Don't get fooled! A guide to the Internet's best and worst April Fools' Day pranks

Any savvy Internet user knows that most things found on the Web must be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism. But never is that rule more applicable than on April Fools' Day, a day when the Internet becomes an even greater minefield of fake news stories, bogus advertisements and doctored photos. To help our readers avoid getting duped, Yahoo News has compiled some of the trickiest, funniest and most embarrassing April Fools' Day pranks on the Internet.

Google drops the mic

Google rolled out its usual array of April Fools’ pranks, but the tech giant was forced to turn off one of its faux features after a series of complaints. With one click of the new “Mic Drop” button, Gmail users could put a stop to cumbersome email chains with a GIF reply and even mute the conversation. Unfortunately the Mic Drop button actually worked, and its placement next to the regular Send button resulted in the unintentional delivery of many dismissive GIFs. Users complained and Google apologized.

“It looks like we pranked ourselves this year 😟,” read the update on Google’s official Gmail blog. “Due to a bug, the Mic Drop feature inadvertently caused more headaches than laughs. We’re truly sorry. The feature has been turned off. If you are still seeing it, please reload your Gmail page.”

Vanderbilt goes all in with prehistoric squirrel prank 

Vanderbilt University released a statement that the skeleton of a giant, prehistoric squirrel had been discovered on campus. Pretty normal April Fools’ Day stuff, but bonus points for the art they worked up to go along with it.

Analog makes moon rocks the ultimate status symbol

When it comes to April Fools’ Day pranks, facetious press releases have become a solid aspect of the holiday tradition. After all, what’s the point of creating a believable ad campaign for a bogus product, if nobody knows about it?

Some brands have even started launching their prank products on Mar. 31, the day before most of us are accustomed to be on high alert. Tech blog Gizmodo was among those that fell for this clever scheme, writing yesterday about the Analog Watch Company’s new, limited-edition Lunar Watch, a $27,500 timepiece “made from a solid piece of 4.5-billion-year-old moon rock.”

“So it’s expensive. But when you crunch the numbers on how much it costs to harvest genuine moon rocks, $27,500 almost sounds reasonable,” Gizmodo wrote, before updating the post this morning with the revelation that the watch was a fake.

OpenTable wants you to lick your phone

The award for most unsanitary prank goes to OpenTable. The restaurant booking app undoubtedly got at least one poor sap to lick their smartphone Friday with the promotion of their brand new (and totally fake), “lickable photo” feature, which offers users a chance to taste a restaurant’s food before making a reservation.

FreshDirect peddles a cosmic new spice

Suckers for specialty foods should beware of FreshDirect’s new advertisements for space salt. Specialty Food Merchant and Extraterrestrial Expert Ken Blanchette’s testimony about the supposed “healing properties” and “cosmic kick” of disintegrated meteorites might make you want to get rid of all your boring table salt, but don’t be fooled. As far as we know, there is no global team of astronomers constantly tracking the movements of meteorites in order to collect stardust for your dining pleasure.

Mark Zuckerberg takes his unique fashion to H+M

Mark Zuckerberg might be the unofficial face of laidback tech fashion, but contrary to this sleek ad campaign that launched Friday, the Facebook CEO has not teamed up with H&M to release his own signature line of gray T-shirts and basic blue jeans.

Netflix doubles down on the 'Full House' franchise

Uncle Jesse fans will be disappointed to learn that Netflix is not, in fact, producing a documentary series called “John Stamos: A Human, Being." In a video tweeted by the streaming service Friday, Stamos offered an inside look at the fictitious show, which is set to premiere on the nonexistent date of April 31.

Esurance offers election security

Although it might sound appealing to some consumers all across the political spectrum, Esurance is not actually offering insurance in case your nightmare presidential candidate wins in November and you need to depart the country.