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January 9, 2009

New Google Favicon

Google changed its favicon last year and many people said that the new one was ugly. Probably this the reason why Google decided to use another favicon starting from today. The new favicon uses all the colors from Google's logo, while keeping the same lowercase "g".

Marissa Mayer's description from last year is very appropriate. "We wanted something distinctive and noticeable (...). We wanted something that embraced the colorfulness of the logo, yet wouldn't date itself." Adam Howard, a reader of this blog, thinks that the new favicon "looks like a mini paint-by-numbers".

Here are all the three Google favicons, starting with the new one, followed by the simple favicon added last year and the initial Google favicon, which is still my favorite:



Update: Marissa Mayer tells the story of the new favicon:

"Back in June, we rolled out a new favicon — the small icon that greets you when you access Google on your URL bar or your bookmarks list — and we encouraged our users to submit their ideas for this important piece of Google branding. We were impressed by the volume of submissions we received, and today we are happy to introduce a new Google favicon inspired by those submissions by our users. AndrĂ© Resende, a computer science undergraduate student at the University of Campinas in Brazil, submitted the design that inspired our new favicon: . His placement of a white 'g' on a color-blocked background was highly recognizable and attractive, while seeming to capture the essence of Google."

{ Thanks, Daniel, John and Adam. }

348 comments:

  1. not much of an improvement....

    CM

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  2. Seriously, can't they just leave it alone- it was fine before.
    I hope they don't make this stick for all Google sites bookmarked - I live by individual favicons in my bookmarks toolbar!!

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  3. You make me note one thing, Chrome doesn't show favicon.

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  4. yes it does, top corner of the tab, not the address bar.

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  5. If you don't see the new favicon:

    A: your browser cached the old one - use Ctrl+F5 to reload it
    B: you hit a Google data center that didn't update the favicon

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  6. I have to agree with comment #2 - I still like the old capitalized "G" the best...

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  7. Agreed start thinking google is trying too prove something to other

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  8. Definitely agree with comment 2 and 6.

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  9. I loooove it it's so much better than favicon number two which was just a plain ugly blue g now its colorful and it has a very interesting shape :)

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  10. Way better than the last one.

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  11. I like it- undeniably an improvement over the last one, and I personally think it's even better than the first one. It's bright and happy.

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  12. I liked the blue g. The big G was good too, but only without the colored border. I like the new one too.

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  13. Why the new favicon is illustrated in Firefox browser, when below there is Chrome ad?

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  14. The "g" is not so distinct and visible as in the previous ones. It doesn't matter anyway, because the Google applications have their own favicons.

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  15. ohh.. this is the new favicon! I haven't seen it yet.. :D mine was still the small g.. :)

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  16. Is it me or Google Chrome doesn't show favicons!?

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  17. Ugh. Just noticed this. I hate it. Asked a coworker what he thought, he didn't even realize there was a 'g' there, he thought it was just a blob.

    It's a real pity, because some of the prospective designs they had last year (see this post: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/05/new-google-favicon.html ) were really good, like the 'folded triangle', 'uppercase G in a blue block', and the 'swoosh' designs (#1 and #3 if you start from the top left row)

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  18. I don't like the new favicon...the Big G favicon was best

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  19. This one is ugly the one the had just before was far better

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  20. Ugh, way too much! Bring back the simple blue 'g' favicon.

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  21. argh.... it's the same 4 colors of the windows start button...

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  22. It's ugly, and the g is not in emphasis...
    The first one was definitively the best so far!

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  23. I still like the bug G the most.

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  24. lol It's funny, I dont know why people didn't like that last favicon, but this favicon is what I direct all those comments from the last favicon to.

    The last favicon was fine. Hate this one.

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  25. Yep -- capital G was the best. I like this one the least. Google, for all its glory, seems to fail at graphic design with some regularity.

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  26. I like the new favicon. I like the colors but yet I like how the 'g' stands out.

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  27. Original G > Colourful g > Blue g
    Fair enough, the G was looking a tad dated, but this new g isn't recognisable enough. Probably doesn't help that Google doesn't have a logo as such, just a specifically fonted/coloured word. Ho hum

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  28. This is a bad favicon. Previous was better, but bad too. Maybe... You need to make your first favicon better... I think, the FLAT style of icons is not so beautiful))

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  29. The old big Google-G was the best

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  30. I love previous version of icon... New icon is very colourful and cartoon... It's not serious for company like Google...

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  31. The old big Google-G was the best

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  32. Ditto - I'm used to the big Google-G. Are they trying to be like Micro$oft?

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  33. supongo que es una broma... or a bad joke?

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  34. And I thought IE8 had overwritten Google's favicon with a different site's favicon.

    Just as I was getting used to the new/old favicon comes this awful version.

    DO NOT WANT!!1!

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  35. I like it. It's more distinct and easier to find in your tabs.

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  36. That's a "G"? Looks like a sickly musical note.

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  37. I find it ugly. I Prefer the big G which is the same as the google homepage.

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  38. Ugly! The lower case blue "g" was fine.

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  39. Looks like a paw from a bear who stepped into a paint bucket. What a way to dilute your brand image.

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  40. I just realized, that the white lines in it should be a "g"?!!
    To me it appears a little bit too childish not really matching Google, which is an "adult" company knuckeling down to lobbies and political systems.
    A child free in mind wouldn't do that - except to his parents.

    Ups did I get too political? OK it's only a favicon... only 16x16 pixels, there are other things in this world to worry about!

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  41. does Google employ designers?

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  42. Stupid move.

    The blue 'g' was perfect and very googley - simply, effective, recognisable, people just got unhappy about it because it was new and different.

    This new thing, it's too complicated, too many colours, too busy - looks like some 1970s wall paper.

    Basically, Google pandered too early to the unhappiness, then LONG AFTER anyone cared any more, they've now changed it and messed it up.

    Most stupid move I've seen Google make for a while.

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  43. Improvement over the last iteration, although they could have just left the original G in the square as-is. This one does stand out better among the dozen other favicons currently showing on my browser tabs.

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  44. BRING BACK THE "G"!

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  45. I like it.....I like it a lot !

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  46. I thought i go to wrong site when i log to gmail.com, nice favion, really colorful

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  47. Noticed it right away - cudo's to the artist, looks kinda like a tiny stained glass window, very nice.

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  48. i think it looks great, the old one was just boring

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  49. have to admit I think the original one sent by André is much better because the g is in the middle and is incredibly clear when comparing it to the one they made. Having the g off centre without a colour to separate it from the address bar/tab bar where it's displayed was a big mistake.

    With all that said, I see nothing wrong with Lucian E. Marin's effort. Maybe the same thinking can apply to that one, which is extend the corner colours along the edges (1px wide) so that it actually creates a thin border, just like Google's first favicon. You might say that's like the first of the other efforts (Hadi Onur Demirsoy's) but I REALLY prefer the big G ...

    It's Google, not google ... It's even got a big G on their business cards ffs

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  50. I like this one much better then the lowercase 'g' on solid white.

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  51. Omg, people asked for more color and a new design that is eye catching,
    Now they made it that way, people are complaining about it.

    Wow, it is true, 90% of the world is full of idiots.

    I believe the design looks alright, it has a very retro feel to it.

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  52. lol I read the top part of this on my feeded,, and i just had to come on to read the comments cause I knew they would be funny

    Google this new icon sucks really bad, The first 1 was great! I endured the 2nd 1, this 1 is crap.

    Bring back the first 1 and stop playing around for media attention

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  53. New design is no thanks.

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  54. Urgh, it's hideous, no thanks google.

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  55. What was wrong with the first one?

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  56. What is worst, the the student's design proposal was far better than the final version that they decided to use. :-/

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  57. This is nearly worse than the London Olympics logo.

    Little g > Big G > not using any google sites anymore > colofrul win-blob g

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  58. At first, I just thought the new google favicon was a few random blobs of colour.

    After about 20 minutes (ok, I was really slow on this), I eventually realised the "g" is white... with a colourful background.

    What do I think? I don't like it.

    Its a clever use of colours, but when it come to branding and marketing use the "Keep It Simple, Stupid" principle...

    Just look at the golden arches for Maccas... they won't be changing that in a hurry!

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  59. The design is remarkably fresh. I think everyone has a nasty taste in their mouth for google. It's not the icon, it's the company's image that is bothering you. Anyone with any significant experience in web design will realize this is a masterful piece.

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  60. have to agree with #74

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  61. It's the windows flag logo colors rotated by one. WTF?

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  62. Same for me, I had to read this to figure out the white was the 'g'. Looked like a blob of shapes and colors. The white g could have been centered like the submission. I liked the first two.

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  63. I don't like the new favicon...the Big G favicon was best

    ;)

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  64. Too funny.. a brand spanking new favicon, and Google's own browser won't display it. Brilliant!

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  65. I don't like it. It's way too distracting in the tab bar.

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  66. I like it, however at home I use Firefox on Ubuntu and it displays the blue lowercase favicon. This afternoon at work (XP) it showed the new multicolor one.
    Did they changed it back or is it because of the OS? Is the same google account.

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  67. Looks very Toys''R''Us.

    The original G is for me.
    And it still is, thanks
    to Greasemonkey.

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  68. I really hate do not like this favicon a single percent, how Google people decided to think this ugly favicon for the world' most used search engine.

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  69. It's gonna take some time to get used to, but I think the new favicon is a winner. Simple, yet colorful - a good metaphor for Google itself.

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  70. Google with more colorful is cool. I think on the future, I hope google use this logo continously

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  71. I really REALLY liked the old one. The first one. It was great! I dont know why Google wanted to change it. It was fantastic! Please switch it back!

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  72. ATROCIOUS! Someone vomited where my favicon should be. This is the most disgusting favicon I have ever seen in my entire life from any website. What was wrong with the old capital G? Are you guys trying to deliberately undermine your ability to have any form of recognizable branding. It would be like Nike doing away with the Swoosh™. You don't mess with an iconic trademark.

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  73. Thank god, 'cause I thought I caught a virus or something... Maybe you should warn people before changing things.

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  74. Why, WHY for God's sake?! :(

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  75. I seriously don't like this one.
    The lowercase 'G' was awesome!

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  76. Well, at least Google is finally admitting to the fact that their design work is done mostly by undergraduate computer scientists, rather than graphic designers. The best part is that they in fact went ahead and made the final version markedly worse than the outside submission.

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  77. The lowercase 'g' was a lot better than this; this is a bad favicon. At first, I didn't like the lowercase 'g', but that was only because it was new. Eventually, it grew on me.

    But I don't think this will ever grow on me: it's a hideous blob of a favicon. Two thumbs way down.

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  78. It is now very easy to distinguish an open Google tab from other tabs because of this new favicon! I love it.

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  79. I really like it. I think it's a definite improvement over the last

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  80. the original [G] was great, the new lower-case blue [g] was great, but i really just got used to the blue favicon then they go change it to what i call the "kid's google" favicon... i really have to agree with the 2nd comment from Anonymous on Jan 9th 09 @ 10:58 AM PDT.

    Also, J said on January 9, 2009 4:37 PM PDT that its getting worse than the 2012 olympics logo too. I have to go with that too.

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  81. germex said on January 9, 2009 6:58 PM PDT that his Firefox on Linux pc was old [g], then on his windows pc was the new favicon i call "kid's google". I think on the linux pc you mita just been there before the switch. I've got a pc im gonna put ubuntu on myself, but it really mustn't be the os or firefox thats doing it... favicon isnt really too much of a worry when you get used to it, huh? cos i kinda freaked when i saw it, so i checked the google blog. Good enough, it was there.

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  82. Color proportions should have been matched to the logo, primarily Blue, then Red, with yellow and green less prominent. Maybe someone complained about too much Blue in the old favicon?

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  83. I hate the new one. It's ugly and distracting - not simplistic enough. Looks like a painting in a doctor's office :p

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  84. Eww the mix of colours isn't good

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  85. It's cool. Better than last favicon.

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  86. Should have stayed with André's original submission, was much better. >:|

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  87. Over 100 comments in <24 hrs...it's amazing that people feel so strongly about a little 16x16 icon! If anyone else changed their favicon, who would care--or even notice!
    It looks like about 10-20% who commented liked it--I wonder if Google will keep it for long! (I'm guessing they will.)

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  88. The old ones were much better.

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  89. The first one was beautiful. Why did you change it? Danilo Di Moia

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  90. Please bring back the G.
    All the little g's since then just ain't working with me.

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  91. Just great! Keep on, it's beautifull!

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  92. I like the new icon. It's cleverly made. I don't know why a lot are complaining when Google explained why the smaller g was more appropriate. It makes sense more this way.

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  93. Very nice, well done! I did like it the way it originally was, but also like the new one :D

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  94. Well check out how this transformation happened.
    http://tftb.net/2009/01/10/google-changes-its-favicon-again/

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  95. There's a Greasemonkey script to bring back old/classic "G" favicon: http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/27548

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  96. I hate the new one as I hated the older one and as I hate the oldest one.

    I think Google is missing distinctive graphical logo. They only have a very gently stylized (and excelent) name of Google. Now they are trying to push it to tiny square of favicon.

    They can't succeed as:
    - text logo is too big to fit the favicon area and you have to cut it (getting back to ugly old unpolished capital G with colorful frame)
    - text logo is too plain to be eye catching in such a small area (again you can decorate it with something like in the old capital G with the ugly frame)
    - you can come up with something new, but it will not be related with Google as we know it (two new logos, the middle one was probably the worst idea as it shared all the negative properties)

    And if they don't want a graphical logo, I would return to the old idea of capital G taken from text logo and polish it graphically. The old one really is ugly. Paintbrush job?

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  97. The ugliest part of the logo is red-green part, the line between areas just distracts the shape of *g*.

    Also colors are too saturated and carnival like, I would tone them down.

    I would push red to the left-most tiny space, leaving the right side blue and putting green in the top part of *g*

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  98. Yes, I saw it and like so much.

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  99. New icon sucks. I hate it, it's NOT Google anymore! Google, keep your brand, don't spoil it!
    At least let us choose it in preferences or smthng (if at all possible).

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  100. Bah, humbug! This new icon is a mess!

    The blue lower-case 'g' was perfect. Why change a winning formula?

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  101. Really awful

    Even worse than the hard to find smallcase g.

    Go back to the original G or create an application enabling us to choose which favicon we prefer to use.

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  102. So many strong colors.. in a favicon space..! That's not pleasant... From an obscured view, it looks like... there is a hole in my firefox tabs. And it is UGLY... eye straining silly attention seeker... hmmm... what happened to u google..?

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  103. it looks awful.
    I think the best was the last one, the "G", although the classic "g" was also OK.
    Andre Resende's version is much better than what they adapted. The green an red at the right are particulary awful, not to speak of the ugly asymmetry...

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  104. I liked the small blue letter G. i dont like the new one, however i do like the one submitted by the person from the U. of brazil.

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  105. The old ones were much better.

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  106. I really like it. I think it's a definite improvement over the last

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  107. I can't see the 'g' now, but then I'm colour-blind!
    The favicon used to be distinctly Google, now it looks a paw print for an animal welfare site.

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  108. reminds me of Microsoft

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  109. It's hard to see the "g" on a white background. Was this intentional? If I stare at it for a few seconds against a white background it sort of looks like an old reel-to-reel movie projector.

    I cached the old block-style "G" a long time ago. That's what I was using in 1998 when Google came on the scene and I was building metacrawler spider bots. The simple interface with high quality stood out then. You knew these guys were on to something. That's the Google I want to think about when I see an icon so that's the icon I use.

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  110. Are they joking? Awful, just awful.

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  111. is alright. i quite liked the minimal one, it reflected the simplicity of the homepage. does this mean that google homepage will now become cluttered?

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  112. colorful favicon, but ugly. period.

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  113. Mind blowingly horrendous. Couldn't even tell there was a g in there at first glance. Different is not always good!

    Do yourself a favor Google and get rid of this child's paint palette.

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  114. i had just gotten used to the blue G!! why change? the new favicon is horrible!!!

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  115. It looks awful. The original big G was best

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  116. The new favicon looks terrible! Did you get some graphics designers from the 1960's to come up with this thing? PLEASE, change it back! ANY of the older versions are better than this.

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  117. This new favicon is HORRIBLE. I installed the Favicon Picker add-on to Firefox just to get rid of it. The add-on can also protect the favicon from any further nasty changes like this. What were the folks at Google thinking??? Ugh!

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  118. Simple and nice ! It really reflects the brazilian soul ...

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  119. Looks like crap to me!

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  120. I don't know what you people are smoking when you say things like "The new favicon looks terrible". I'm glad we don't live in such a simplistic monotone world where EVERYBODY thinks that a logo with just a plain g or a box with a G in it is better than a logo with vibrant colors and a nice design. Seems to me you're all just looking for something to b*TcH about (as am I...so I'm b*TcHing at you; the "b*TcHers").

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  121. It looks colorful and stylish with the g in the Google-colored landscape. Atticmag, the virtual magazine of home design and decor approves!

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  122. Awful, awful, awful. As some other commenters have pointed it they are getting like Microsoft. Very scary

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  123. Big G is the best.

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  124. Don't worry about all the people complaining just because it's new... This favicon is colourful and in line with the rest of google's design... It looks a bit Web 2.0, but who cares, it's still better than the other two...

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  125. It's ugly, time to force it to be what I want ><

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  126. Well what do we have here? It seems Google reverted to the simple blue G favicon. Time to fire the retard designer over at Google.

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  127. Its an average looking favicon for me,I liked the older one more.

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  128. This is just navel-gazing, with all the great improvements that google have made, why are they futzing with and ruining something that worked well before? Everyone recognised a g on a white square. This one's kinda ugly (not as bad as its immediate predecessor mind) but is still far too garish.

    --Ratz

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  129. Nice improvement :) Now it represents the original logo

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  130. I noticed immediately the second that my browser opened and I think it's hideous!! The original submission by the student was much better, with the 'g' centered. Why did they move it to the side?? To me it looks really awkward and childish, I don't like it at all.

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  131. Interesting design however, I can't see why they needed to change it!

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  132. i dunno, ill have to get used to it.

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  133. Please, try different, It is not WoW....

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  134. Seriously google, stop messing with things that wern't broken and just go back the the big G. This favicon looks like it's straight out of the mid 90's or something. Too load and visually noisy, not very google-y at all!

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  135. the new one is totally lame. kids may like it tho...

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  136. I'm all for change when it is needed, but the new icon is bad. I don't want to insult the designer who came up with it, but in these trying economic times you should do better work for fear of losing your job.

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  137. I'm really sorry, but it's horrible. I didn't even notice the 'g' embedded in it at first, it just looked like random splotches of colour.

    André Resende's original icon was pretty good - why did you go and mess with it?

    What would make me happiest though, would be if you were to just bring back the old school capital G in a box. That was fine.

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  138. Augh!!! Horrible! Ugly! Childish! Messy! Fussy!

    What happened to google being sleek and clean? The cleanness and simplicity was one of the main reasons why everyone started using google in the first place, not because of any try-hard marketing idea of 'fun playfulness'.

    There is enough badly-designed, squashed-up clutter assaulting our senses while we navigate!

    It doesn't look so bad when the entire favicon design is visible (like the image given in the text of this story) but it doesn't seem to properly fit into the address bar neatly? It just looks squished and amateur!

    Both previous favs were better.

    So so ugly! Boo goo!

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  139. The original student submission from Andre was better in my opinion. Having all the colors broken up by the 'g' makes in more legible. The green/red border in the current design just adds confusion.

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  140. Y'all know so darn much, don't you. I tend to be critical of this sort of thing, but I quite like this change.

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  141. Nope. Don't like it. Enough to bother coming here and commenting on that, which is a lot for me.

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  142. It's ugly. I'm taking it off my bookmarks bar. Is there a way to change it back? The old lowercase icon was fine. There should be an option to change it! The primary colors make it look cheap and outdated.

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  143. wow, google sets a new trend...the favicons get worse and worse...but the original icon needed a refresh and looked outdated. The little "g" is currently the best

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  144. the most recent icon is a complete failure in my eyes! it reminds me of this four colored polo shirt: http://www.uoftbookstore.com/online/prodimg/rugbyshirt.jpg. the design submitted is much better than the current!

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  145. It's ok, why not?
    Berny from Cologne, Germany.

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  146. This is what programmers actually believe is a good design.

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  147. I think the previous favicon lasted too long!! It was almost impossible to recognize google in my bookmarks with such white icon. I don't like the new one so much but i think is much better!!

    gmail has change also its entrance favicon to the new one, so i can't distinguish from the google in my bookmarks. Anyway you can retrieve the gmail and old google favicon yet from http://www.getfavicon.org

    Just search for www.gmail.com or video.google.com

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  148. Hm.

    I quite liked both older versions, as they were ugly in an unassuming way--much like the Google logo. This one's ugly in a rather "in-your-face" kind of way, which is more than a little jarring.

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  149. The first icon was effective, yet ugly. The second icon was visually appealing, but an ineffective logo. This latest one? Both ineffective and ugly. Come on, Google. You can do better than this.

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  150. Hmm, to be honest I am not a fan of it. I will not go so far as to say 'ugly' but there does seem to be a bit of a childish, hand drawn nature to it.
    Also, my biggest complain is that it simply does not jump out at me at all. I am used to my eye instantly jumping to my Google tabs, partially because I recognized the old logo, partially because I felt it was distinctive as it was. I now find my eye scanning the tabs I have open as this does not jump out at me as easily as the other ones. It is like it is so bright that my eye wants to get away and so skims over it.

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  151. I think this latest favicon is the best yet. The first was too plain, I didn't like the second one at all, and this one is nice and colorful but still incorporates the "g".

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  152. I agree with Recoil. The Big G in a rounded blue box would've have been the best favicon.

    http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/05/new-google-favicon.html

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  153. Oh and Alex, could you please tell me how to change the favicon of a website that you own?

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  154. This one is way too loud. Andre's submission is way better in that it grabs the attention without overpowering the eyes from which tabs is meant to be from Google. I use Opera and sometimes click on the trashcan for old tabs. The old favicon is immediately recognizable without being a distraction.

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  155. the new google favicon looks like a google chrome logo, I like the simplicity of the first favicon :D

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  156. well it's definitely better than the last one!

    this time it's more or less noticeable so i'm not going to install a greasemonkey script to replace it, i'll see if i can get used to it.

    P.S what amuses me is that on the screenshot it's FF, not Chrome (=

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  157. This isn't bad.

    IMO it would be better if it was a capital G.

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  158. It's ugly. I'm sorry, but it's ugly. Using that many colors in that little space just feels all wrong. Both of the previous ones stuck to an elegant feel - foreground, background, and highlight tones. This one looks like something that belongs in a kindergarten - primary colors, dissonant contrast, no elegance. It feels insulting.

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  159. I don't really like this one or the previous one. I think the one you had originally is the best, this is the one people always had associated with Google, and you should just stick to that one instead of ruining an important part of your brand by changing it all the time.

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  160. Looks much better than the previous one - the lower case blue didn't stand out at all, and the transparent white just blurred into a grey background. This one is nice and colourful. I still think they should use a big G though. I don't think they'll keep this for long...

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  161. I won't be very original, but... it's UGLY! And even more important, it's impossible to recognize. It took ma a few months to get used to the previous lowercase 'g', and I don't really see any way to get used to this one... Oh where are those good old times, when tabs and bookmarks whith Google pages were immediately visible even in the most cluttered workspaces thanks to the clear and bright 'G'? BTW I'm sure it was decision of some stupid managed who was also responsible for Chrome icon (which is also really ugly and unrecognizable).

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  162. I prefer the older favicon too

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  163. Can't you leave anything alone? Perhaps you have too much time on your hands there at Google? Normally this type of thing wouldn't bother me, but that new "favicon" is hideous! Why can't Google just use a normal serif type font? Way too much going on for something so small and insignificant. It's aesthetically unappealing and subjective. Go traditional for your next "favicon".

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  164. It's terrible, draws my attention everytime I enter google. Gets me distracted from the purpose of my visit.
    Why?!

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  165. its like old east german paintwork, i dont like it.

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  166. As the other users have wrote, I hate it. Too much colors, irritating.

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  167. The original submission is better than the evolved one! The original makes better, more harmonious use of colour separation (no arbitrary colour edges) and the g doesn't feel squashed in.

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  168. It's pretty hideous. The original is definitely better, (I agree with the previous comment wholeheartedly that "The original makes better, more harmonious use of colour separation (no arbitrary colour edges)", and the new one just looks... garish.

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  169. I like the new favicon. If you look at it the right way it resembles a duck :).

    Could you make it available in a vectorgraphics format, like SVG? I would like to use it elsewhere, if it's Creative Commons, and the ones on the blog doesn't scale very well.

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  170. I don't think it's easy to see the g at all, but that's why I like it.
    I just see it as broken block colours that match the logo colours, that's all.

    I think it's bright, funky and cool - anyone who disagrees is quite clearly wrong :P

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  171. When the fav icon changed I thought my computer had been hacked or that I had been taken to some cheap fraud imitation website! Google should tell me about this before they change it so I am prepared!

    I think this changing of logos is Google's way of telling us that they are no longer the company that they used to be and now they are turning into a monster like Microsoft.

    It's not as good as the original.

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  172. The new icon was Colorful.. but looks like Google wanna attract kids...it seems like a toy icon!! The old one was classic and cool!!

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  173. Can we have a choice of returning to previous ones? I'd go back to the capital G.

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  174. I posted a few minutes ago asking to be given the choice to revert to the old favicon. I found this post - http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/05/30/how-to-revert-to-the-old-google-favicon/ - and easily went back. My bookmark bar is back to the excellent old classic cap G. Thanks greasemonkey! (Now I'm going to see what that program is actually supposed to be used for!)

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  175. bah,it just looks like someone has used MS-Paint to do this, so simple and ugly

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  176. I liked the first favicon (the G with a multicoloured border around it). To me it was quintessentially Google—it didn't try to be clever or sleek or particularly pretty. It kept within the spirit of the homepage, which is focused more on searching than anything else. Google wasn't trying to be pretty, it was trying to be usable.

    The lowercase g was a bit of a shock when I first saw it, and the new colourful one is the same. They're messing with an already-established brand—the lowercase blue g was too hackneyed, and the new colourful one seems determined to be unique.

    I need to find that Greasemonkey script that changes it back to the first one.

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  177. Thie new icon is such an eyesore. I mean, it's so ugly, it's disturbing. I had to move my google links in my toolbar to regular folder just to appease my senses.
    Those marketing people really have too much time and money on their hands.

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  178. I agree with Aquillyne, the original submission was better...

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  179. The original logo is still the best, this new one is god awful.

    I can't stand looking at it. The colors are annoying, it's too busy, and the cut-out g is ineffective. It takes more effort to try and figure out what it is than the efforts worth.

    A logo should be immediate when you look at it, you should know instantly what it is. You shouldn't have to try and decipher it.

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  180. The new icon is a much more prominent eyesore than most any previous edition. Hell, Micro$oft designs look better than this monstrosity. I used to like the favicons, but this thing makes me want to wipe them all out just to avoid seeing it. Maybe I'll just find a good site to bounce my google searches through (or find another search site... there's an idea).

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  181. As a very successful graphics designer, I absolutely 100% hate this new icon.

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  182. Not impressed & find the new one distracting.

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  183. I have one browsertab for Google. All the time iI look on my tabs I think it's not the google search results tab but an actual website for the keyword. It hurts my eyes. Google needs a smooth favicon.

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  184. I would never have known what that was on my own, because it's so busy. What a fail.

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  185. and people say the small purple 'g' was bad!

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  186. Ok for a joke - but Really bad if its to stay.

    looks worse when you have multiple tabs open.

    Its far too childish -just a mess - g in one colour is enough.

    Can you put up a faq on how we can change it ourselves?

    The lower case g was the best.

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  187. WTH ... yes its colorfull but its ugly!. I don't like it.

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  188. The ugliest favicon ever of all Google favicons that were used. At first I didn't even see "g" in there - it looked like a disconnected jigsaw puzzle, or a mix of childishly painted fragments of a broken ancient vase.
    Big G was a good one, the search bar in Firefox still shows it. The best was Google Mobile - lower case g on blue background. You could spot and recognize it instantly, yet it looked very elegant. It should have stayed and be used everywhere.

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  189. Wow. The Feedback here appears to be overwhelmingly negative. At first glance, I kind of like it.

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