If you’re sick of searching, why not uncover Google’s fun side? You can play games, perform tricks, get answers to silly questions, charm your grandchildren with animal sounds, and so much more.

Happy Birthday, Google!  Since its founding on September 4, 1998, the search engine has become part of our daily online lives.

All About Google

Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful   Most of us think of Google as simply a search engine.  But they wouldn’t have called it Google unless its founders expected it to be fun as well.  If you’re stick of searching,  why not uncover Google’s fun side?  You can play games, perform tricks, get answers to silly questions, charm your grandchildren with animal sounds and so much more.

Here a few ideas:

Google Office Tour

Tour the first Google Office.  There are plenty of hidden gems to be found inside Susan Wojcicki’s Menlo Park garage, where Larry Page and Sergey Brin set up the first Google office. You can click around to take a virtual tour of the entire home, which has been painstakingly recreated to look as it did in 1998. There are a bunch of ‘90s gadgets scattered throughout, and make sure to open up the secret door and turn on the neon light to find more Google memorabilia.

Google Doodles

Check out notable Doodles from Google history    you may have noticed that over the years for various occasions Google has had a variety of doodles on holidays.  Click the link to see a collection of some of them from past years.

Play Vintage Games

Play Pac Man –  Google has lots of vintage computer games for the Atari fans among us.  Click the right arrows to play Google Underwater, Google Space Invaders, Atari Breakout and other old computer games

Google Space

Explore the planets and solar system.   Try Googling  Mars and you can tour the planet, zooming in on interesting features.   The same for Google Sky.  Zoom out on the sky to see more and more stars.

Google Thrills

Do a barrel roll.   Type “do a barrel roll” into the Google search bar and see what happens.

Watch your search results collapse. Type “Google Gravity” in the google homepage search bar, then click on “I’m Feeling Lucky” and watch the page fall apart.

Tour the world with Google Translate. How do you say “Hello” in Arabic, Hindi or Greek? Google Translate offers some 133 languages for reciprocal translation. Curious about it? Try Senior Planet’s “Intro to Translation Tools” on Monday September 18.   Learn more and register here.

Go back in time  Remember the 90’s? Gas was cheap, grunge was cool, and Google looked like this. Type “Google in 1998” into the search bar and see your screen transform into the ‘98 version of the tech giant. A quarter century has passed, and their search product looks different, but interestingly not that different.

These tricks just scratch the surface.   Check out these other  Google tricks just for fun and as Easter eggs to challenge friends….and pause a moment to wish this bedrock of the internet a happy birthday!

YOUR TURN

Do you have a favorite quirky Google trick to share? Let us know in the comments!\

Are You Digital Skills Ready?

Want to get even more digitally savvy? Senior Planet is proud to work with AARP Foundation on the Digital Skills Ready@50+™ initiative, made possible through a generous grant from Google.org. The resources focus on digital essentials to help older adults find and secure jobs, change careers, or explore entrepreneurship. Visit here to learn more and register  – registration is required.

Photo: Lalo Hernandez for Unsplash

Erica Manfred’s articles and humorous essays have appeared in print and online publications including the Washington Post, Atlantic, Salon, Village Voice, and the New York Times.   A self proclaimed Geezer Geek, now in her seventies, she specializes in writing about aging.  She’s the author of four books, including her memoir,  I’m Old So Why Aren’t I Wise; Snarky Senior in the Sunshine State.   You can subscribe to her newsletter at SnarkySenior.com or visit her website at EricaManfred.com.