Google's best 'gotchas' over the years

ajc.com

Every year, Google goes all out for April Fools’ Day: The technology giant is notorious for releasing new, albeit, fake products on April 1.

Of course, it also debuts some real pranks, too, such as this year's "flipped" site, com.google.

Here are six great "gotchas" over the years:

1. MentalPlex (2000):  Most search engines require typing, but with MentalPlex, Google said users could simply visualize what they want to find.

2. PigeonRank (2002):  The technology behind Google's speed and accuracy was attributed to the use of highly trained pigeons that "compute the relative value of web pages."

3. Google Gulp (2005): For the less adept Internet surfer, the beverage line could "maximize your surfing efficiency by making you more intelligent, and less thirsty."

4. Gmail Paper (2007): Those resistant to the digital age could request snail-mail copies of email messages.

5. Chromercise (2011): The fitness program for fingers would strengthen hands, allowing users to browse faster.

6. Google Nose (2013): Mobile Aroma Indexing allowed users to search for smells.