Google’s April Fools’ pranks have been a tech tradition since 2000, kicking off with “MentalPlex,” a fake feature that claimed to read your mind to predict searches. Every year after, Google leveled up the creativity—like Gmail’s 2004 launch (which people thought was a joke because of the “1GB storage” claim), the 2008 “Virgle” mission to colonize Mars, and the 2013 “Google Nose,” which promised smell-based search. By the 2010s, they went all-in with multi-platform gags like Google Maps’ 8-bit NES mode and the 2015 Pac-Man takeover on Maps. The pranks became a yearly Easter egg hunt for tech fans, showing off Google’s playful culture while turning April 1st into a mini product showcase.