Google unleashes piñata for 15th birthday via interactive doodle

27 Sep 2013

The interactive Google Doodle marking the internet search giant's 15th anniversary on the web

Internet search giant Google is marking the 15th anniversary of its birth on the web with a bright and colourful interactive doodle on its homepage that lets users try to smash a piñata for some digital candy.

It was in this month 15 years ago that Google brought its search engine to life.

Co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page incorporated Google as a privately held company on 4 September 1998, after the company transited from being a research project at Stanford University in California in early 1996.

Google now has more than 70 offices spanning some 40 countries around the globe. Dublin, Ireland, is home to Google’s EMEA headquarters, where some 2,000 employees work.

Google Doodle September 2013 15th anniversary
Google celebrates its 15th birthday of being on the web with a piñata filled with sweets!

Though the date has varied over the years, since 2006, Google has marked its birthday with a doodle on 27 September, and today’s stylised Google logo has taken on a new dimension. Bouncy figures shaped like letters spell out the word Google and when users click on the cake, a star-shaped piñata drops down into the middle of the doodle.

Players can try to smash the piñata by clicking on the blindfolded digital figure or by pressing the spacebar on their keyboards. Players can make at least 10 attempts in order to improve their score. Candy tumbles out of the piñata as it breaks open and music plays to help keep players entertained.

Once the game is over, users are brought to a new screen that displays their overall score and gives them the option of either sharing it on Google+, conducting a Google search about Google itself, or playing the game again.

Carmel Doyle was a long-time reporter with Silicon Republic

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