First, Google pranked its users by claiming to shut down YouTube; then, the search giant introduced old-school “Treasure Maps.” But its pièce de résistance for this year’s April Fools’ Day has got to be Google Nose.
Currently in beta, the new feature incorporates scents into Search. Google describes Nose as its “flagship olfactory knowledge feature enabling users to search for smells.” To learn more, watch the semi-serious video, above.
Clicking the “Try Google Nose Beta” button on its landing site produces a random search term such as “diaper.” On the right-hand side of the results page, there’s a description of the term (“baby powder and poop”) from the Google Aromabase, as well as the option to smell and share the scent. When users click on “smell,” a pop-up prompts them to “Bring your nose as close as you can to the screen and press Enter.” A progress bar then indicates that it is transmitting the scent.
Curious visitors can search for other aromas, ranging from the enticing (brownies smell like “fudgy chocolate deliciousness”) to the repellent (a college dorm smells “sweaty, with scents of leftover pizza and burnt popcorn”) and quirky (Grandpa’s hat smells like “strong coffee and the forest”). Google Nose even emulates scents that users likely can’t experience in real life, such as ghosts, which smell like “an eerily gassy smell of antiques and forgotten pasts.”
What’s more, the feature includes a SafeSearch “when you’re wary of your query,” and boasts a 15 million scentibyte database of smells from around the world, according to Nose’s landing page. Those who want quick access to the database can select the “Nose Beta” tab in Search.
As Lena Carddeal, Google’s user-experience designer, so succinctly puts it: “Until now, we couldn’t always give user what they’re looking for. Because sometimes, they’re not looking at all.”
Were you fooled by Google’s smelly prank?
