Internet Explorer IQ Test Results Now a Hoax!
A report claiming Internet Explorer users scored lower on IQ tests than users of other Web browsers appears to have been an elaborate hoax. The report, supposedly based on a survey of 100,000 Internet users, was released last week by what appeared to be a Vancouver-based, Web-consulting firm called Aptiquant. Major news outlets — including CNN, the BBC, NPR, CNET, MSNBC, Forbes and London’s Daily Mail and Telegraph — reported the story last week, as did multiple technology blogs. But the BBC reported Wednesday that the whole study and the company behind it appears to be fake!
Questions about the authenticity of the story were raised by readers of the BBC website who established that the company which put out the research – ApTiquant – appeared to have only set up its website in the past month. Thumbnail images of the firm’s staff on the website also matched those on the site of French research company Central Test, although many of the names had been changed. The BBC contacted Central Test who confirmed that they had been made aware of the copy but had no knowledge of ApTiquant or its activities.
Comments are closed.