Google’s Searching Secrets

Google is all about helping people through the extensive search engine it is. Google does offer its own fun secrets though. The curiosity and fun in these secrets can keep the mind busy.

Google in 1998

Ever wanted to remember or see what Google looked like back in the day? By searching “Google in 1998,” searchers can view that piece of history of Google.

Atari Breakout

The classic game of bouncing a ball into blocks to break them lives on through Google. For this secret to work, you would have to do an image search. Once you’re on the image search screen, search “Atari Breakout,” and the images will change to play Breakout. When the game is over, Google will start a new game through a random image search to keep it going.

Pac-Man

On May 22nd, 2010, Pac-Man’s 30th anniversary was celebrated in a unique way with Google. Google created a doodle that allowed users to play Pac-Man just like how it was made 36 years ago (except with the Google logo in the middle). Just Google search “Pac-Man” and click on the one that says “Pac-Man Doodle”.

All of Google’s doodles are accessible by the way. The doodles could be searched or found on the “doodle” page.

Zerg Rush

A zerg rush is a gaming term used to describe a player’s overpowering attack on an opponent. It was mainly used in StarCraft. Google took the opportunity of the term and made a game out of it. After users search “zerg rush,” the Google logo will break apart and start attacking the search results. The logo can be taken out by clicking out on the separate letters of the logo, but more and more will come. The search results will be attacked until the page is empty.

Do a Barrel Roll

“Do a Barrel Roll” comes from the game Star Fox. The phrase meant to roll the fighter plane in an evasive maneuver to avoid taking damage. The phrase is referred throughout the gaming community as a meme. When “Do a barrel roll” is searched, the screen will do a 360 degree rotation.

Askew

OCD people beware, this one will drive you crazy. By searching “askew,” searchers will get to a search result page that is askew (slightly tilted to the right). Seeing the askewed screen gives me an uneasy feeling, but I still get amused by it.

 

All of these Google Search tricks are bound to keep the busy college student mind well entertained and not worried about stress.

 

The Vogue Dinosaurs

Vogue does not just keep track of the fashion of the people, but apparently velociraptors as well. Those crafty website designers for the United Kingdom Vogue site have placed a hidden gem/easter egg that is entertaining to watch.

When going on vogue.co.uk, the site may seem plain to the viewers, but when the secret code is typed in, velociraptors with hats dash across the screen. The code might be a little nostalgic for vintage gamers since it is the old Konami code. Once you are on the site (this can be done on any page in the site), push the arrow keys UP, UP,
DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, then press B, and A. If the code is done correctly, a velociraptor with a fancy hat will dash across the screen.

There’s more to this though! With the code being correctly typed, every time the letter A is pressed, another raptor with a different hat will slide across the screen. I know you will try to fill the screen with as many raptors as possible because I surely have tried. Enjoy the fancy raptors!