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Google Search Backgrounds Live for All

by Terrence O'Brien on June 10, 2010 at 10:40 AM

google search backgrounds
Update: Well that was short lived. Google users took to Twitter (and blogs and forums) to complain about the background being turned on by default, and switched back to the original Google search style about 12 hours ahead of schedule. Google's VP for Search Products & User Experience, Marissa Mayer, made the announcement via Twitter, and we've got to give the company credit for quickly responding to dissatisfied customers. You can still change your background by clicking 'Change background image' on the bottom left.

Well, it finally happened. We brought up Google this morning, and instead of the regular, soothing white background, we came face to face with a glass flower monstrosity instead of the regular relaxing whites. Starting today (and going on for the next 24 hours), Google will be displaying a background image with the logo in all white.

Rather than simply offering users the option, Google has added an image to your search page. At Switched HQ, we're all seeing different images, and a simple page refresh doesn't randomize the background image. What's more, we can't find a simple way to ditch the pointless pic and go back to our beloved classic Google. The Next Web suggests going to the URL http://www.google.com/ncr (the "ncr" stands for "no country redirect") to restore the old-school Google search page, but the trick didn't work for us.

The best we were able to manage was to click on the "change background image" link in the bottom left hand corner, and navigate to "Editor's picks," where you'll find the last option is just a plain white background (seen below). This doesn't restore color to the logo, though. Microsoft, not one to let an opportunity to ridicule its competitors pass, has taken to Twitter en masse to mock Google's background image push. Microsoft Europe posted, "we've lost a background image, if found please return to bing.com :)" on its official Twitter account, and Ashley Highfield managing director of the Consumer Division called it a pale imitation of Bing.

In addition to the public galleries and Editor's picks images, users can upload their own photos from their computers or choose from their Picasa Web albums. We're just hoping a "classic" option gets added soon. [From: Official Google Blog, via: Engadget]
Google White Background
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Tags: design, google, googlelogo, googlesearch, search, top

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