Google participates in the Ethereum Merge hype with a clever easter egg

With only a few days left till the eagerly anticipated Ethereum Merge, a new functionality has been added.

Google participates in the Ethereum Merge hype with a clever easter egg

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The internet behemoth Google has added a new countdown timer to mark the remaining time till the impending Ethereum Merge as a show of solidarity.
Google marks "Ethereum Merge" with an Easter Egg - NFTHi
A countdown ticker with the anticipated time left until the Merging is displayed when you type any version of "Ethereum Merge" or "The Merge" into the search engine. This estimate is based on the current difficulty, hash rate, and merge difficulty.

A cartoon of two joyful pandas sprinting toward one another with outstretched hands is displayed off to the side; it is implied that they will come closer as the Merge date approaches.
A screenshot of the countdown at the time of writing. Source: Google
In a Friday tweet, Google Cloud developer Sam Padilla described the timer as "a nice little surprise" and a way to honor "the labor that has been put into this for years."

Although he acknowledged that the work was completed by the Google search and laboratories team, he claimed to have "kickedstart" the idea and the discussion that resulted in the timer's implementation.

The countdown is updated in real-time thanks to a direct connection between the timer and the blockchain, as Padilla described in the same post:
“The underlying data is getting pulled directly from the blockchain via some of the nodes we run.”

He also hinted that pandas get closer as the Merge date approaches, but made a tongue-in-cheek statement, saying: “But you didn’t hear that from me.”

Google established a Web3 team under Google Cloud on May 6, signaling the company's growing interest in the cryptocurrency sector.

But others besides Google developers are paying close attention to the Merge.

According to recent Google search statistics, searches for the term "Ethereum Merge" generated a score above 50 on many occasions during the past 30 days, peaking at 100 on September 3.
Search trends for the term "Ethereum Merge" Source: Google
A score of 0 indicates there was not enough data for that day, while a score of 100 indicates the term is at its "highest popularity." A score of 50 indicates the term is "half as popular."

Singapore, Switzerland, Canada, Germany, the United States, and the Netherlands are the nations most interested in the impending Ethereum Merge, according to a recent research by CoinGecko.
Google Celebrates Ethereum Merge With New Search Doodle: How You Can View  And Why It Matters - US Today News
Ethereum Merge, "ETH Merge," and "Ethereum PoW" were among the ten search phrases analyzed for frequency, and their combined frequency was used to establish rankings.
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