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Friday, April 1, 2011

Gmail Motion and Google Autocompleter: Google's April Fools prank for 2011

Gmail Motion
"The mouse and keyboard were invented before the Internet even existed," reads the introductory post. "Since then, countless technological advancements have allowed for much more efficient human computer interaction. Why then do we continue to use outdated technology?"

In true Google form, it's a bit dry. But when they break into the tutorial of an extremely sad looking man giving a double thumbs up to "reply all" on an email, we sort of lose it. 

Past Google April Fools pranks include Gmail Paper, Google Custom Time and Google Romance. 

For an intro on how to use the entirely unreal Gmail Motion, watch away!


GOOGLE  Autocompleter
Google's April Fool’s Day prank. They are looking for people interested in a job profile of Autocompleters.
The job would require you to predict what users are trying to search on Google search.
Instead of relying on machines to complete the query (Google Suggest), these autocompleters would be required to provide the hints.
And since the suggestions are to be shown instantaneously, Google is looking for people with ultra-fast thinking and typing skills.

Here is the job profile description:

Watch anonymized search queries as they come in to Google.
Predict and type completions based on your personal experience and intuition.
Suggest spelling corrections when relevant.
Keep updated with query trends and offer fresh suggestions.
Requirements:

Excellent knowledge of English and at least one other language.
Excellent knowledge of grammatical rules (e.g. parts of speech, parsing).
Understanding of the search engine space.
Proven web search experience.
Good typing skills (at least 32,000 WPM).
Willingness to travel (in order to provide local autocompletions) or relocate to obscure places like Nauru and Tuvalu to develop knowledge of local news and trends.
Certificate in psychic reading strongly preferred: palm, tarot, hypnosis, astrology, numerology, runes and/or auras.


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