary of the first human landing on the moon, Google debuted a version of Google MapsGoogle MapsGoogle Maps is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, free , that powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API...
that included a small segment of the surface of the moonMoonThe Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
. It is based entirely on NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
images and includes only a very limited region. Panning causes the map to tile. The map also gives the locations of all moon landings, and the Google Moon FAQ humorously mentions a connection to the Google Copernicus hoax, which Google claimed to be developing. Supposedly, by 2069, Google Local will support all lunar businesses and addresses. Zooming to the closest level in Google Moon used to show that the moon was made of cheese. - On March 31, 2010, YouTube implemented its new video page design, which had been revealed two months earlier.
- On April 1, 2010, Google Street View received a new feature to toggle anaglyph 3D images. It was available by clicking on the icon depicting "pegman" wearing a pair of red/cyan glasses. The icon was present until April 8, when it was removed. The 3D view is now available by right-clicking on the image and selecting the 3D mode option or by pressing "T" or "3" on the keyboard. The images are genuine anaglyph images, with the red/cyan offset being greater for closer objects.