Several sites unearthed this 1986 clip of an April's Fool's Day prank on Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who was then a less-than-studly vice president of Sun Microsystems.

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December 24, 2009

Thursday, December 24, 2009 1:50 PM/EST

Tracking Santa's Global Traversal The Google Way

Google has no fewer than four ways to track Santa Dec. 24 as he speed-sleighs across the world bearing gifts and coal: Google Earth and Google Maps; YouTube; Google Maps for Mobile; and real-time search. Which one will you use to track the man in the red suit?

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November 25, 2009

Wednesday, November 25, 2009 10:51 AM/EST

The Michelle Obama Google Bomb

Google was the victim of another Google bomb when the top-ranked result for U.S. first lady Michelle Obama on Google Image Search showed the woman with the features of a chimpanzee below a link to a suggested Google search for the terms "Michelle Obama monkey." The image was racist, insensitive and vulgar, to be sure. But did Google do the right thing in sticking to its guns?

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July 27, 2009

Monday, July 27, 2009 2:05 PM/EST

Win Sony Reader via Fun Google Books Contest

The 10 Days in Google Books contest lets users answer five questions on a book-related theme each day for the chance to win a Sony Reader (not a Kindle). Smart promotion? Yes, but people who want to come to Google Books will do so because they find the service valuable. Sadly, I'm pretty sure that's only a small segment of searchers.

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December 10, 2008

Wednesday, December 10, 2008 1:29 PM/EST

Google Corporate Blog Network Commands Trust with a Caveat

Whether news is loaded with puffery or sans bluster is not so much a factor in whether I cover it, but how florid the tone and diction are definitely affects how vigilant I am in reporting it.

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