Google Maps April Fools Joke: The Untold Google Story

Apr 2, 2007 - 7:09 am 3 by
Filed Under Misc Google

I spotted via a Google Groups forum thread posted by Pamela, a Google Maps engineer, that Google Maps had their own April Fools joke. I did not see this posted anywhere else, so I figured I make its own thread.

Pamela said she "put together a quick mashup to let you position a "trick" over someone's home." It is pretty cool, check out this link to create your own. Here are three samples over New York's Manhattan.

A Sinkhole over zipcode 10025: google-maps-sinkhole

An earthquake over most of NYC: google-maps-earthquake

My favorite is the alien bug over Manhattan: google-maps-alien-bug

Why is it my favorite? Because this actually did happen on September 28, 2006. A bug got caught in the satellite lens and it appeared to spot an alien bug on Google Maps. Too funny Pamela!

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Google Search Volatility

More Details

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: June 9, 2026

Jun 9, 2026 - 10:00 am
Apple Intelligence

Apple Siri AI & New Apple Intelligence

Jun 9, 2026 - 7:51 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Testing Top Pages Links

Jun 9, 2026 - 7:41 am
Google

Google Shopping Results Tests Linking Directly To Merchant Site

Jun 9, 2026 - 7:31 am
Google Ads

New Google Ads Campaign Guidance With Experiment Power Score

Jun 9, 2026 - 7:21 am
Google

Google AI Mode Tests Citation Counts & Favicons Under Results

Jun 9, 2026 - 7:11 am
 
Previous Story: Is There Any Benefit to Google Checkout Badges?