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Library/Game/Google Pac-Man doodle
Grade B20 sourcesHIS-01598

Google Pac-Man doodle

Game · 2010 · Notable

42Editable slideCertificate

Google's Pac-Man doodle prompted a disputed $120.48 million productivity-loss estimate.

Clip · Morreski Bear on YouTube
Clip · Google for Developers on YouTube
The Google-shaped Pac-Man maze from the official doodle page.
Google / Namco Bandai
The Tragic Cost of Google Pac-Man - 4.82 million hours - RescueTime Blog
RescueTime / Tony Wright
Google I/O 2011: The Secrets of Google Pac-Man: A Game Show
Google for Developers on YouTube

Spread Score

How it works
ReachNo data yetContagionNo data yetBreadth40Velocity65Longevity2242

Numbers

Peak proxy date
Week of May 21, 2010
May 21 ’10 to Week of May 21, 2010
Platforms
5
Started on Open web
Origin
Seeded
Gaming

Mechanics

  • Platform jumpPrimary
  • Press loop
  • Controversy

How it spread

Trace the origin

Google put playable Pac-Man on its homepage for the game's anniversary. Users shared playthroughs and complained about sound. Google kept a permanent page, while RescueTime's disputed productivity estimate generated another round of coverage.

Proxy date; not a directly measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.

Google searchesDec ’09May ’10JunDecOct ’11May ’13Nov ’14Jun ’16Dec ’17Dec ’18Dec ’19Aug ’20Peak proxyOpen webPressXYouTubeApp stores
Open webPressXYouTubeApp stores

13 more events on this chart

Join free to see them

Timeline (16)

  1. May 2010

    Google seed · May 21 ’10

    Google released its first playable doodle, a Pac-Man maze built around its name.[1]

    Open the first post ↗

  2. ABC News / WIRED / The Guardian press · May 21 ’10

    National outlets covered the playable logo, its co-op mode and its compatibility with phones.[2][3][4][5]

  3. Twitter users platform jump · May 21 ’10

    Twitter users joked that the playable Google logo had ended their productive workday.[6][7]

  1. backlash · May 21 ’10

  2. owner response · May 21 ’10

Join free to see the other 13 events and the full chart. Free, on every case.

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Why it worked

Do this

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3

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Origin
Seeded
Sector
Gaming
Region
Global
Reported figure
—
Evidence
Grade B

Spread the same way

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How the next thing spread, the week it does.