Scroogle! Exasperated parents call on Google to amend its search results amid fears it is shattering the illusion for children searching ‘is Santa Claus real?’

By James On Dec 4, 2023

It's a question most of us have asked early in our lives: Is Santa Claus real?

But unlike the past, today's kids seem to be turning to Google instead of their parents for the answer.

Unfortunately, Google Search has responded by telling searchers that there is no man in the sky riding a sleigh pulled by reindeer.

This is despite the fact that he is tracked by the US military every year on Christmas Eve, with a study last year even calculating the carbon footprint of his journey.

Now several annoyed parents are calling on the search giant to change the top results, fearing it will destroy the magic completely.

Jake Moore, a technology expert and security consultant at ESET, said his 11-year-old daughter “Googled the big question”: “Is Santa Claus real?”

Jake Moore, technology expert and security consultant at ESET, said his 11-year-old daughter Googled the big question: “Is Santa Claus real?”

The top response was a blog post from Hotel Chocolat, which stated that there is “no man in the sky who rides a sleigh pulled by reindeer,” although the company acknowledged that Santa Claus “is not a completely made-up person.”

In a tweetMoore tagged Google and said, “Can we please ask @Google to remove this Rich Snippet?”

It appears that Google has since changed the top result for the search query “is Santa Claus real” to a message from Parade.com that reads: “According to historical records, Santa Claus is real.”

However, typing 'is Santa Claus real?' and other variations will still bring up the Hotel Chocolat post claiming it doesn't exist.

MailOnline has contacted Google for comment.

Moore told MailOnline: 'I don't mind my eleven-year-old that much, but if my eight-year-old Googled it I would be devastated.

'Although I would hopefully say that you can't believe everything on the internet.'

Moore isn't the only person who addressed the issue on X (formerly known as Twitter) in the run-up to December 25

Annoyed parents call on search giant to change top results, fearing it will completely destroy the magic

It's a question most of us have asked at some point in our lives: Is Santa Claus real? But unlike the past, today's kids seem to be turning to Google for the answer

Moore isn't the only one to have raised the issue on X (formerly Twitter) in the run-up to December 25.

X user @jwfbean posted on Monday: Yesterday my 11 year old said: I don't believe Google dad. I think Santa Claus is real.”

Another user, @jenniwoww, posted: 'What if someone googles 'is Santa Claus real?' the best choices say he is during the holidays.

“Just a thought for all the curious kids on their iPads.”

Yet another suggested creating a special web page for children “about the truthfulness of Santa Claus.”

The problem seems to have persisted for years without Google doing much about it.

In December 2021, a Twitter user posted: “If your youngest two kids have had enough, just Google 'Is Santa Claus real?'

Another Twitter user posted in 2019: 'Look and my ten year old sister asks “is Santa Claus real?” in the Google search bar.'

One X user suggested creating a special webpage for children 'about the truthfulness of Santa Claus'

'Is Santa Claus real?' The problem seems to have persisted for years without Google doing much about it

According to a 2019 report from Exam Paper Plus, 1.1 million children are told on Google Search that Sinterklaas is a fictional character.

However, it turned out that smart assistants are more thoughtful and creative when it comes to their answers to the question, neither confirming nor denying the truth.

Google Assistant responded, “If Santa gave me a present, I wouldn't ask any questions.”

And Amazon's Alexa came back with: 'All I know is that someone ate mince pies and Santa Claus looks like this.'

Santa's sleigh CAN fly…with a few major modifications

As kids will tell you, Santa uses some kind of magic to complete the 99 million mile journey around the world at Christmas.

But a 2022 study found that his sled could potentially fly without such special abilities, with a few major modifications.

These include the wings of a commercial liner and an engine from a Saturn V rocket, as used by NASA under the Apollo program.

Santa's sleigh could potentially fly if it received a few major modifications, including a pair of wings similar to those of a commercial airliner and an engine with the same thrust as that produced by NASA's Saturn V rocket or 150 Boeing 747s. 400 aircraft

It would also have to travel at 12,300 miles per hour (5,500 meters per second) – about ten times the speed of sound – to generate enough lift.