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Plain Google home page gets facelift

davemania   on 20 March 2007 - 12:57 · 47 comments & 15229 views

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Jazzing up its famously plain website, Google is offering a new option that places its internet search box in panoramic settings that change with the time of day and the weather. The colourful graphics will be unveiled on Tuesday. 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.

The features, 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. "Google has become the doorway to the internet for a lot of people, so we want to make (the site) feel more like an online living room," Mayer said. "We feel we are personalising things in a very tasteful and useable way."

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News source: SMH

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(1 reply) #1 lbmouse on 20 Mar 2007 - 13:12
Is this just a mere face-lift?... No new functionality or improved features? What are they calling it? Instead of 'beta', they should probably name it Google Vista.

On a side note, Marissa Ann Mayer is from Wausau, WI so she would probably say "personalizing" over "personalising".

Last edited by lbmouse on 20 Mar 2007 - 13:17
#1.1 alsheron on 20 Mar 2007 - 13:14
Ah! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!??? Google Vista! Ah! Hahahahahaha..... No, seriously, NO.
(1 reply) #2 Max™ on 20 Mar 2007 - 13:16
Ah man! I hope theres an option to turn it off. A classic view setting. I hate bloat.
#2.1 ooomph on 20 Mar 2007 - 13:27
it's off by default, anyway i'm using it (the one with the sky).
#3 8-n-1 on 20 Mar 2007 - 13:28
Tuesday when? It's almost 9:30am EDT and still the same old Google...
#4 majortom1981 on 20 Mar 2007 - 13:36
LOl I loike dogpiles better. It stays mostly the same but the dog changes according to holidays .
#5 episode on 20 Mar 2007 - 13:45
Its the PERSONALIZED homepage, not google.com

http://www.google.com/ig/ is what is updated
(1 reply) #6 azz0r_wugg on 20 Mar 2007 - 13:46
Where are the theme options? I can't find the place to find the themes.
#6.1 IceDane on 20 Mar 2007 - 15:14
Did you find it? I cannot locate the themes either....
(1 reply) #7 sych0 on 20 Mar 2007 - 13:47
I don't see it on the main page, but its on the personal page
www.google.com/ig

I actually think they look good
#7.1 eAi on 20 Mar 2007 - 13:58
Quote - (sych0 said @ #7)
I don't see it on the main page, but its on the personal page
www.google.com/ig

I actually think they look good
Yeah, I like it
#8 mattm591 on 20 Mar 2007 - 14:01
Only works for the .com domain though. Can't get it working on the UK site (http://www.google.co.uk/ig)
(1 reply) #9 Galley on 20 Mar 2007 - 14:04
The blurb fails to mention that the new themes are dynamic. The weather and time of day will change based on your location.
#9.1 Dakkaroth on 20 Mar 2007 - 21:42
Hell yes, that's what I thought as well.

Quote -
This theme will dynamically change to match your local weather conditions. Your location currently is set to: Houston, TX
#10 +jesse on 20 Mar 2007 - 14:05
i like it too, the sweet dreams theme is cool, the image changes according to your time of day
#11 Glassed Silver on 20 Mar 2007 - 14:14
nothing for me, tbh
i love the classic google homepage as it is - simple and u know exactly what to do with it

Glassed Silver:mac
#12 Jugalator on 20 Mar 2007 - 14:31
Not too bad, many of them are pretty clean. The Seasons one was pretty nice.
#13 Stingray on 20 Mar 2007 - 14:36
I loooooooooove them!
(2 replies) #14 johnathonm on 20 Mar 2007 - 14:43
Oh boy...it's Live.com!
#14.1 NeoFlux on 20 Mar 2007 - 16:05
No it isn't.
#14.2 lbmouse on 20 Mar 2007 - 18:38
Thank god it isn't.
(4 replies) #15 IceDane on 20 Mar 2007 - 15:11
Can anyone help me where to look??? Am logged into:

http://www.google.com/ig?hl=en

... nothing is there?
#15.1 Jugalator on 20 Mar 2007 - 16:05
There should be a text link saying "Select theme" to the far right directly above your customized tabs there.
#15.2 mrottman on 20 Mar 2007 - 17:16
Same here. I'm also logged into http://www.google.com/ig and I don't see any 'Select theme' link or anything else about themes for that matter.
#15.3 mrottman on 20 Mar 2007 - 18:05
I found that by visiting http://www.google.com/ig/resetprefs.html and resetting my personalized homepage settings, I now have the link! Of course, I have to setup my homepage again but that's okay.
#15.4 IceDane on 21 Mar 2007 - 07:21
Quote - (mrottman said @ #15.3)
I found that by visiting http://www.google.com/ig/resetprefs.html and resetting my personalized homepage settings, I now have the link! Of course, I have to setup my homepage again but that's okay.


Brilliant... works for me!
#16 McG on 20 Mar 2007 - 15:14
Thumbs up. Seriously. Awesome.
(1 reply) #17 jordanspringer on 20 Mar 2007 - 15:25
looks the same as it always has.
#17.1 Jugalator on 20 Mar 2007 - 16:04
Yeah, that's because the news are about the new themes in Google Fusion (google.com/ig).
#18 Plarkster on 20 Mar 2007 - 16:15
Nice touch... but I'll stick to classic.
#19 Ironman2003 on 20 Mar 2007 - 16:23
Wow - never thought adding a theme would make me want to add more gadgets. LOL

Overall, the themes are nice, I sincerely hope they add more soon. (I am one of those nuts that loves to change themes all the time on my pc.)

#20 DOGglee on 20 Mar 2007 - 16:47
very very nice
#21 dugbug on 20 Mar 2007 - 17:15
*nice*

-d
#22 Internal Storm on 20 Mar 2007 - 18:04
Looks great! Love the dynamic changes as well...
#23 k311 on 20 Mar 2007 - 18:34
i really like it, the google homepage offers a ton of customization, which is great in usability and looks good too without getting in the way
#24 guruparan on 20 Mar 2007 - 18:49
IMO Live.com is much better than this ...it has good customisation & a neat UI
#25 parnar on 20 Mar 2007 - 19:20
its really nice, im going to use it
#26 thagame on 20 Mar 2007 - 19:24
how come this looks like live.com except not as good?
#27 scotters83 on 20 Mar 2007 - 20:45
This is nothing new. Google has been using this sort of layout, minus the themes, as a special DELL welcome page for months now. Still cool, none the less.

Dell's Google Home Page
#28 Damienx on 20 Mar 2007 - 22:03
Hrm, the feature got enabled for me about an hour ago, but then it disappeared. Same thing happen to anyone else? Has it went live for you?
#29 Damienx on 20 Mar 2007 - 22:17
Read up, only works when I go to http://www.google.com/ig
#30 Xalies on 21 Mar 2007 - 02:01
Nice. Can't wait till it's available the other domain such as .com.au
#31 sundayx on 21 Mar 2007 - 02:41
is it because im in Canada that i cant get this to work?
#32 Xalies on 21 Mar 2007 - 03:53
It's only on .com/ig at the moment... it's been siad a few times already
#33 sundayx on 21 Mar 2007 - 05:49
yeah im on .com/ig... but in Canada
#34 the_ozyrys on 21 Mar 2007 - 08:50
You have to change Google language to English... I did it and it works, for Poland... Country DOESN'T matter...
#35 JaZira5 on 21 Mar 2007 - 17:58
its working for australian google site -- http://google.com.au/ig

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