If you've ever been to Topeka, Kansas, population 122,000, a place where signs advice you not to pick up hitchhikers, you're probably wondering why Google today is suddenly such a big fan. People who visited the search engine's website at www.google.com this morning were greeted not by the Google logo, but the word "Topeka" decked out to look like the Google logo. Well, Google is giving the fine city a pat on the virtual back following an announcement last month by Mayor Bill Bunten that his city would temporarily change its name to "Google."  Bunten, who admits he's no Internet whiz, did it because he firmly believed that younger residents of the state's capital city will benefit from faster Internet connections and Google was the right company for the job. In March Bunten announced Topeka would change its name for the month in a formal proclamation, announcing Topeka would be known as Google -- Google, Kansas.

Some critics winced.

But Google liked the mayor's gesture -- a lot. The web company notes on its blog this morning that "Early last month the mayor of Topeka, Kansas stunned the world by announcing that his city was changing its name to Google. We’ve been wondering ever since how best to honor that moving gesture. Today we are pleased to announce that as of 1AM (Central Daylight Time) April 1st, Google has officially changed our name to Topeka."

Google adds: "We didn’t reach this decision lightly; after all, we had a fair amount of brand equity tied up in our old name. But the more we surfed around (the former) Topeka’s municipal website, the more kinship we felt with this fine city at the edge of the Great Plains. In fact, Topeka Google Mayor Bill Bunten expressed it best: 'Don’t be fooled. Even Google recognizes that all roads lead to Kansas, not just yellow brick ones.'"

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