Google is the number one search engine for literally everything. And when a ton of people start searching for something kind of fun, like an upcoming holiday or a new movie, Google itself likes to get in on the excitement and give people a little something special. For example, when the Barbie movie came out, anyone who searched for something related to Barbie got a page of search results with a pink background.
Experts from Google and outside Google call these surprises Google Easter Eggs. The Easter Eggs can be as simple as a short, funny response to your query, or detailed enough to take over your entire search screen. For example, when Avengers Endgame was released, Google recreated the supervillain Thanos’ infamous “snap.” After clicking his glove, half the results disappeared from the search results page. When Chrome celebrated its 10th anniversary, Google took part in the fun by releasing a dino bot easter egg game.
What makes Easter Eggs so great? They are often well hidden so that users find it gratifying when they discover them. This helps form a bond between Google, a brand, and users.
Here are some popular Google Easter Eggs from the past two years. They aren’t all still active.
A Google web search for:
- “2022 FIFA World Cup” or “World Cup 2022” made Argentina’s flag appear. Argentina won the World Cup. This is no longer active, but a sample of what we can expect in the next World Cup.
- “Women’s World Cup 2023” makes Spain’s flag appear. Spain won that edition of the Women’s World Cup.
- “<blink>”, “blink tag”, or “blink html” includes samples of the blink element in the results. Certain words blink on and off. This is still active.
- “Cha Cha Slide” adds a glittering microphone next to the link to the official music video. Click it through each stage, and it will recreate the main chorus in the browser. This still works.
- “meteorite” will show an asteroid falling on the results page. Then, the whole page will shake slightly. This is still active.
- “christmas”, “hanukkah”, and “kwanzaa” will show decorations next to the search bar for each respective holiday. The feature used to be only active during the month of December.
- “drag queen”, “gay pride”, “homosexuality”, “stonewall” and other LGBTQ+-related searches, at times of gay pride festival activity, cause the results page to have a rainbow themed header.
Why Should Business Owners Care About Easter Eggs?
You may be thinking, “Cool. I’ll do some Google searches soon to see if I can find more of these.”
But here’s how this post relates to your ecommerce business. You should put some digital easter eggs onto your website.
When customers come across them, because they search for something in the search bar on your site, they’ll instantly (in theory) form a bond with your brand.
Video game makers have done this for years. Easter eggs get people talking to each other about the brand that embeds Easter eggs into their digital designs.
Easter eggs on websites started back in 1979 when Atari’s Adventure game featured the first known Easter egg, hidden by its creator Warren Robinett. Wanting more credit for his game than Atari was willing to give, Robinett included a hidden room within the game, accessible only by manipulating game elements in a particular sequence. When users found the room, they got a message proclaiming, “Created by Warren Robinett.” This got Atari fans talking, and sales ticked up. This inspired other game makers to follow suit.
Over the decades, Easter eggs have become a cool part of TV shows, movies, and websites. For instance, Pixar Animation Studios has become renowned for its penchant for Easter eggs, seamlessly weaving references to past films into its new movies.
Moreover, digital Easter eggs can be found on all kinds of websites, even e-commerce sites. As long as you know some HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you can embed surprises within the fabric of your website. This delights users and keeps them on the site longer. The longer they stay on your site, the more they’ll develop a connection with your brand, and hopefully, this will lead to inquiries or purchases.
If you don’t know HTML, CSS, or JavaScript, no worries. We do.
At SEO Design Chicago, we have a team of web developers trained in creating surprising, exciting and engaging Easter Eggs. We’ll help you figure out what type of egg makes the most sense for your business, and if it should contain just a message, an effect, or a promo code. We’ll help spread word about your Easter Egg online in social media, and on message boards.
Gamification is Everywhere
It used to be that “gaming” was a term used exclusively related to video games. But games are popping up on news sites, on educational websites and on commercial websites. Why? Because people like to “Do” things online. They want to click things, not just read. They want to be surprised and play. Websites should be interactive, not something people sit back and do nothing with.
That’s why Easter Eggs are perfect for any type of website.
Furthermore, social media platforms help spread the word about brands that use Easter eggs on their websites. All kinds of companies use the power of memes, viral challenges, and hidden messages to engage and entertain their audience. Platforms like X, formerly known as Twitter, Reddit, and TikTok have become playgrounds for creative expression, where users collaborate to unravel cryptic puzzles or decode hidden messages embedded within multimedia content. That’s what you want – getting a niche audience talking about your website or digital presence online.
As technology continues to evolve, so too will the art of creating, embedding and discovering digital Easter eggs. With the advent of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), developers have new canvases upon which to unleash their creativity, blurring the lines between the physical and digital worlds.
Right now, this takes some tech skills, which is why you can turn to us for help conceiving, creating and embedding eggs. But one day, there may be code-free ways to do this on your own.
What Companies Have Used Easter Eggs?
Want some examples? No problem.
Apple (Siri)
When Siri launched, Apple embedded funny responses to questions that people asked Siri.
People shared these images all over social media. The free marketing from these Easter eggs was arguably more impactful than Apple’s multi-million dollar official Siri ads.
Cadbury Eggs
It would be crazy for a candy easter egg company to not use Easter Eggs in their marketing. Cadbury did this when they figured out a way to allow people to embed digital purple eggs into Google Street view maps, which they then shared on social media with hashtags to Cadbury.
BMW
The car company got Arnold Schwarzenneger to post a photo of himself as if he was starring in a new movie. The poster was kind of silly, and people shared it. But eventually, he revealed this was an Easter Egg and he was really promoting a new car.
Reach out to us for a consultation about how we can work Easter Eggs into your website, or into your social media strategy.
Contact Us today!