Google this week published images from one of its Street View cars in Botswana, to prove that the vehicle did not run over a donkey.
A Street View picture of a donkey on the side of a road went viral recently. This prompted many viewers to speculate if the Street View car had run over the poor animal.
Google, which started to offer free WiFi near its New York City headquarters, stated that the vehicle did not hit the animal. Still many conspiracy theorists were not satisfied. Their many doubts, published around the Web, prompted Google to release photo evidence that backed up its claims of innocence.
The images shows that the donkey was along the road, maybe enjoying a bit of a dust bath, but it moved to the side as the Street View car passed. These pictures, which were posted on the blog for Google Mpas under the headline ‘Never ass-ume,’ showed a prolonged view of the event. The pictures showed part of the Street View vehicle. It did not come close to actually touching the donkey in any way.
Earlier pictures that were released of the donkey only showed that it was lying on the ground. This seems to be what caused conspiracy theorists to speculate the car had hit the animal. Further evidence has shown that the car definitely did not hit the donkey, and that it seemed to lie down next to the road of its own accord.
It’s good that this turned out to be a non-scandal for Google, because the search giant has enough problems on its hands.