Google search was turned upside down quite literally on Thursday when tech bloggers discovered that typing in the query “do a barrel roll” rotated the entire screen 360 degrees.
The term “do a barrel roll” quickly ascended to the top of Twitter’s Trending Topics and Google’s Hot Searches.
But for much of the day, it was unclear exactly just why Google had inputted the amusing animated easter egg. At least until now.
A Google spokesperson emailed TPM to explain the barrel roll addition, writing: “Today’s fun query, ‘do a barrel roll’, was created by a Google software engineer with the primary goal of entertaining users — while showcasing the power of CSS3, a presentation feature of modern browsers. The ‘do a barrel roll’ query, which causes the search page to spin, will remain in place for a while.”
CSS3 refers to Cascading Style Sheets 3, the third version of the standard markup language used to design the look and feel of web pages.
Google declined to provide further information on the actual engineer responsible or the length of time that the animation would be available.
Still, the news that it won’t be going away quickly is likely to be interpreted as a boon to those bloggers who were enchanted by the animation, calling it “one of the coolest things Google has ever done,” and saying it “captivates humanity.”
Also, it will likely continue to be enjoyed by fans of the classic Nintendo game Starfox, in which animals flying cosmic fighter jets do a number of barrel rolls using the controller commands “z or r twice,” which incidentally, also cause Google to barrel roll when typed into the search bar.
That said, because it’s basically a one trick pony, it’s unlikely to cause the massive loss in worker productivity (an estimated $120 million) that ensued when Google unveiled a much more visible interactive Pac Man game on its Doodle Logo in May 2010 in honor of the game’s 25th anniversary. It’s also not likely to be as memorable as the enigmatic Google “balls” logo in September 2010.
