It was a day just like any other day. I was surfing the net, looking for some interesting topics, when I happened upon Google…wait a minute, is that PacMan? I love PacMan!
It was too good to be true! I thought I’d just play one game, but then it somehow turned into more than just one.. or two.. or several. Every time I “had” to google something, I’d rack up a few more games. Next thing you know, I wouldn’t stop until I was actually able to escape! It all seemed very innocent at first…
A day or two later, I returned, only to find my past time was replaced by a cute, but not so fun new Google logo. Then I heard on news that Pac-Mac had gobbled over $120 million in productivity??
It turns out that according to RescueTime, the developers of a software tool that allows businesses and individuals to track their time and attention, over 4.82 million hours were spent playing the game. Wow, I was in some good company!
Under normal circumstances, people actually spend very little time on Google, RescueTime says. You do a search, and you go. Users spend only 4-1/2 active minutes on Google per day, for 22 page views, or 11 seconds per page view.
Figuring Google had 504.7 million users on a typical day (based on data from Wolfram Alpha), RescueTime calculated Google Pac-Man used 4.8 million hours of time, beyond the 33.6 million hours users typically spend on the search site. Figuring user time costs $25 per hour, that comes to $120,483,800.
Before we all panic, RescueTime admits that they’re just back-of-the-envelope estimates. This of course, is also assuming that employees goofing off on Pac Man would be working productively if the game was not available, when it’s just as likely they’d find some other way to goof off!
Also, the study fails to take into account the value of rest and play — Playing a quick game can rejuvenate your creative juices. I felt like a new person after several games! 
In the end, some good news has come out all of this…In case you have some productivity left over, Google has made Pac-Man a permanent fixture of its Web site.
There goes another $120 million!
