Google IO is returning to Shoreline Amphitheatre on May 7-9

Google IO is happening from May 7-9 and it’ll return to the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, where it’s held the event since 2016.

Update 9:44ET 1/25/19: Google CEO Sundar Pichai has since tweeted an official confirmation of this time and date:

The Google Developers Twitter account tweeted out “#io19 is on the horizon…” with a cryptic missive, and the race was on. But independent developer Till Kottman claims to have solved it already mere hours later - and they provided some evidence that the event will be held May 7-9 at the Shoreline.

How? By allegedly spotting a Google-linked test account (since deleted) and sifting through the JSON file. Though that code’s gone, Kottman screenshotted it, revealing an image with the alt text “Join us for I O 2019 at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California on May 7th through 9th.”

In the same Twitter thread, user @jlelse tweeted another copy of the JSON text.

The game might be spoiled, but it’s still worth playing

Soon after, the Google Developers account tweeted out what could be a vague confirmation: “You’ve found my message, but can you follow the path? #io19”

We’ll wait for Google to confirm whether these are the actual dates, though they line up with last year’s Google IO, which took place on May 8-10.

But as 9to5Google pointed out, it’s still worth playing Google’s little game: solving the puzzle as intended will likely net you free tickets to the event.