As a sign of support for the upcoming Ethereum Merge, tech juggernaut Google is marking time left until the upgrade with a new countdown timer.
If you type a variation of “Ethereum Merge” or “The Merge” into the search engine, a ticker countdown will be displayed, showing the estimated time remaining until the Merge based on the current difficulty, hash rate, and merging difficulty.
On the side is a cartoon of two happy pandas running towards each other with outstretched hands, which will supposedly get closer as the Merge date gets closer.
Google Cloud developer Sam Padilla said in a September 9 tweet that the timer was “a nice little one” surprise‘ and a way to show their appreciation for ‘the work that has gone into this over the years’.
He said the work was done by Google’s search and labs team, but noted that he helped “start up” the idea and discussion that led to the timer being implemented.
In the same post, Padilla explained that the timer is directly connected to the blockchain, updating the countdown in real time, stating:
“The underlying data is pulled directly from the blockchain through some of the nodes we use.”
He also hinted that pandas are getting closer as the Merge date approaches, but made an ironic statement, saying, “But you didn’t hear that from me.”
Carry with me. https://t.co/jETQpNydLG#TheMerge#EDCON2021 pic.twitter.com/qSai2Di127
— Hsiao-Wei Wang (@icebearhww) August 29, 2021
Google is getting more and more involved in the crypto space, with the company establishing a Web3 team under Google Cloud on May 6.
However, Google developers aren’t the only ones watching the Merge with great interest.
Recent Google search data has shown that searches for the term “Ethereum Merge” have returned a score above 50 several times in the past 30 days, peaking at 100 on September 3.
A value of 100 is classified as “peak popularity for the term”, while a value of 50 means the term is “half as popular”. A score of 0 means there was not enough data for that day.
Related: Ethereum Ready For The Merge As Last Shadow Fork Is Successfully Completed
Meanwhile, a recent report from CoinGecko found Singapore as the country most interested in the upcoming Ethereum merger, followed by Switzerland and Canada, Germany, the United States and the Netherlands.
Rankings were determined by analyzing the frequency of ten search terms, including “Ethereum Merge”, “ETH Merge” and “Ethereum PoW”, and then combining them for the overall ranking.
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