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Google adds pleasant view
Colorful, interactive graphics spruce up users' Internet search pages.
Associated Press
Published March 20, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO - Sprucing up its famously plain Web site, Google Inc. is offering a new option that plants its Internet search box in panoramic settings that change with the time of day and the outside weather. The colorful graphics to be unveiled today represent the latest bit of pizzazz to be served up as the Mountain View-based company caters to the digerati who want to customize everything. While most of Google's users remain content seeing little more than the company logo and the search box that has anchored its home page for nearly a decade, millions of others have created log-ins that enable them to select from a variety of features that appear with each visit. These additional bells and whistles - introduced nearly two years ago - include stock quotes, local weather and news headlines. Google's new package of decorations, also known as "skins," are designed to make the home page feel even more homey, said Marissa Mayer, the company's vice president of search products and user experience. The use of more graphics also illustrates Google's evolution from a once-pure Internet search engine into an all-purpose Web site that offers e-mail, news, photo sharing, instant messaging, shopping and mapping services. The diversification over the past five years has raised worries that Google might be overextending itself, but the expansion hasn't hurt so far. As its lead in the lucrative Internet search market continued to widen, Google more than doubled its profit to $3.1-billion last year. Google wanted to jazz up its site without making things too busy or commercial. Google's first set of decorations consist of just six themes revolving mostly around landscapes. Google plans to introduce a few more themes each month and eventually may accept outside submissions, Mayer said. Google has programmed its decorations to reflect local daytime and weather. The designs also will contain hidden surprises known as "Easter eggs" that open with an opportune click at the right time of the day, Mayer said. She indicated they will delight geeks with a sense of humor.
[Last modified March 19, 2007, 23:21:02]
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