Latest Google search: A python in the office

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The latest search at Google had nothing to do with the Internet or lucrative ads. It had to do with a three-foot python that was loose in its New York offices.

Published reports say the snake, named Kaiser, got loose Sunday in the company's office in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York.

"We are pleased to report that Kaiser was located in the office," company spokeswoman Ellen West said in a statement, according to Reuters. "Kaiser was taken home by his owner and is no longer in the building."

A Google statement earlier in the day confirmed that the news had nothing to do with the recent passing of April 1.

"What you have heard is in fact true and not an April Fools' Day joke," a Google spokesman wrote in an e-mail to technology news site CNET News.com.

"We are confident that we have the appropriate resources in place to resolve this issue as quickly as possible in the best interests of both the Googlers in our NYC office and Kaiser the snake."

Ball pythons are nonvenomous and are commonly kept as pets, according to an e-mail sent by the company to its New York employees.

Google has been known to issue fake press releases as part of April Fools' Day. This year's reports included an offering of a Toilet Internet Service Provider, which allegedly provided free in-home wireless broadband service connectivity via users' plumbing systems, and Gmail paper, a service where users of its Gmail e-mail service could get paper versions of their e-mail mailed to them.

Google's snake problem was first reported on technology gossip Web site Valleywag, according to CNET.

"Our exterminator, with Google's security team and the snake's owner, are searching for it," said an e-mail sent Sunday to New York office employees of Google, reported by CNET. "Should you see the snake, please do not attempt to touch it or pick it up. Call security immediately."

Google finished No. 1 in Fortune's 2007 ranking of the best place to work. Valleywag reports that as is the case with its main headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., Google's New York office is known for pampering its employees, with massage chairs and snack rooms. But CNET reports that Google's policy on pets in the New York office allows only for dogs.

-- staff and wires contributed to this report

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