4 ms·

I see no way to have no image background. The "White" editor's choice image doesn't make it look like it used to. Very annoying.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
cyunker 16y ago
Agreed. Even the White image was buried at the end of the list. I don't see this lasting too long.
ericd 16y ago
Yeah, the white lettering makes it very hard to read. Why is Google trying so hard to be more like Bing? The backgrounds are just visual noise getting in the way of what I want my search engine to get done for me.
- xtacy 16y ago
  How many of you actually go to the Google homepage to search? With Chrome/Chromium, just type on the address bar; for Firefox have shortcut prefixes. (like "g hacker news" searches for "hacker news".)
  - sahaj 16y ago
    i think this is exactly why the change to google.com was made. it only appeals to the people who have set their homepage to google.com.
    - ericd 16y ago
      Ah interesting theory - it's a sort of product segmentation at work. I could buy that.
  - mightybyte 16y ago
    I use it almost exclusively. I've never liked using the address bar or search bar. It just feels wrong for some reason.
    - megamark16 16y ago
      For me it's habit. I click on the address bar, I type "go" and chrome fills in the rest, than I hit enter and do my stuff. It's muscle memory. I set Duck Duck Go as my primary browser search engine a long time ago but still habitually type "go" and use google. This change should be all I need to remember to type "du" instead of "go".
petercooper 16y ago
The link at the bottom left saying "Remove background image" puts it back to normal. Proof: http://skitch.com/petercooper/d8t8h/remove http://skitch.com/petercooper/d8t8h/remove (Update: Seems this doesn't work for everyone!)
- carbocation 16y ago
  Interesting; it's probably an A/B test, since I'm not given that option. At the bottom left corner, my screen says, "Change background image." EDIT: Actually, I selected a background, and then I was given the option to "Remove background image." Unfortunately, this just reset my background image to whatever Google had chosen for me.
- davidmurphy 16y ago
  That doesn't work for me -- just reverts to the default piggybank (?) photo. If I select a "white" background, it doesn't give the old Google page -- it has translucent text with shadows. Looks super ugly. Very annoying. Come on Google! People love you for your simplicity. That's one reason you broke away from Yahoo's then-dominance of search/startpages years ago.
- anedisi 16y ago
  hmm. when i go to my local google the remove background image does not work properly. but on google.com it works every time.
geuis 16y ago
I created a 800x600px transparent png, then uploaded that as my background image. Sucks that its necessary but seriously, this is bs.
- buro9 16y ago
  That's what I've just done too... well, a .gif. The white text of Google now looks terrible. It's really ugly no matter what now. I don't think I'll be visiting the home page again for a while... might set up one of their custom search boxes on a page of my own so that I can avoid the home page.
koeselitz 16y ago
For those wondering how to get rid of the background (I sure was) - just 1. Sign in to Google. 2. Click the white "Change Background Image" link in the lower left-hand corner. 3. Select "Editor's Picks." 4. Scroll all the way to the bottom, where a plain white background is available. (Oddly enough, after being alarmed and even angered by the weird image, I actually found myself really liking a plain grey background.)
- travisp 16y ago
  Thanks, I didn't notice the link because it was blending in with the background...

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

cyunker 16y ago

Agreed. Even the White image was buried at the end of the list. I don't see this lasting too long.

ericd 16y ago

Yeah, the white lettering makes it very hard to read. Why is Google trying so hard to be more like Bing? The backgrounds are just visual noise getting in the way of what I want my search engine to get done for me.

xtacy 16y ago
How many of you actually go to the Google homepage to search? With Chrome/Chromium, just type on the address bar; for Firefox have shortcut prefixes. (like "g hacker news" searches for "hacker news".)
- sahaj 16y ago
  i think this is exactly why the change to google.com was made. it only appeals to the people who have set their homepage to google.com.
  - ericd 16y ago
    Ah interesting theory - it's a sort of product segmentation at work. I could buy that.
- mightybyte 16y ago
  I use it almost exclusively. I've never liked using the address bar or search bar. It just feels wrong for some reason.
  - megamark16 16y ago
    For me it's habit. I click on the address bar, I type "go" and chrome fills in the rest, than I hit enter and do my stuff. It's muscle memory. I set Duck Duck Go as my primary browser search engine a long time ago but still habitually type "go" and use google. This change should be all I need to remember to type "du" instead of "go".

petercooper 16y ago

The link at the bottom left saying "Remove background image" puts it back to normal. Proof: http://skitch.com/petercooper/d8t8h/remove http://skitch.com/petercooper/d8t8h/remove (Update: Seems this doesn't work for everyone!)

carbocation 16y ago
Interesting; it's probably an A/B test, since I'm not given that option. At the bottom left corner, my screen says, "Change background image." EDIT: Actually, I selected a background, and then I was given the option to "Remove background image." Unfortunately, this just reset my background image to whatever Google had chosen for me.
davidmurphy 16y ago
That doesn't work for me -- just reverts to the default piggybank (?) photo. If I select a "white" background, it doesn't give the old Google page -- it has translucent text with shadows. Looks super ugly. Very annoying. Come on Google! People love you for your simplicity. That's one reason you broke away from Yahoo's then-dominance of search/startpages years ago.
anedisi 16y ago
hmm. when i go to my local google the remove background image does not work properly. but on google.com it works every time.

geuis 16y ago

I created a 800x600px transparent png, then uploaded that as my background image. Sucks that its necessary but seriously, this is bs.

buro9 16y ago
That's what I've just done too... well, a .gif. The white text of Google now looks terrible. It's really ugly no matter what now. I don't think I'll be visiting the home page again for a while... might set up one of their custom search boxes on a page of my own so that I can avoid the home page.

koeselitz 16y ago

For those wondering how to get rid of the background (I sure was) - just 1. Sign in to Google. 2. Click the white "Change Background Image" link in the lower left-hand corner. 3. Select "Editor's Picks." 4. Scroll all the way to the bottom, where a plain white background is available. (Oddly enough, after being alarmed and even angered by the weird image, I actually found myself really liking a plain grey background.)

travisp 16y ago
Thanks, I didn't notice the link because it was blending in with the background...