Google Pays Tribute to Topeka, Kan.; Massachusetts Offering Free Training

Who knows if it’s a bit of April Fools’ tomfoolery, but Google decided to give a little love Thursday to its not-so-secret admirer: Topeka, Kan.

The search engine company changed its omnipresent Google search logo to Topeka for the day, in homage to the city for ceremoniously changing its name to Google, Kan., for the month of March in a spirited effort to convince the company to bring its test bed for ultra-high speed broadband service there.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt posted on the company’s official blog that “this initiative is a one-shot deal that will have no bearing on which municipalities are chosen to participate in our experimental ultra-high speed broadband project, to which Google, Kan. has been just one of many communities to apply.”