Since 2020, Google has no longer participated in this event, but this does not mean that people have forgotten the jokes that the company has deployed in the past.
Lots of jokes were made by Google on April 1st.
Mic Drop
In 2016, Google introduced a new feature to Gmail called Mic Drop. With the Send + Mic Drop button, a user’s email reply would be sent along with an animated image of the Despicable Me Minion dropping his microphone. The entire thread would then be archived so the user would never see the reply again.
Interestingly, many people accidentally used it because they didn’t know what it was, or because it was too close to the standard Send button. After receiving angry feedback from people who accidentally used it with important emails, Google quickly disabled Mic Drop.
MentalPlex
The prank, which was released in 2020, was simple and silly, which made it highly appreciated. By looking at a red and blue swirl, users were instructed to remove their hats and glasses, picture in their minds what they wanted to find, and click. The search page would return a random joke error, such as "It's not clear if your search is about money or monkeys," along with a Google result that called it "April Fools' Day."
Google TiSP
With TiSP, that's Google's pitch for a "free, fast, and reliable" internet service for bathrooms that takes just minutes to install. In its description, the company says users will hold one end of the fiber optic cable, drop the rest down the toilet, and flush. Thanks to its patented Gflush system, the other end will run through the plumbing to an access point, where a "Plumbing Hardware Coordinator" will connect it.
Chromercise
In 2011, Google launched Chromercise, a workout program for users' hands. As detailed on the Chrome Blog by Chris Wirght, Chromercise is a program that offers "a unique combination of aerobic movement and rhythmic accompaniment" designed to tighten and tone users' fingers.
Chromercise was an April Fools' Day prank in 2011.
Finger bands are recommended to make workouts more comfortable. Interestingly enough, Google itself actually sells these bands through its online store.
Google Nose
Introduced in 2013, Google Nose is a knowledge-based program that enhances users' sense of smell. It's just a joke and doesn't actually allow users to smell flowers, smoke, etc. by "transmitting photons with infrasonic waves". However, many people are still waiting for this to become a reality in the future when virtual reality technology is developed.
YouTube Video Collection
One of the best features of YouTube Premium is the ability to download videos for offline viewing. That didn't exist back in 2012, when Google introduced the jokey YouTube Collection—a service that claimed to ship every YouTube video on DVD to users via 175 trucks.
To get it, users are required to write comments and ratings on the video in an envelope and send it directly to the video creator. Of course, this is not true, because in reality, we can never download all the videos from YouTube when there are millions of videos uploaded every day.
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