6 ms·

Google removes background image from homepage

39 points by javery 16y ago

lhorie 16y ago
Do we really have to report on every freaking small change that happens on the google.com homepage?
- melvin 16y ago
  Yes. Anyone who is interested in making changes to their own website may very well be interested in how changes to the largest website in the world are received by the public.
  - lhorie 16y ago
    I can understand being excited about a cool pacman game being playable on the google homepage, or something that warrants a discussion on A/B testing, or for that matter, Google adding customizable backgrounds. But saying "Hey, guys, look! Google silently rolled back a blooper!"? Come on.
    - abossy 16y ago
      This minimalistic design has long been a cornerstone of Google's brand. That they are changing this (and why) is noteworthy to anybody who cares about design on the Internet. If you don't like the story, you can skip over it to the next one. :)
      - lhorie 16y ago
        You misunderstood my comment: I said I actually find the addition of wallpapers interesting. My rant is about linking to the good old page after the fact as if that's noteworthy. I mean, Google was going to remove the wallpaper at the end of the day just like they do with their logo art anyways.
    - melvin 16y ago
      Yeah, I think that they added this, faced a backlash, flubbed the rollout, and then did an about-face the next day is noteable for various reasons.
  - sigzero 16y ago
    Largest website in the world? I wonder how many people actually go to the google page to search. I never do. I always use the browsers search box.
    - jedc 16y ago
      I personally never do, but was chatting to my wife today and heard that most of her office had set google.com as their browser's home page. So they definitely see/notice changes like this. I think that this situation is more common than most readers here like to think...
    - lhorie 16y ago
      Well, the search results pages are technically part of the site too.
singer 16y ago
Nope, but I think this change might call for someone to write an open thank you letter to Google.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
yock 16y ago
From the Google Blog: Update June 10, 11:31AM: Last week, we launched the ability to set an image of users’ choosing as the background for the Google homepage. Today, we ran a special doodle that showcased this functionality by featuring a series of images as the background for our homepage. We had planned to run an explanation of the showcase alongside it in the form of a link on our homepage. Due to a bug, the explanatory link did not appear for most users. As a result, many people thought we had permanently changed our homepage, so we decided to stop today’s series early. We appreciate your feedback and patience as we experiment and iterate
- Rabidgremlin 16y ago
  Who has a "bug" on one of the most visited pages on the Internet. I don't buy it...
- 4chan4ever 16y ago
  "Due to a bug, the explanatory link did not appear for most users...." Uh huh. Riiiiiight. It wasn't that you posted the change, saw the stampede of people looking for ways to "remove the background image", and decided to pull it. Surely not that. We all know how tough it is to get those "explanatory links" to show up. The <a> element is serious stuff. Non-trivial.
tokenadult 16y ago
Note: this is not visible at all to logged-in users who have iGoogle set as their default Google homepage.
keytweetlouie 16y ago
They are the new Microsoft, steal and innovate.

39 points by javery 16y ago

lhorie 16y ago

Do we really have to report on every freaking small change that happens on the google.com homepage?

melvin 16y ago
Yes. Anyone who is interested in making changes to their own website may very well be interested in how changes to the largest website in the world are received by the public.
- lhorie 16y ago
  I can understand being excited about a cool pacman game being playable on the google homepage, or something that warrants a discussion on A/B testing, or for that matter, Google adding customizable backgrounds. But saying "Hey, guys, look! Google silently rolled back a blooper!"? Come on.
  - abossy 16y ago
    This minimalistic design has long been a cornerstone of Google's brand. That they are changing this (and why) is noteworthy to anybody who cares about design on the Internet. If you don't like the story, you can skip over it to the next one. :)
    - lhorie 16y ago
      You misunderstood my comment: I said I actually find the addition of wallpapers interesting. My rant is about linking to the good old page after the fact as if that's noteworthy. I mean, Google was going to remove the wallpaper at the end of the day just like they do with their logo art anyways.
  - melvin 16y ago
    Yeah, I think that they added this, faced a backlash, flubbed the rollout, and then did an about-face the next day is noteable for various reasons.
- sigzero 16y ago
  Largest website in the world? I wonder how many people actually go to the google page to search. I never do. I always use the browsers search box.
  - jedc 16y ago
    I personally never do, but was chatting to my wife today and heard that most of her office had set google.com as their browser's home page. So they definitely see/notice changes like this. I think that this situation is more common than most readers here like to think...
  - lhorie 16y ago
    Well, the search results pages are technically part of the site too.

singer 16y ago

Nope, but I think this change might call for someone to write an open thank you letter to Google.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

yock 16y ago

From the Google Blog: Update June 10, 11:31AM: Last week, we launched the ability to set an image of users’ choosing as the background for the Google homepage. Today, we ran a special doodle that showcased this functionality by featuring a series of images as the background for our homepage. We had planned to run an explanation of the showcase alongside it in the form of a link on our homepage. Due to a bug, the explanatory link did not appear for most users. As a result, many people thought we had permanently changed our homepage, so we decided to stop today’s series early. We appreciate your feedback and patience as we experiment and iterate

Rabidgremlin 16y ago
Who has a "bug" on one of the most visited pages on the Internet. I don't buy it...
4chan4ever 16y ago
"Due to a bug, the explanatory link did not appear for most users...." Uh huh. Riiiiiight. It wasn't that you posted the change, saw the stampede of people looking for ways to "remove the background image", and decided to pull it. Surely not that. We all know how tough it is to get those "explanatory links" to show up. The <a> element is serious stuff. Non-trivial.

tokenadult 16y ago

Note: this is not visible at all to logged-in users who have iGoogle set as their default Google homepage.

keytweetlouie 16y ago

They are the new Microsoft, steal and innovate.