What Does Google’s ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ Button Actually Do?

There’s a high chance you’ve used Google in the last hour or so but many have probably never given much thought to another button that sits alongside that much-used search button. It says “I’m Feeling Lucky”. Here’s what it actually does

While I maybe used it when I was five years old, when the internet was still in its infancy, I’ve never given it another thought since. Frankly, I’m never feeling lucky with a Google search. That is, until today.

The “I’m Feeling Lucky” button is one of Google’s oldest, continuous features. After its removal back in 2010 to make way for Google Instant, it was brought back from the dead. So, what does it actually do?

While a regular Google search brings up the most relevant pages relating to your keywords, the Lucky button takes you straight to the top result. Typing “Lifehacker” in and hitting the button will take you straight to our homepage and slapping something like Amazon in, will take you the shopping site rather than a page on the South American rainforest. So yeah, you really should be feeling lucky since you never truly know what’s going to be thrown into your face. It’s like a lucky dip but for the internet, which is a scary plunge to take.

[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2020/01/the-most-googled-phrases-of-2019/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/09/Billie-Eilish-410×231.jpg” title=”Google Search: What Aussies Wanted To Know In 2019″ excerpt=”What do bushfires, Billie Eilish and the Rugby World Cup have in common? They all dominated Australian Google searches in 2019.”]

Out of innocent curiosity, we’ve asked Google how many people used this button in 2019 and will update once it responds.

Pressing it, with no text in the search bar, leads to… Google Doodles. Why on Earth it does that, I cannot say, but that does not seem like something I would constitute as lucky.

Either way, the mystery has been solved. Case closed.

[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2019/06/5-alternatives-to-google-search/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/05/bing-1-410×231.jpg” title=”5 Alternatives To Google Search That Don’t Suck” excerpt=”Google’s search engine has become a verb in the same way as ‘hoovering’ became a synonym for vacuuming and ‘xeroxing’ meant photocopying. But not everyone wants to put all their data in Google’s basket. There are lots of alternatives to Google when it comes to search. Here are a few.”]