It’s a question most of us have asked at some point early in our lives – is Father Christmas real?
But unlike days of yore, the children of today seem to be turning to Google for the answer instead of their parents.
Unfortunately, Google Search has been replying by telling searchers ‘there is no man in the sky riding a sleigh pulled by reindeers’.
This is despite the fact that he’s tracked every year on Christmas Eve by the US military, while a study last year even worked out the carbon footprint of his journey.
Now, several exasperated parents are calling on the search giant to amend its top results, amid fears it is completely destroying the magic.
Jake Moore, tech expert and security advisor at ESET, said his 11-year-old daughter ‘Googled the big question’ – ‘Is Father Christmas real?’
READ MORE Santa’s carbon footprint REVEALED
Every year on Christmas Eve, Father Christmas heads out to make the whopping 99 million mile
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Jake Moore, tech expert and security advisor at ESET, said his 11-year-old daughter Googled the big question – ‘Is Father Christmas real?’
The top response was a blog post by Hotel Chocolat, which said ‘there is no man in the sky riding a sleigh pulled by reindeers’, although it acknowledged Santa Claus ‘isn’t a completely made-up person’.
In a tweet, Moore tagged Google and said: ‘Can we please ask @Google to take down this Rich Snippet?’
Google has appeared to have since changed the top result for the search ‘is Father Christmas real’ to a post by Parade.com that reads: ‘According to historical records, Santa is real.’
However, typing ‘is Santa real?’ and other variations will still bring up the post by Hotel Chocolat that claims he doesn’t exist.
MailOnline has contacted Google for comment.
Moore told MailOnline: ‘I don’t really mind too much about my 11-year-old but if my 8-year-old googled it i would be devastated.
‘Although I would hopefully say you can’t believe everything on the internet.’
Moore is not the only person who has addressed the problem on X (formerly known as Twitter) in the run-up to December 25
Exasperated parents are calling on the search giant to amend its top results, amid fears it is completely destroying the magic
It’s a question most of us have asked at some point early in our lives – is Father Christmas real? But unlike days of yore, the children of today seem to be turning to Google for the answer
Moore is not the only person who has addressed the problem on X (formerly Twitter) in the run-up to December 25.
X user @jwfbean posted on Monday: Just yesterday my 11 year old said: I don’t believe Google daddy. I think Santa is real.’
Another user, @jenniwoww, posted: ‘How about if someone googles “is Santa real?” the top choices say he is during the holidays.
‘Just a thought for all the kiddos on their iPads being curious.’
Yet another suggested creating a dedicated webpage for children ‘about the veracity of Santa Claus’.
The problem seems to have spanned for years without Google doing much about it.
Back in December 2021, a Twitter user posted: ‘When your youngest two children have had enough, and simply google “Is Father Christmas real?”‘
Another Twitter user posted in 2019: ‘Look over and my ten year old sister has “is santa real?” in the google search bar.’
One X user suggested creating a dedicated webpage for children ‘about the veracity of Santa Claus’
‘Is Father Christmas real?’ The problem seems to have spanned for years without Google doing much about it
According to a 2019 report by Exam Paper Plus, 1.1 million children are told on Google Search that Saint Nick is a fictitious character.
However, it found smart assistants are more considerate and creative when it comes to their responses to the query, neither confirming nor denying the truth.
Google Assistant replied: ‘If Father Christmas gave me a present, I wouldn’t ask any questions.’
And Amazon’s Alexa came back with: ‘All I know is that someone has been eating mince pies and Father Christmas looks like the type.’
Santa’s sleigh COULD fly… with a few major modifications
As children will tell you, Santa uses some kind of magic to complete the 99 million mile journey around the world at Christmas.
But a 2022 study found his sleigh could potentially fly without such special abilities, with a few major modifications.
These include the wings from a commercial liner and an engine from a Saturn V rocket, as used by NASA under the Apollo program.
Santa’s sleigh could potentially fly if it had a few major modifications, including a pair of wings similar to those on a commercial aeroplane and an engine with the equivalent thrust to that produced by NASA’s Saturn V rocket or 150 Boeing 747-400 airliners
It would also have to move at 12,300 miles per hour (5,500 metres per second) – around 10 times the speed of sound – to generate enough lift.
This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk
