In one of the best kept secrets in decades, search giant Google embraced a new company name at the stroke of midnight.The new brand and corporate name, Topeka, was launched on the main Google (now Topeka) page.
Calls to Mountainview went unanswered all evening as did e-mails.
A representative of the company (who wished to remain anonymous) said that "staff and call centers were being relocated".
Finally, Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Topeka Inc. provided more details on the Official Google (ugh ..Topeka?) blog here.
We'll keep you updated on the ramifications of this mid-boggling change as more details become available.
Update 1 - 4:30 AM ET : The change has cause a firestorm of Internet activity. See graph below:
Update 2 - April 2, 2010 : Yes, Google is back to being Google. TechCrunch has a good piece on the best of April Fools on the Internet here.