Topeka unofficially rechristened as 'Google'

Well, the name change is not permanent. In fact, Topeka has been rechristened as ‘Google’ only for the month of March.

Persuading Google
Announcing the new name, Mayor William W. Bunten stated, "I thought it was fun and would be interesting and would make us a little different from some of the other cities.

“Hopefully, the people at Google have a sense of humor."

The move is a part of the campaign to persuade the Internet search giant to choose the city as the location to build and test its upcoming fiber optic broadband service.

The upcoming service by Google boasts of broadband speed of up to 1Gb per second--100 times faster Internet speed than what majority of the citizens have access to.

The officials are hoping that their city will become the home to Google’s project because they know that the upcoming service by the Mountain View, California-based company will not only convert the city into a tech hub but will also unleash economic development.

City residents’ reactions
The move by Kansas to change the capital’s name has generated mix reactions from the city residents.

A few have welcomed the decision, saying that as long as it is temporary, it is good fun. They have praised the mayor for trying to get attention to the city and being creative.

But there are many who have also condemned the decision.

A resident named Maggie Koerth-Baker took to her blog boingboing.net, saying Topeka should never change, adding that the decision regarding name change is a “desperate (very desperate) bid to be the real Google's 1 gigabit-per-second fiber optic broadband guinea pig. I'm not sure which is more embarrassing.”

Criticizing the move, another city resident named Troy Walker commented on Topeka, Kansas Facebook page saying, “how bout you fix the potholes, crime, job market, and the 10 million other things more important then the interwebz.....fail [sic].”

Name change gimmicks in past
This is not the first time that the city has indulged in such a gimmick. In August 1998, the former mayor Joan Wagnon had changed the name of Topeka to ‘ToPikachu, Kansas’ in order to promote a fictional anime character called ‘Pikachu’ from the video game and show called ‘Pokemon.’

Apart from Topeka, there are other cities in the United States that have changed names.

During the dot.com bust in 1999, Halfway, a city in Baker County, Oregon, renamed itself as Half.com, Oregon.

Before that, in 1950, a small town called Hot Springs in New Mexico permanently changed its name to ‘Truth or Consequences’ after the NBC’s radio program by the same name. The aim was to give boost to the city through the popular radio program and eliminate the confusion as hundreds of other ‘Hot Springs’ destinations were scattered all across the nation.