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In the article they make it clear it's more than just the logo. They also use Google's page layout. That could help too. The colors are not the greatest, but it's quite clear.

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There has to be something said for this. There is barely any noise on Google's pages and pretty much everyone has used Google for the past few years. That means that everyone is used to a search engine with very little noise. Yahoo, MS, and Ask don't exactly have "flashy" search pages but just glancing at their pages, you can see more distractions. I think this just amplifies the thought that Google is better.

Going to another search engine just feels weird.

Both Yahoo and MSN have noise-free interfaces you can use. See http://search.yahoo.com/ and http://search.live.com/.

Noise is also what you are not used to seeing. Yahoo!'s loho & drop down boxes & hints seem a lot more noisy.

I think part of it is because they are. But part of it is because unfamiliar is noisier then familiar.

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