Google Adds A Background Image To Its Homepage | Hacker News Reader

Google Adds A Background Image To Its Homepage

techcrunch.com

24 pointsicey27 comments

I just encountered this. It was giant pastel pigs. I said out loud, "Awe damn, there's bing in my google."

At least the bing text is designed to contrast the background image. The Google homepage looks awful, and there doesn't seem to be a way to turn it off.

The text is grey in the white background! What the hell!

Let's keep the discussion centralized in one post. Another post has more comments as of yet, so let's use it instead: here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1419135

This is depressing on so many levels. If Google continue down this path, we'll need a new search engine startup that does what Google did 10 years ago.

Sounds like a start-up opportunity

http://duckduckgo.com

For me, personally, I want a slimmed down duckduckgo. I just want results. That is all. Listed in a table.

I don't want zero click info, don't want oddly formatted extra stuff. Don't want an infinite scroll bar wizard.

Just want results. In a list. Formatted exactly the same every time.

When I do a search on duckduckgo, I get SIX results on the first page. Which isn't good use of screen real-estate (IMHO). I want to see 20 or so results.

Even if this 'bingoogle' thing is lasting one day only, not having the chance to turn it off is quite annoying, actually.

If you 'Change' the background image, there's one with just a white background, which effectively takes it back to what you're used to. It isn't exactly 'turning it off' per se, but it's probably what you want, regardless.

First thought: having it fade in like that is rather distracting and annoying.

Second thought: so I'll be able to turn this off tomorrow right?

Yes, it will be returned to normal tomorrow

Can I complain that I posted about this almost 2 weeks ago?

http://neosmart.net/blog/2010/google-adds-support-for-custom...

Even submitted it to HN, but I guess since it's TechCrunch it makes the cut :)

(link: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1384608)

To be fair, the difference is that it's now displaying images by default, and this will simply have caught a lot more people's attention

It's interesting to contrast the response between geeks and grandmothers when Google adds Pac-Man (with sound) to the hompage, and a nice picture of some pigs.

So I set Duck Duck Go as my primary search engine a long time ago but I have this bad habit of just typing "go" into my url field and Chrome autofills "google.com" for me and I hit enter. This will break me of that habit, I can just as easily type "du" and go right to http://duckduckgo.com. Thanks Google, I needed that.

Thankfully, I hardly ever see the Google homepage. I initiate all of my searches from Chrome/Chromium's address bar.

Wait, Google has a homepage?

For anyone in the UK, going to google.com gives you 'original' google without the background. A redirect sends you back to the UK version but if you set your homepage to google.com/ncr it should stick

Thanks, but no thanks.

It doesn't do it by default, it's plain white as usual.

You have to be logged in into Google to have a "different background", thus, any background at all.

I'm seeing it while logged out (and using private browsing, so I don't even have any cookies from previous sessions). Only for 24 hours, apparently: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/art-of-homepage.html

Being the anti-Google guy I am...I have to wonder what kind of reception this would've received if the roles of Bing and Google were reversed.

The public gallery has a pic credited to Peter Norvig.

I don't like it :(

If you don't want a background image then simply access Google via http://www.google.com

I just typed that into my browser and up came that ugly horror...

I'm mostly using firefox search these day but boy, this thing is awful...

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