Last week, tech news sites and blogs were blazing over a survey released by an entity calling itself Aptiquant that surveyed “100,000 Internet users,” and revealed that those who prefer Internet Explorer are more likely to have a lower measured intelligence. Those working in computer and software technical support services might overwhelmingly support these alleged findings through their anecdotes on computer-user buffoonery, but it turns out the survey was a hoax. Major news sources such as the BBC, CNN, NPR, and even CNET covered the story before BBC readership began to doubt the validity of the survey. But when BBC journalists probed into the matter, they not only discovered the survey was false, they learned that the organization that apparently conducted it, Aptiquant, was equally fictitious.

Those who visited the Aptiquant website last week, including top-notch reporters and newspaper editors, saw what appeared to be a fully-functioning Canadian web consultancy firm. Pictures of staff, detailed data projections, and all the bells and whistles of such a consultancy were all there providing an enormous amount of convincing information. But it turns out, all of the data and images were taken from the French web-development firm Central Test, which released a statement declaring they have no connection to any entity by the name of Aptiquant.

Simply put, the faux-survey’s initial release was seen by the tech universe as a tongue-in-cheek announcement to begin with. Nobody considered it scientific or definitely indicative of Internet-user intelligence levels. If anything, the majority of news outlets and tech blogs that blasted the survey’s existence all over the web knew it was a joke to begin with, they just didn’t know the extent of the joke. Had anyone bothered to pick up the phone and actually try and call Aptiquant they would’ve learned long ago of the survey’s true nature and would’ve prevented plenty of Internet Explorer users from having a crisis of self-confidence.

What this debacle truly goes to show is that Internet Explorer, even in its pristine revamped number 9 version, is still the butt of many jokes regarding inefficient and insecure Internet browsing. When there are so many alternatives available for web browsing, IE use is a sign that the user is a creature of habit and one fearful of anything other than what Microsoft prescribes. But whether or not it’s a sign that the user is of lower intelligence is so far still an unknown.