# What is Google counting down? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 14, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-google-counting-down/521273 "2009-12-14T21:36:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blue\_Mood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Blue\_Mood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mood)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-google-counting-down/521273/1 "2009-12-14T21:36:10Z")
If you go to the Google homepage and click “I’m feeling lucky” a number appears (it’s now somewhat less than 1 1/2 million). Is it a countdown until 2010? Something more sinister? Feel free to speculate wildly. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-google-counting-down/521273/2 "2009-12-14T21:39:28Z")
Looking around it seems evident that it’s the number of seconds until the new year. ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-google-counting-down/521273/3 "2009-12-14T21:41:15Z")
I’m guessing a countdown until 2010 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-google-counting-down/521273/4 "2009-12-14T21:41:19Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Looking around it seems evident that it’s the number of seconds until the new year. But which time zone? ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-google-counting-down/521273/5 "2009-12-14T21:41:22Z")
As of today, that’s a little over 17 days. Looks like it’s a countdown to the new year. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-google-counting-down/521273/6 "2009-12-14T21:48:07Z")
Here’s my theory - it could be a countdown to the new year. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-google-counting-down/521273/7 "2009-12-14T21:49:24Z")
They have been playing around with changes to the search page and sometimes they don’t put that button. Sometimes they don’t put any buttons and you start the search by hitting the enter key. My guess is that we’ll see the results of their research on January 1 and the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button will be gone. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-google-counting-down/521273/8 "2009-12-14T21:52:20Z")
Yep, it’s 12:00:00 EST January 1, 2010. Have they ever counted down to the new year like this before? Are they releasing some new product then? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-google-counting-down/521273/9 "2009-12-14T22:21:29Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > But which time zone? All of them! ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-google-counting-down/521273/10 "2009-12-14T22:46:49Z")
My guess is that is the countdown to the New Year based on Eastern Standard Time. At that point everyone in the world will be required to switch to GoogleTime®. It is loosely based on EST but removes some of the traditional holidays from all cultures and replaces them with special Google Holidays. Time efficiency shifting, somewhat like Daylight Saving Time, is a new feature but occurs many times a year. The algorithm that determines what this will be is still a secret, or a Google says, a surprise. It will announced as much as a week ahead of time to give people time to adapt. The only way to keep updated is to log into Google on a daily basis. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-google-counting-down/521273/11 "2009-12-14T22:56:32Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > But which time zone? It looks like it is a script that uses the time on your computer to calculate the number. You can see this by changing the date on your computer and watching the counter jump a large number of seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-google-counting-down/521273/12 "2009-12-14T23:45:51Z")
_Rio_, by Duran Duran. ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-google-counting-down/521273/13 "2009-12-14T23:55:48Z")
It’s a countdown until facebook becomes self aware. How Google knows this, I am not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-google-counting-down/521273/14 "2009-12-14T23:56:58Z")
No, it’s “_The Final Countdown_” by Europe. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-google-counting-down/521273/15 "2009-12-15T00:43:51Z")
[Math!](http://snapplr.com/hqnt)