List of Google easter eggs

Google has added many Easter eggs to its products and services to entertain and amuse users.

Search Engine

• Searching "<blink>" or "blink html" includes samples of the blink element in the results.^[1]
• Searching for "recursion" includes a "did you mean: recursion" link back to the same page.^[2]
• Searching for "do a barrel roll" or "z or r twice" causes the result page to do a Star Fox-style barrel roll.^[3]
• After searching for "askew" the results page is tilted, leaning down, left to right. This used to work also when "tilt" was searched.^[4]
• Searching for "zerg rush" causes an army of Google O's to attack the search results, which can be defeated by clicking on them.^[5]
• By doing a Google image search on "atari breakout", one can play "Image Breakout", using Google image results as bricks. After the game is won, another level will commence using a random search term.^[6]
• Searching for "webdriver torso" turns the Google logo into the moving colored blocks.
• Searching for "super mario bros" shows an info card for Super Mario Bros. Clicking on the flashing question mark generates a coin and 200 points. After 100 coins, the "1UP" sound plays.^[7]
• Searching "google in 1998" will generate a layout similar to the one Google used for its search engine in 1998.
• Searching "conway's game of life" generates a running configuration of the game to the right of the search results. The process can also be stopped and altered by the user.
• Searching "anagram" asks "Did you mean: nag a ram?"
• Searching for "a long time ago in a galaxy far far away" presents the search results in the same, tilted scrolling, style that the introductions to the original Star Wars movies are presented in.^[8] This includes the music,^[8] which is muted and may be heard by clicking on or selecting the muted speaker icon on the page.
• Searching "festivus" shows an image of the Festivus pole beside the search results.
• By Searching "stopwatch", "timer", "flip a coin" or "roll a die" returns a virtual version of each

Google's Search Result's Calculator

Late 2011, Google added a graphical calculator to search results^[9][10] where, by natural language processing, Google's algorithms have calculated^[11] that the result might be mathematical in nature.^[12] Woven into this feature are several not entirely academic understandings, which might be considered easter eggs.

• Searching for "once in a blue moon" will give the additional result of "once in a blue moon = 1.16699016 × hertz".
• Searching "what is the loneliest number" shows the loneliest number = "1" in the calculator.^[13]
• Searching "the number of horns on a unicorn" shows the number "1" on a calculator.
• Searching "the answer to [the ultimate question of] life the universe and everything provides the answer "42" as a calculated result.

Many results may be calculated; i.e. "the number of horns on a unicorn plus the answer to life the universe and everything" will show "43".

Previously featured

• Searching for "ascii art" used to display the Google logo in the ASCII art form.^[14]

Google Maps and Google Earth

• For April Fools' Day 2015, when in certain areas in Google Maps, there is a Pac-Man button. When clicked (if one's in a suitable area for it to work), a Pac-Man game starts, using the roads as paths for Pac-Man to go. Controllable by arrow keys.^[15]
• In early test versions of Google Maps, 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.^[16]
• The Mars Feature of Google Earth used to allow users to speak to a primitive ELIZA clone on the planet, by searching for "Meliza", but it later vanished, either taken away or it has disappeared. It is back as of October 28, 2013.^[17]
• Another 3D buildings easter egg involves the famous bridge jump scene from The Blues Brothers, which is recreated in Google Earth at the Tacony–Palmyra Bridge linking New Jersey and Philadelphia.^[16]
• In Google Maps, when "The Shire" or "Rivendell" is entered as the start point and "Mordor" as the destination and the walking directions button is clicked, the directions return the warning: "Use caution – One does not simply walk into Mordor." Works on Chrome (older) version of Google Maps. However, does not with the newer engine.^[18]
• On July 20, 2005, the 36th anniversary of the first human landing on the moon, Google debuted a version of Google Maps that included a small segment of the surface of the moon. It is based entirely on NASA 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.^[19]
• In Street View, on Earls Court Rd, London, United Kingdom, a TARDIS from the famous science fiction series Doctor Who is on display. Street View allows one to enter the TARDIS where it is "Bigger on the Inside" and explore the set actually used in the show.^[20]
• When navigating from Snowdon to Brecon Beacons, the user can choose to travel by "dragon", which takes 21 minutes.^[21]
• If you search for public transportation from Windsor Castle to Buckingham Palace, Google offers you the Royal Carriage option.

Pegman

• If the user goes to Loch Ness, the lake can be seen from a street view and the Pegman looks like the Loch Ness Monster.^[22]
• He is given special clothing for some widely observed special occasions: for Halloween he rides a broomstick; for Valentine's Day he stands upon a heart; and during Christmas week, he becomes a snowman.^[23]
• Around February 8, the launch day of Google Maps, he appears dressed as a birthday cake.
• When viewing past street views, he turns into Emmett Brown, one of the protagonists from Back to the Future.
• When dragged into LegoLand in Carlsbad, the Pegman turns into a LEGO Minifigure.
• When dragged into Street View in Sun Valley, Idaho, he becomes a skier.
• When dragged onto the vicinity of the Arthur Ashe Stadium, Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Pegman becomes a tennis player holding a racket.
• Dragged near the Kennedy Space Center, Pegman becomes an astronaut. Also when using Pegman around "Groom Lake" in Nevada or "Area 51", he will turn into a UFO.
• Going to Buckingham Palace in London will turn the Pegman into a representation of Queen Elizabeth.^[24]

Previously featured

• Dragging the Google Street View Pegman onto Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, CA used to display him with a tie-dyed shirt.
• For the new Star Wars movie, the Pegman on Google Maps was a stormtrooper.

Pegman

• There is a place on the southern point of Half Moon Island, Antarctica that has blue roads. When the Pegman is dragged on this spot, the Pegman turns into a penguin and users can explore the area the same as a road. As of 2015 this easter egg has either vanished or was taken away. Penguins and a research team in red parkas can be seen at various points on these roads.^[25]

Google homepage

• From May 20–24, 2010, Google replaced its usual homepage with a playable Google-style Pac-Man game to celebrate its 30th anniversary. The easter egg here was that by pressing Insert Coin (which replaced the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button) a second time, users could play a 2-player version of Pac-Man, starring both Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man (moving in WASD) in the same game. This was a first in the history of Pac-Man^[26] by the creators of Google Pac-Man at the 2011 Google I/O conference.^[27] Google's game is still playable by visiting Google's Doodles collection that can be found by pressing "I'm feeling lucky" without text in the search bar.

Google sub-page

• Visit google.com/teapot; a page that says "418. I'm a teapot" among other things. Clicking on the teapot will make it tip over and pour out.

Android

• Since the Gingerbread (2.3) version of Google's Android operating system an easter egg containing a funny animation has been hidden. The easter egg can be accessed through the Settings application, in the About phone section, by repeatedly tapping the Android version section. The animation is different in every version of the OS.
  • In 4.4 (KitKat) a Rotating letter "K" appears, which if continually tapped turns into the text "Android" in the styling of a KitKat logo. If the Android logo is then long-pressed a tile interface, known as a daydream called Dessert Case, loads with icons from all previous versions of Android. It appears to be a mock of the Windows phone interface.
  • In 5.X (lollipop) and 6.X (marshmallow), a color circle appears, if continually tapped it will turn into a lollipop (in 6.X, a circle with an M on it. Tapping the circle changes the color, and when long-pressed a game of Flappy Bird starts with the Android mascot instead of Flappy Bird. In Marshmallow, tapping the plus sign invites five extra players, which can be controlled by the user or other players.^[28][29]
• On YouTube Creator Studio, swiping down the screen repeatedly will show a cat on the top of screen.

Android applications

• On the Google Play Games app, if the player swipes the Konami Code, a box will appear with a B button, and A button, and a ► button. Pressing B, A and then the ► in that order unlocks a secret achievement called "All your games are belong to us.", a reference to the well known "All your base are belong to us" phrase.^[30]
• On the Google Play Store app, when viewing the Google MyGlass app page, the fifth screenshot is a picture of a dog in pyjamas.^[31]

Previously featured

• In Google+, if the device is shaken, snow will fall; if the device is shaken again it will save an animated GIF of the image with falling snow to the pictures directory.^[32]
  • This is no longer possible as it was removed in an update.
• Searching for "let's go caroling" or "let's go carolling" on Google Now will result in an extra card which displays a list of Christmas carols. Select one and one's phone will play the music and show the words.^[33]
  • This is no longer possible in version 5.1.1

Chromecast

• The model numbers for the first generation Chromecast unit and its power adapter read H2G2-42 and MST3K-US, respectively.^[34]

YouTube

• By pressing any of the arrow keys on a YouTube video while buffering, the buffering sign will turn into "snake" from the game "Snake". In this mini game, you can collect balls to make the 'snake' longer, just like the real game.
• Adding "&wadsworth=1" to a video URL will apply Wadsworth's constant, skipping the first 30% of the video.^[35]
• Whilst viewing any video, type "awesome" and the progress bar and other player elements will flash multicoloured. Typing "notawesome" will stop it.^[36]

Searches

• Searching for "doge meme" on YouTube changes the font on the search result page to pastel color Comic Sans.^[37]
• Searching for "Webdriver Torso" will return the results but with a red background and a blue rectangle around some videos. It also says "aqua.flv – Slide 000[0-9]" at the bottom left of the page. This is a reference to the Webdriver Torso mystery. Google has confirmed that it is behind the "Webdriver Torso" mystery; it is one of many test channels used by YouTube to ensure video quality.^[38]
• Searching for "beam me up scotty", a reference to "Star Trek", will cause the search results to beam down onto the screen, as in Star Trek.
• Searching for "use the force luke" causes the search results to levitate, as if being levitated by the fictional force mentioned in "Star Wars".^[6]
• Searching for "do the harlem shake", will cause the harlem shake song to play and the results to dance around.

Previously featured

• 

  The Lightsaber Progress Bar
  On December 12th, 2015, in order to promote the then-upcoming release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the progress bar was changed in order to look like a red Lightsaber.
  • Along with this, whenever you would mouse over the volume controls, a lightsaber sound would play like it was turned on, and when you mouse off of it, a power off sound would play.

Other

• On Google Chrome, if the user tries to browse when offline a message is shown that they are not connected to the Internet, illustrated by the "Lonely T-Rex" dinosaur designed by Sebastien Gabriel.^[39][40] From September 2014, tapping the dinosaur (in Android) or pressing the spacebar (on desktop) launches a browser game called T-Rex Runner in which the user has to protect the running dinosaur by tapping the screen or pressing space to jump to avoid obstacles, including cacti and, from June 2015, pterodactyls.^[40][41][42] The game's code is available on the Chromium site.^[43][41]
• Pressing Ctrl+Shift+Y in Picasa will cause a teddybear to appear on the screen.^[44]
• Going to "https://www.google.com/heart" gives a Java applet with an interactive jumping heart under the Google logo of the search page. The applet was made in 2000 by Ken Perlin.^[45]
• In Google I/O 2013 page, can click letter I or O to input password, for example, when input OIIIIIII then press enter will enter a page with ASCII code. When the user inputs OOIOIOIO, the user will enter a space themed page.^[46]
• In Google Glass, tap Settings -> Device info -> View licenses, then tap Google Glass's touchpad 9 times, will show Tap Meet Team option, then tap last time, will show Google Glass's develop team's photo.^[47]
• Any photograph with Christmas lights uploaded to Google+ will be turned into an animated GIF, showing sparkling lights.^[33]
• On the Google Play Store, clicking the search button with a blank search field will search "unicorns".^[48]

Previously featured

• 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. However, this no longer works as of the newer app updates.^[49]

See also

• elgooG – was a mirrored website of Google Search with horizontally flipped search results.^[13] A usable mirror of elgooG is located at Google elgoog
• Google Doodle
• List of Google April Fools' Day hoaxes
• Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and Browser Usage (AptiQuant)
• Netflix April Fools' Day jokes

References

External links

• About Google
• "All 22 Google's April Fools Jokes in 2012". G Tricks. April 12, 2012. 
• Top 10 Google Easter Eggs on YouTube (April 20, 2013)
• New Google Features, Tricks and Easter Eggs 2015