New Delhi: Christmas Eve is finally here, which means Santa and his reindeer have left the North Police to deliver presents all over the world. And thanks to search giant Google, you can now follow their progress throughout the day with the Google Santa Tracker.
Offering an answer to the question “where is Santa Claus now?” the search engine’s festive kit has been up and running since 2004, using Google Maps to keep an eye of St Nick’s whereabouts.
You can now track where Santa has visited and where he’s headed next. The site, http://g.co/santatracker, also features Christmas games, songs and videos as well as trivia about Santa.
Tracking Santa has been a Christmas tradition for nearly 60 years. In 1955, a Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement misprinted a telephone number for children to call Santa. Instead, kids were put through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief’s operations “hotline.” The Director of Operations told his staff to check for signs of Santa flying down from the North Pole, and callers were given updates on his location.
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) took over the tradition in 1958, and has been carrying it on ever since. Google is also following the suit to track Santa with its Advent Calendar style tracker for Google Chrome and Google Play.
It’s fun to scroll through and click on various elements of the Google Santa tracker as it’s the perfect educational tool for the kids who don’t want to pick text books to learn history. A variety of apps, games and trivia makes the Santa tracking experience fun.
The homepage also has a countdown clock that keeps you informed about Santa’s departure time.