Top 3 Google Pranks A comedy article
by Colin Drummond 157 3 01/15/2010 12:31 AM 4142 views
I've always liked Google; I feel like it has my back. A few weeks ago, I developed an unsightly rash on my nethers, and Google Images helped me prove it wasn't contagious. Then, when my girlfriend broke up with me anyway, I wasn't worried, because my Gmail Spam Filter introduced me to a lovely Russian woman who needed her citizenship. Thanks Google!
What's really great about Google is that it does all this with a sense of humor. Check out some of the Easter eggs on their main page:
And you probably know that every April Fool's Day, Google likes to play a prank or two. Here are three of their best.
There are all sorts of reasons not to mess with time travel (like paradoxes), but sometimes it's just so tempting (like when you want to kill Hitler ... or Mondays). In 2008, Gmail presented a hoax that claimed to let you date your emails at any time in the past. No more late homework! No more late ZUG articles! No more late ... you get the picture.
"You know that new emoticon you've been looking for? Well listen to this! Or, read this! Or whatever you do with emoticons!"
One "beta tester" used the feature for concert tickets:
I just got two tickets to Radiohead by being the 'first' to respond to a co-worker's 'first-come, first-serve' email. Someone else had already won them, but I told everyone to check their inboxes again. Everyone sort of knows I used Custom Time on this one, but I'm denying it.
I think this is my favorite hoax because I'm a slacker. I'm just not good at following through on...oh nevermind.
When I Google "the worst band in the world," Google knows that I'm looking for information about Creed. But how? According to one of Google's earliest hoaxes, with pigeons:
By collecting flocks of pigeons in dense clusters, Google is able to process search queries at speeds superior to traditional search engines, which typically rely on birds of prey, brooding hens or slow-moving waterfowl to do their relevance rankings.
Every time a search is entered, Google pigeons view millions of web pages, selecting the most relevant by pecking. Apparently, the pigeons are smart enough not to be fooled by "unscrupulous websites" trying to boost their ranking with "images on their pages of bread crumbs, bird seed and parrots posing seductively in resplendent plumage."
As one young strikebreaker learns, the Pigeon Union is strong.
I doubt this hoax was meant to fool anyone, which is typical of the lighthearted nature of most Google pranks. Also typical are the witty, if groanworthy, puns: pigeon clusters are PCs, pigeon-harvesting dogs are PhDs, etc.
For all the convenience offered by an email, it just can't compare to the personal touch of a written letter. Right? Well, on April Fool's Day 2007, it very nearly could.
Advertising on the Gmail login page, Google unveiled a fake service that would print out your emails and send them via snail mail. Best of all, it was free:
The cost of postage is offset with the help of relevant, targeted, unobtrusive advertisements, which will appear on the back of your Gmail Paper prints in red, bold, 36 pt Helvetica.
Many of Google's hoaxes, like this one, explore the theme of impracticality. I mean, who needs Gmail Paper when you've got interns. Am I right? AM I RIGHT?! (Full disclosure: I am currently an intern.)
Robin was Batman's intern.
If there's one thing that's nice about Google hoaxes, it's that they're designed to make people laugh. They aren't trying to deceive anyone (at least not too much) or single anyone out, they're just being funny.
What do you think -- did we miss any good Google pranks? Let us know below!
Great article. It took me a minute to realize that all those Google "Easter Eggs" in the opening video were parody web sites set up by other people (I thought they were Google engineers being funny).
John, I think the Bing prank is to make you think that it's better than Google when it's really just a facelifted pile of crap from the same people who made MSN Search.
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