Fourteen years ago, on Sept. 7, 1998, Google was born. But with a doodle and some fanfare, the search engine is celebrating its birthday today, instead.
Until 2005, Google celebrated its birthday on Sept. 7, the date it was incorporated. But the search engine has since swapped its birthday for a slightly later date so it would coincide with an announcement: Sept. 27 was the day that Google broke records with the number of pages it indexed for searches.
Even if Sept. 27 is a birthday of convenience, it’s still a day on which the site has much to celebrate. Since its inception, Google has gone from a university project to a noun, verb, and household name: instead of saying we’re searching for something, we “Google it.”
In celebration of the search giant’s chosen birthday, here are 14 alternate Google homepages that parody—but could never replace—the real thing.
A passive-aggressive search engine for when a friend bothers you with a question that he could easily type into Google himself.
Maintained by Google itself, this parody lets you query and view results in the galactic language Star Trek made famous.
3) Rainbow Google (See also Blackle, Purpoogle, Big Blue Search, and I Search Pink)
Search surrounded by your favorite color with one of these prismatic Google clones.
The most recent parody on the list, Replacement Google imagines a world where the search engine is as unreliable as the NFL replacement refs.
5) elgooG
This aggressively unhelpful Google clone mirrors your searches and results so you have to read everything backward.
6) Goth Engine
Complete with a flaming GIF logo, Google Gothic is perfect for searching new chanting incantations for your coven’s next get-together.
7) Doogle
You won’t get any search results on “The Feckin’ Search Engine of Ireland,” but the page itself is rife with Easter Eggs. Try clicking the “Girls” link for an Irish ditty.
8) Cthuugle
Search the Elder God at your own risk—this search engine is designed to look up nothing that isn’t related to H.P. Lovecraft and his works.
Make searching more of a challenge on this page, which never stops rotating. Warning: music!
10) AnNOying GOOgLe
Relive your tween years with the search engine that turns both your question and results into haphazardly capitalized mush.
11) Google Gravity
Link a friend to this version of the page and laugh at them as they try to use the plummeting search bar.
12) Dinoogle
Because everything’s better with dinosaurs plastered over it.
13) Weenie Google and Epic Google
These pages turns searching into a game—can you input your query before the search bar becomes too small or too large to use?
The simplest of all. This one’s just a picture of a form, but it’ll show you most prominently how Google has changed our lives.
Photo via The Revolving Internet
