The joke was on Google today when its April Fool's Day joke backfired on it, forcing it to remove its new "Mic Drop" feature after users complained that it messed up their business and professional relationships.
To prank its users, Google featured a new "Send + Mic Drop" button that was supposed to be seen as comical but instead left many people angry. When the user hit the new button, a Minion GIF would be inserted into the email that showed the character looking smug and dropping a microphone as if to say, "this conversation is done."
The conversation really was done, because the feature would cut off any further communication in that email thread with the recipient.
Google then pulled the gag after many users reported hitting the button by accident and not being able to get the responses for important work email. Even worse, some insulted their bosses with the GIF.
Talk about an April Fool's Day prank going wrong.
However, this isn't the first time Google played some really bad pranks on us. Here are some of the company's other bad April Fool's Day jokes.
Another Bad GIF
Interestingly enough, Google's very first April Fool's prank also featured a GIF. Back in 2000, the company released the MentalPlex, an animated image of red and blue colors hypnotizing the viewer. Google told people to think of the image of what they wanted to find.
Google then released messages on the search results page that revealed humorous errors, like "Silence voice in your head and try again," and "Please clap hands 3 times, while chanting 'I believe' and try again." It's safe to say that many people were probably left dizzy after trying it out a few times.
Google Cardboard Plastic
Google was on a roll with its pranks today. This included the announcement of its latest VR headset, Google Cardboard Plastic, which is for when "reality doesn't need the 'virtual.'" Basically, it's just a clear box so that the user can see what's going on in the world around them instead of on the screens. While many might think it's funny, the sad part is that some people might think it is real. Thanks anyway for teasing us about our latest tech obsession.
Meet @GoogleCardboard Plastic, for when reality doesn't need the "virtual." https://t.co/vtrUXaDyYE. pic.twitter.com/WIRE837BWb
— Google (@google) April 1, 2016
Chrome Multitask Fail
In 2012, Google had a few good pranks, like 8-bit Google Maps, but fell flat when it came to Chrome Multitask Mode. Google released a video explaining that users can save the most time possible and increase productivity by using two different mice at the same time.
Okay, so it's almost funny to watch. However, if this mode really did exist, we are sure people would not want to share the computer screen with someone else. Not to mention, it would actually decrease productivity after crashing when you wanted to shop online.
The Most Obvious, Yet Annoying Joke
We use Google for just about everything. So, how annoying would it be if we couldn't be able to read our searches for a day? This is exactly what happened in 2013 when the company launched com.elgooG, which featured everything on Google reversed. All the text then appeared backwards, making it almost impossible to read.
Google went back to normal the next day, but users can still enter in Google backwards to find the site. Still, we are sure people were left feeling really annoyed.
The company comes out with multiple pranks each year, with most of them being pretty good. This includes in 2008 when Australians got Rickrolled (home pages went to Rick Astley's song "Never Gonna Give You Up") by YouTube, and a Google Translator for communicating with animals.
Ironically, Google was able to pull one over us all when it announced Gmail back in 2004, having everyone thinking it was just an April Fool's Day prank. Looks like things have come full-circle.
