Google's April Fool: YouTube Closing Down

Google has gotten into the April Fool's Day spirit once again: After eight years of accepting entries, YouTube is going to shut down to "select a winner." A spoof announcement on the site claims that "YouTube has been nothing but a contest to find the best video, and the 8-year-long submission period is finally closing tonight." It says YouTube will be closed for the next decade while it reviews every video, and will reopen in 2023 with the winning entry as its only video, iTWire reports.

Google also chose April 1 to unveil its new "Treasure Maps" feature, the Telegraph reports. Visitors to Google Maps can click the "Treasure" icon to access a pirate-style map of the world with hand-drawn landmarks and hidden treasure chests.The map was discovered during an expedition to expand the underwater Street View maps, explains Google, which has also introduced Google Nose—a new scent-based search feature. Twitter, meanwhile, announced in a blog post that users will now be charged $5 per month if they want to use vowels, but the consonant-only "Twttr" will still be free. Happy April 1! (More April Fools' Day stories.)