April Fools' jokes around the web

It's April 1 again, which means pranksters around the world are trying to get the best of unsuspecting victims. Here's a roundup of some of the best jokes we've seen.

YouTube shutdown

In pure Google fashion, the web giant declared they were shutting down YouTube, announcing it was an eight-year competition to find the best video. Take a look at the video featuring some YouTube favourites.

Google Nose

Google, which has a long tradition of elaborate April Fools' Day pranks, also introduced users to a revolutionary new search product, Google Nose, which allows you to - you guessed it - smell your search results. A great idea, if only it were true.

Other Google pranks include Google Treasure Maps and Gmail's brand new blue look.

Twitter vowels

Not to be left behind, social network Twitter announced they were going to charge users for vowels. In a blog post they announced: "We’re doing this because we believe that by eliminating vowels, we’ll encourage a more efficient and “dense” form of communication."

Fake April Fools' stories

UK newspaper Metro almost had us with a rather convincing roundup of the day's April Fools' stories, which turned out to be fake altogether. Some impressive Photoshop work here.

Virgin's glass plane

In one of the least convincing pranks, Virgin Atlantic showcased their brand new glass-bottomed planes.

President Obama's message

Even the White House got in on the funny business with a very special presidential address.

The Case of the Missing Giraffe

And last but not least, we tried our hand at fooling our readers with this fake story about a UAE resident who lost her pet giraffe, which had some readers baffled but most saw right through it. Some of our favourite comments:

"Please help me find my killer whale pet. I love him so much...." - N.A.

"C'mon at the first place they should not be your pet… they have life, and must have a life in the wild.. better take this note,, i bet this giraffe had planned to escape when he had the chance. :))" -  createanddestroy

"Look in yahoo premises , must be hiding somewhere some of yahoo fools office rooms ..... it s an april fool friends..." - Jesh

So, did you fall for any April Fool's jokes today? Let us know in the comments.