Google’s April Fool’s Day Hoaxes

You think that folks at Google are very tech-savvy people, right? OK, I agree with you. But Google proves that they are not just techy, but really funny too! Keep reading.

It seems Google prefers April 1 (yes, fools’s day) to annouce their plans and new services. Sometimes the announcement will be April fool’s day joke or could be real serious one. Well, people really get confused nowadays whether Google’s annoucement is really serious or just kidding.

Google MentalPlex (2000)

Google announced MentalPlex search technology that read user’s mind to determine what the user wanted to search for. No need to actually type in the search query. What a wonderful tool, right?

Try Google MentalPlex Search. Read the instructions fully. Do not forget to read the MentalPlex FAQ and Google MentalPlex Illustrations.

Google’s PigeonRank Technology (2002)

Have you ever wondered how exactly Google manage to find the right results for every query as quickly as it does? The key is PigeonRank, developed by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

PigeonRank’s success relies primarily on the superior trainability of the domestic pigeon (Columba livia) and its unique capacity to recognize objects regardless of spatial orientation. Interesting, huh? Read more about how pigeons help keep Google #1 Search Engine. 🙂 It is important that you read till the end of the page!

Google Copernicus Center (2004)

Google Copernicus Hosting Environment and Experiment in Search Engineering (G.C.H.E.E.S.E.) is hiring for engineering positions, opening late in the spring of 2007. Its Google’s lunar hosting and research center. Read about GCHEESE and Lunar Job Opportunities!

[I have posted another entry on 7/20/05 on Google Moon and GCHEESE]

Google Gulp with Auto-Drink (2005)

According to Google, this beverage would optimize one’s use of the Google search engine by increasing the drinker’s intelligence! Wow!

Although Google Gulps is free, Google claimed the beverage could only be obtained by returning the cap of a Google Gulp bottle to a local grocery store!

Google Gulp was said to occasionally send data about one’s use of the product via a wireless transmitter in the base of the Google Gulp bottle. It would be received at the GulpPlex!

GulpPlex is a heavily guarded, massively parallel server farm whose location is known only to Eric Schmidt, who carries its GPS coordinates on a 64-bit-encrypted smart card locked in a stainless-steel briefcase handcuffed to his right wrist. 🙂

BTW, GMail was annouced on April 1, 2004 and people thought it is another hoax!

Given below are some other useful links about Google,for your reference.

1. Google Holiday Logos
2. Google Timeline
3. Google History
4. Google Technology Overview