Booble.com — the Adult Search Engine, born as a joke between a group of internet veterans in January of 2004, parodied the search giant Google.com. Booble's original homepage and logo closely resembled Google's with two major exceptions: the "oo" in the logo was replaces with a cartoon pair of breasts, and, the search only returned Internet pornography sites.

The joke - that porn is pervasive in the Internet, and that legitimate corporations (including Google) quietly profit from this - was immediately a world-wide gag, with media outlets and individual webmasters alike commenting, reporting and pointing to Booble.com. In short, the world "got it". Overnight the small website was hit with volumes of web traffic that would slow it to a halt, leaving it unavailable for hours at a time. Pleasantly surprised, the pranksters at Booble gathered more support for their servers, and their looming legal wrangle with a rather unhappy Google.

Google contacted the Booble creators with an immediate cease-and-desist. Confident that their parody was a simple form of expression - just as a skit on a late night TV show would be - responded to the request with more parody, creating needling sites like TauntedByTatas.com and posting the correspondence between the lawyers on their site. Ironically, as this legal tête-à-tête went on, Google's own engines became one of the primary promoters of the Adult Search Engine: Booble was being searched upon, and appearing in Google's Search and News results, with a speedily growing frequency.

Eventually, the search giant and Booble came to an amicable agreement, the details of which cannot be publicly released. But interviews with Bob Smart, Booble Founder, suggest that while the Booble team was confident that they were protected under the First Amendment, the legal costs defending this were growing, and the joke was getting tired. Not tired enough however, for a great April Fools gag, claiming Booble was going public, another spoof of the Internet and particularly Google, who itself was on the verge of an IPO.

Life after litigation

In the wake of the agreement with Google, Booble.com changed, its logo and site morphing to an elegant design, seldom seen in the porn business. Along with the now-trademarked breasts, the site maintained its humorous perspective on the Internet, and the Adult Industry. In addition to its Adult search, the Booble homepage regularly promotes quality porn sites with bold but tasteful ads, and features pages for Adult Cams and Live chat, a Booble store with Adult Toys and DVDs, an Adult Personals page. The Images button appears to be a hold-over from the previous design.

The search returns are managed with a human touch - necessary in the world of porn where a single keyword can be applied across many categories - covering the popular MILF, lesbian, Teen, and Amateur porn categories as will the obscure niches, such as 'bookworm sex', 'smoking porn', and 'food fetishes'.

All the while the site that started as a joke has tried to maintain its sense of humor. Holidays are marked with homepage modifications, often interactive and often featuring the iconic boobs. In particular April 1 has become a mecca for the porn-entrepreneurs. Following the spoofed IPO in 2004, the site became "Biible.com" on April 1 2005, claiming a takeover by the religious right.

Humor found among the smut at Booble includes:

Prominent integration of links with Sir Rodney, a porn review site with a turn of wit

Fan Signs - porn stars putting Boobs in Booble

Al Goldstein's G-spot, the Booble-hosted blog of this porn icon and curmudgeon

Team Booble, the breast-enhanced SCCA racing car ("check out THOSE headlights!")

The Booble Blog, commentary and observations from the Porn Front

An animated Booble blimp (appropriately boob-shaped with flashing nipples) occasionally scrolls across the homepage.

Other Google spoof websites

In late 2006 the Doogle website appeared. This parody of Google claims to be "The Feckin' Search Engine of Ireland". Its purpose appears to be making fun of the Irish people and nation, though in a lighthearted manner. The About page states:

Doogle is the product of a bunch of mad scientists and is a tribute to...

Father Ted, Father Jack and Father Dougal

Google and its new European HQ

Ireland!

References

Sydney Morning Herald article on Booble launch

WebOptimiser on Google's warnings

DMX Zone reporting Bob Smart's response to Google's accusation of Booble being a "porn site"

Details of the cease and desist

AVN

Boing Boing

webpronews.com on Booble's legal positions

Search Engine Lowdown commenting on the launch of Taunted by Tatas

Klixxx Magazine interview with Bob Smart, post-settlement

Similar interview on iSN News, on Booble's first anniversary