I’m just going to get down to it…the April fools pranks are on point this year. There are A LOT of great ones but above the rest I found 7 in a league of their own that deserve to be immortalized as some of the best April fools jokes of all time. Without any further ado, here they are:

1. [Google] Gmail Motion

Gmail Motion uses your computer’s built-in webcam and Google’s patented spatial tracking technology to detect your movements and translate them into meaningful characters and commands. Movements are designed to be simple and intuitive for people of all skill levels.

Basically, GMail is helping us move closer to the Minority Report type of computing.

http://mail.google.com/mail/help/motion.html

2. [YouTube] YouTube in 1911

This one is CLASSIC. Remember the vuvuzela button on every video during the world cup? Every video now has a button in the bottom right that says “1911” – when pushed the video you’re watching turns into a sound-free film with an old school grainy sepia filter overlaid on the video and 1911ish music.

3. [TechCrunch] Google Places Content Farm

TechCrunch stepped up to the plate in this april fools joke to call out Google for showing clear bias towards it’s own brand and products as far as what they consider “spam” and low quality content.

In an extraordinary move to illustrate its independence, say sources, the Google webspam team actually classified Google Places as spam and a content farm, and temporarily removed it from search results.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/31/google-inadvertently-classifies-google-places-as-a-content-farm-and-removes-from-search-index/

4. [LinkedIn] People You May Know

LinkedIn created this genius April fools prank highlighting some of the more interesting people you may know within your LinkedIn network.

I really have to hand it to LinkedIn…it’s pretty damn funny. Go check out your People You May Know list on your profile!

5. [Groupon] Groupon Patents April Fools Day

Groupon took a bit of initiative this year and filed a patent for April fools day. The local deal-of-the-day giant is now taking swift action against any individual or company breaching their patent.

For centuries, April Fools’ Day’s intellectual trademark ownership has been uncertain. That’s why we are proud to announce our patent application for April Fools’ Day. Everyone’s favorite day of daffiness finally has a new owner—Groupon!

http://www.groupon.com/pages/april-fools

6. [Google] Autocompleter Position

Google is looking for fast and psychic typists to autocomplete search queries on Google.

Here are the responsibilities of the position:

• Watch anonymized search queries as they come in to Google.
• Predict and type completions based on your personal experience and intuition.
• Suggest spelling corrections when relevant.
• Keep updated with query trends and offer fresh suggestions.

If you think you’re up to the challenge you can ‘apply’ here: http://www.google.com/intl/en/jobs/uslocations/mountain-view/autocompleter/index.html

7. [ThinkGeek] Playmobil Apple Store Play Set

The play set of the future! All of our kid will grow up with an Apple Store Play and one day ask us questions like “Dad, whats a lego?”

BONUS: Google “Helvetica”

With Google doing so many April fools pranks this year I’m starting to wonder if I missed any. This one might be a little more niche – but still very well done.

Google “helvetica” and take a peak at how the search results are displayed

If you do any design/graphic/film work this will probably make you burst out laughing. If you don’t get it, this video gives you an idea about how designers feel about fonts like comic sans.