Reports are circulating everywhere that Google apparently had an information leak regarding a supposed April Fools’ prank: Google Jail.

Fast Company seemed to first report about Google Jail, portraying it as leaked information from Google themselves. The coverage showed a large number of media from the supposed project by Google, including a video, FAQ pages and formal project information pages in the usual, familiar Google style and formatting.

As reported, Google Jail is a play on the real Fiber for Communities project being run by Google. The said project aims to improve internet connections in several selected US cities by installing ultra-high-speed internet cables. Fiber for Communities has generated a lot of media attention, including the city of Topeka, Kansas, which renamed itself to Google in an attempt to convince Google to choose the city.

Read just how far Topeka is willing to go for a shot at Fiber for Communities.

Google Jail, on the other hand, seems to build on key concepts from this. The project aims to improve prisons, by delivering “Googleplex-quality services 100 times better than what most American prisoners have access to today”. Google Jail also seems to plan on going along the same process as Fiber for Communities: picking select prison installations, and upgrading them with facilities.

The report by Fast Company was pretty thorough, with a lot of supposedly leaked media and information – but April Fools’ Day is here, and it seems that Google’s real April Fools’ prank is that it renamed itself to Topeka, playing along with the real Topeka city in Kansas which renamed itself for Fiber for Communities.

Read more about Google’s April Fools’ Topeka prank here.

Is Google Jail real, in the sense that it was initially a planned April Fools’ joke by the web search giant? Or is it just a fast one by Fast Company: an April Fools’ joke of an April Fools joke?

If it turns out to be the latter, then hats off to Fast Company: we’re pretty impressed.

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