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You are here: Home / Technology / Punked by Google – Google Fiber a Hoax

Punked by Google – Google Fiber a Hoax

April 1, 2010 Lindsay

Google Inc.
Image via Wikipedia

So a few weeks ago we blogged about the Pittsburgh goes Google project. Well it turns out that the Google Fiber Network that sounded too good to be true is really too good to be true.

The folks at Google took a page out of the Ashton Kutcher‘s playbook with Google Fiber project.   Turns out the whole thing was just a joke and Google executives were stunned to see the lengths that local mayors and residents would go to to attract Google’s attention.  To win over the hearts of Google – last week Pittsburgher’s spelled out the word “Google” on Forbes Ave.  Check out the photo of this elaborate gesture from the Post-Gazette here.

The Mayor of Sarasota recently jumped into a shark tank at Mote Marine Aquarium to drawn attention to Sarasota’s bid for Google fiber.  (If you ever visit the Sarasota area – which happens to be near where the Pirates are for spring training – I would suggest you make a stop at Mote Aquarium to see the manatees).

Google executives have decided that things were getting out of hand – especially when they heard the Mayor of Pittsburgh was thinking of changing his name to Mayor Googlestahl and decided to reveal the truth about the project.  You can see the press release from the Google Fiber Team here.

Some additional blog posts about Google Fiber:
  • Al Franken Mines ‘SNL’ Past In Bid For Google Fiber (VIDEO) (huffingtonpost.com)
  • I Have Renamed My House “Google” (wired.com)
  • Cities Try to Grab Google’s ‘Golden Ticket’ (abcnews.go.com)
  • Cities Rush to Woo Google Broadband Before Friday Deadline (bits.blogs.nytimes.com)
  • 1100 communities apply for Google’s Fiber Network (slyvisions.com)

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Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: Ashton Kutcher, Google, Google Fiber, Google Fiber Network, mote aquarium, sarasota, Sarasota Florida

About Lindsay

Lindsay has been writing about Pittsburgh since 2005. She likes pretzels from the Pretzel Shop on Carson St., used book stores, her rollerblades and she hopes to learn to skateboard someday soon.

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Comments

  1. Loren says

    April 1, 2010 at 11:46 AM

    I think this announcement is a hoax and the project will be back on tomorrow. There's no way a company as big as Google would pull off a hoax that elaborate and long and let people work as hard as they have to win it just to say, "nope, can't do it!"

  2. jl says

    April 1, 2010 at 12:11 PM

    I think this document itself is a hoax. Why would they create this as a google doc and not post it as a blog post like they do with everything else?

  3. not dumb says

    April 1, 2010 at 12:40 PM

    lame.what sorta press release is ONLY released on Google Docs…

  4. Mathildajane says

    April 1, 2010 at 1:07 PM

    Uh, their announcement that the project is a hoax is an April Fool's Day joke!!!

  5. Yinzer says

    April 1, 2010 at 2:31 PM

    They also said they're changing their name to Topeka. What is going on!

  6. Rob de la Cretaz says

    April 1, 2010 at 2:54 PM

    Happy April Fools.

  7. Biff says

    April 1, 2010 at 2:56 PM

    Ok, you should just be shot….of course they didn't change their name to Topeka!! Ever hear of April Fool's Day?

  8. Loren says

    April 1, 2010 at 1:46 PM

    I think this announcement is a hoax and the project will be back on tomorrow. There’s no way a company as big as Google would pull off a hoax that elaborate and long and let people work as hard as they have to win it just to say, “nope, can’t do it!”

  9. jl says

    April 1, 2010 at 2:11 PM

    I think this document itself is a hoax. Why would they create this as a google doc and not post it as a blog post like they do with everything else?

  10. not dumb says

    April 1, 2010 at 2:40 PM

    lame.

    what sorta press release is ONLY released on Google Docs…

  11. Anonymous says

    April 1, 2010 at 3:07 PM

    Uh, their announcement that the project is a hoax is an April Fool’s Day joke!!!

  12. Yinzer says

    April 1, 2010 at 4:31 PM

    They also said they’re changing their name to Topeka. What is going on!

    • Biff says

      April 1, 2010 at 4:56 PM

      Ok, you should just be shot….of course they didn’t change their name to Topeka!! Ever hear of April Fool’s Day?

  13. Rob de la Cretaz says

    April 1, 2010 at 4:54 PM

    Happy April Fools.

  14. David Passmore says

    April 8, 2010 at 10:55 AM

    Guys, the Google Fiber project is quite real, and so is the PittsburghGoesGoogle project.

  15. David Passmore says

    April 8, 2010 at 12:55 PM

    Guys, the Google Fiber project is quite real, and so is the PittsburghGoesGoogle project.

  16. mark says

    April 11, 2010 at 10:08 AM

    yea… i'm sure it has to be a real deal (google fiber)… if not, i'd hate to see the backlash against google for such a stupid joke…make people look stupid and i am sure they'd all probably go right over to bing (even though i'd hate it)

  17. mark says

    April 11, 2010 at 5:08 PM

    yea… i'm sure it has to be a real deal (google fiber)… if not, i'd hate to see the backlash against google for such a stupid joke…nnmake people look stupid and i am sure they'd all probably go right over to bing (even though i'd hate it)

  18. mark says

    April 11, 2010 at 12:08 PM

    yea… i’m sure it has to be a real deal (google fiber)… if not, i’d hate to see the backlash against google for such a stupid joke…

    make people look stupid and i am sure they’d all probably go right over to bing (even though i’d hate it)

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