Mystery Google & How to Play Google Mystery Mission

So why the buzz about Mystery Google this evening? In case you've never run across this wacky search engine, Mystery Google is a bit like regular Google but with a twist. To use this innovative search engine, type in a search query into the Mystery Google search engine found here and see what kind of results you get.

Instead of getting an answer to YOUR question, Mystery Google gives you the search results for the person who asked a question immediately preceding your search. Sometimes the search results are hilarious, while others are downright weird and don't make a lick of sense. A recent Mystery Google search I did for "Livestock Auctions" yielded the results of "Wow, wish I had thought of that."

This wild search engine definitely gives you a window into what others are looking for. For bloggers struggling for story ideas, this is a fantastic way to get some fresh ideas. It's also a fun game to play during the upcoming holiday season if you have some time on your hands and don't know what to do.

But, there's more to Mystery Google than just the search engine. Out of this quirky on-line search engine evolved the Google Mystery Mission game. To play this game, use the search engine until you end up with a result that reads Mission or Google Mystery Mission. If the mission is something that sounds like you wouldn't mind doing it, then go right ahead. It's a fun way of connecting up with totally random people. It only took me about 6 searches to uncover a mystery mission in which someone asked for a bedtime story and left his number. Mmm. I think I'll take a pass on that.

To leave a Google Mystery Mission of your very own, type the mission into the Mystery Google search engine, something like "Your mission: visit me at my blog located (here)." The next person who writes in a search on Mystery Google will come across your instructions and hopefully will visit you at your blog or your Facebook or My Space page (or wherever) and leave a comment.

It's really that simple.

Parental Warnings

And now the parental warning. While I can see that following a Google Mystery Mission can be a fun sort of scavenger hunt, in light of some of the Mystery Missions I've come across this evening, this game is something you'd probably wouldn't your kids to play without some adult supervision. While there wasn't any porn searches popping up in the results, I did run across some suggestive language and a lot of people leaving phone numbers and texting instructions. As adults, we know better than to call or text strangers, but our kids might not. This is one game that definitely requires adult supervision.