Google is still using the deprecated “summon-cthulhu” HTML tag.
If you inspect the Google homepage HTML source, you’ll see that the ancient tag “summon-cthulhu” is right there, surrounding the search buttons.
You might be wondering what’s the “summon-cthulhu” tag. To answer the question, we need to go way back.
In the early days of the web, the machines had limited power, so it made sense to channel the forces of chaos itself to run some of the CPU-intense tasks.
Over time, we found that the instantaneous mystic visions of millions of possible apocalypses were not worth the trouble. The current best practice is to use web workers or summon lower gods instead of the almighty Cthulhu.
Besides, it’s good for separation of concerns. HTML should be for layout. Summoning eldritch horrors from beyond time and space is more of a JavaScript thing. A prime example of this is the sacrifice-a-goat JavaScript API.
But Google, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to keep using the old tag. So when you search for “cat videos” or “how to get rid of a hangover”, you’re also opening a tiny door to the infinite madness of the cosmos.
We asked Google for comment, but they just replied with an image of a burning city and a single, unblinking eye.
That’s why I use Bing.
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