View source for ElgooG

{{Short description|Mirrored website of Google Search}}
{{Lowercase title}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox website
| name            = elgooG
| logo            = elgooG 2015 logo.svg
| logo_size       = 220px
| screenshot      = elgooG 2015 screenshot.png
| screenshot_size = 300px
| collapsible     = yes
| caption         = elgooG's homepage
| type            = [[Search engine]]
| language        = [[English language|English]]
| url             = {{URL|https://elgoog.im}}
| launch_date     = {{Start date and age|2002}}
| current_status  = Active
}}

'''elgooG''' is the word ''[[Google]]'' [[Anadrome|spelled backwards]] and also the name of a site, showing [[List of Google Easter eggs|Google Easter eggs]] (earlier it was a Google [[mirror site]]).

== History ==
The first usage of the term comes from a Google mirror site created by All Too Flat, a website dedicated to "useless information and the promotion of laughter". It accepted queries and provided [[Search engine results page|search results]] that were spelled in reverse alphabetical order.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |date=February 18, 2003 |title=Google Mirror FAQ |url=http://www.alltooflat.com/geeky/elgoog/info/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250216180327/http://www.alltooflat.com/geeky/elgoog/info/ |archive-date=16 February 2025 |access-date=October 19, 2025 |publisher=All Too Flat}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Karch |first=Marziah |date=January 14, 2020 |title=What Is elgooG? |url=https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-elgoog-1616585 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250609134226/https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-elgoog-1616585 |archive-date=June 9, 2025 |access-date=October 19, 2025 |publisher=[[Lifewire]]}}</ref>

elgooG was not officially affiliated with Google.<ref name=":0" /> Its creators asked Google for permission to sell elgooG merchandise to cover bandwidth costs but were refused.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 3, 2005 |title=Google users find mirror-image tweak |url=https://dailytitan.com/news/google-users-find-mirror-image-tweak/article_08e57bb9-e0d5-55c8-b8c9-1a2adf970cb4.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250523030054/https://dailytitan.com/news/google-users-find-mirror-image-tweak/article_08e57bb9-e0d5-55c8-b8c9-1a2adf970cb4.html |archive-date=May 23, 2025 |access-date=October 19, 2025 |website=[[The Daily Titan]]}}</ref>

elgooG gained popularity in 2002 because it could still be accessed from [[mainland China]] through the [[Great Firewall]] even after the government [[List of websites blocked in mainland China|blocked search engines]] such as [[AltaVista]] and Google, although the mirror site did not have support for Chinese characters.<ref>{{cite web |last=Knight |first=Will |date=September 6, 2002 |title=Google mirror beats Great Firewall of China |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2768-google-mirror-beats-great-firewall-of-china.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241010015116/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2768-google-mirror-beats-great-firewall-of-china/ |archive-date=October 10, 2024 |access-date=October 19, 2025 |website=[[New Scientist]]}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

On April 8, 2015, Google created an official mirrored version of Google Search for [[April Fools' Day]] with [[com.google]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tweedie |first1=Steven |title=Search Google backwards with this secret April Fools' Day trick |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/search-google-backwards-secret-april-fools-day-trick-2015-4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250709122254/https://www.businessinsider.com/search-google-backwards-secret-april-fools-day-trick-2015-4 |archive-date=July 9, 2025 |access-date=October 19, 2025 |website=[[Business Insider]]}}</ref> The site was the company's first ever use of the [[.google]] [[top-level domain]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Williams |first1=Owen |date=April 1, 2015 |title=Roundup: All Of Google's Jokes For April Fools' Day 2015 |url=https://thenextweb.com/news/roundup-all-of-googles-jokes-for-april-fools-day-2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251019104631/https://thenextweb.com/news/roundup-all-of-googles-jokes-for-april-fools-day-2015 |archive-date=October 19, 2025 |access-date=October 19, 2025 |publisher=[[TNW (website)|TNW]]}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Internet}}
* [[List of Google Easter eggs]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website}}

{{Google LLC}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elgoog}}
[[Category:Google Search]]
[[Category:Internet search engines]]
[[Category:Internet censorship in China]]

{{Google-stub}}