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April 11, 2011 6:49 AM   Subscribe

Google launches a trivia game where Googling is not cheating, but encouraged
posted by ConstantineXVI (25 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
FWIW, I found today's question far easier by heading straight to Wikipedia.
posted by ConstantineXVI at 6:50 AM on April 11, 2011


hmmm, let me see. Do I want to help Google market things to me, today?
posted by oddman at 6:51 AM on April 11, 2011 [1 favorite]


I did something like this about ten years ago and got a free tote bag.
posted by swift at 6:52 AM on April 11, 2011


See also the Hive Mind Challenge, a periodic London pub quiz started by MeFi's own Adrian Hon.
posted by honest knave at 7:04 AM on April 11, 2011


HA HA ILL CHEAT AND USE BING!
posted by wheelieman at 7:06 AM on April 11, 2011 [10 favorites]


Can't I enter my answer instead of hitting "show answer"? What if I'm wrong?
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:07 AM on April 11, 2011


My first guess without googling was right.
posted by empath at 7:08 AM on April 11, 2011


I think they should make much harder questions, where you have to combine answers from multiple different searches and the answer can't be found by plugging in random words from the question.
posted by empath at 7:09 AM on April 11, 2011 [1 favorite]


Very nice implementation! We'd thought of doing something similar but without their Deja Google system that searches the internet as it was on a particular day, it just wasn't possible because obviously the answers would just appear in search results about a day after the launch of the quiz.
posted by adrianhon at 7:09 AM on April 11, 2011 [1 favorite]


They should write questions that require people to use a wider variety of their services. Like:

- What brand of underwear does the owner of the house at 5323 Oak Street, Chicago, IL prefer to wear when retrieving his newspaper in the morning?

- How much would the average American be willing to pay Google to keep their porn-searching history a secret?
posted by chasing at 7:12 AM on April 11, 2011 [6 favorites]


Google launches a trivia gamemarketing campaign
posted by DU at 7:13 AM on April 11, 2011


Google launches a trivia gamemarketing campaign

HOLY SHIT REALLY
posted by empath at 7:20 AM on April 11, 2011 [4 favorites]


Google launches a marketing campaign

And Metafilter prints and distributes the advertisements.

You know, in the old days, a huge, for-profit, rapacious, publicly-listed corporate multinational like Google would have to pay big money to print up the cardboard signs they put on the city buses to get their message out to a demographic like this. The printers union and public transport all used to get a piece of the action.

Now Google pays nothing and relies on unpaid volunteers to throw up an FPP.

Aren't their wage and labor laws that make this stuff illegal?
posted by three blind mice at 7:31 AM on April 11, 2011


can't tell if serious.
posted by empath at 7:34 AM on April 11, 2011 [3 favorites]


Google "pepsi blue" to find out.
posted by Bromius at 7:39 AM on April 11, 2011


hmmm, let me see. Do I want to help Google market things to me, today?

You know what? Google gives me email, google gives me a shitton of storage space on that email, google gives me maps, google gives me a really easy to use search whatsit, google gives me access to books, many of which are hard to find or out of print, google amuses me every couple weeks with a pretty logo illustration, google gives a lot of other people I know their preferred calendar and photo organization thingy, and no one has to pay a cent to use it.

You know what? I'm totally cool with google wanting to market things to me. Google makes my life easier. More power to them.
posted by phunniemee at 7:40 AM on April 11, 2011 [12 favorites]


I'm with phunniemee. I'll also add that google gave my wife a netbook, just for filling out a form and having a good enough argument for why she should get one. I basically run my life around shared google docs and google calendars. If they want to put ads in the sidebar, that's fine by me.
posted by Gilbert at 8:24 AM on April 11, 2011


It's really strange not seeing Wikipedia results at the top of every search.
posted by reductiondesign at 9:14 AM on April 11, 2011


Google fandroids creep me the fuck out.
posted by entropicamericana at 10:21 AM on April 11, 2011


- What brand of underwear does the owner of the house at 5323 Oak Street, Chicago, IL prefer to wear when retrieving his newspaper in the morning?

OK, so who else looked up this address to get a glimpse of this fellow on street view? Chasing, you tease.
posted by adamms222 at 10:37 AM on April 11, 2011


I don't see this as marketing, I see it as a clever focus group.

Google search allows people to type in search criteria, and then it shows a list of possible answers to the question "is this what you were searching for?". This game allows google to change the order and say if you wanted to search for X, what would your search criteria be? I'd guess being able to study this would be extremely interesting to Google and can help them improve search.
posted by Crash at 11:06 AM on April 11, 2011


Google fandroids creep me the fuck out.

... sez a guy who manages to show up with good things to say about Apple in, well, every Apple thread here.

Seriously, can't you see the value of free stuff to people who want free stuff? I mean, you can acknowledge that Google is a greedy advertising multinational without denying the obvious utility of said free stuff.
posted by me & my monkey at 11:09 AM on April 11, 2011 [3 favorites]


The level of suspicion here is rather surprising given that Google has long been home to a lot of puzzle fanatics.

I'm only on the edges of the puzzle scene, but I know that some of the most enthusiastic puzzle designers and solvers belong to companies like Google. It's no wonder they'd make something like this - they've certainly done similar things with Virgin, for example, when they gave away free wifi on planes (I don't recall people complaining back then). I'm no Google fanboy, but you know, sometimes they just do things for fun.
posted by adrianhon at 2:20 PM on April 11, 2011


Q: How many cubits tall is the structure that houses the ZIP code 10118?
Search [building zip code 10118]. Results will show that the Empire State Building houses its own ZIP code. The same search result will give you the building’s height, which is 1,250 feet (antenna not included). Use Google Calculator (a function of the search bar) to convert 1,250 feet into cubits and get the final answer of 833.33 cubits.

Or, just search for height of empire state building in cubits
posted by sanko at 5:07 PM on April 11, 2011


This looks like fun. So what if it's 'free advertising'? Should we avoid posting anything that makes somebody money? What if it's free but by posting it we increase the chance it'll get sold/get a book deal and make money in the future?

I thought MeFis liked to show off their intelligence, but I guess snarking is easier than solving the riddles.
Love the Google Doodle for today, BTW.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 7:27 PM on April 11, 2011


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