Google Romance launches, Gates buys OpenOffice--not

A couple April Fool's Day jokes got us smiling this morning.

Seems Google is coming out with new features all the time, so the search giant got us--for a very quick moment anyway--with its Google Romance beta and pitch, "When you think about it, love is just another search problem."

Some of the spoof features include a Soulmate Search and Contextual Date "which we'll pay for while delivering to you relevant ads that we and our advertising partners think will help produce the dating results you're looking for."

Slashdot then pointed us to OpenOffice.org's announcement that it was bought by Microsoft's Bill Gates, who "was sick and tired of open-source eating away at his profits." In case you didn't immediately get the joke, a press release link brings you to the April Fool's Day message.

Neither prank, however, beats Slashdot's revamped pink site, an attempt to reach beyond its predominantly male readership.

Happy April Fool's Day, everyone.