Google Introduces, Then Scraps, Bing-Style Background Images 466
NIN1385 writes "Google has scrapped the now infamous background image option on its homepage. After 14 hours of a scheduled 24-hour experiment to see how people liked (or disliked) the new homepage layout, the company must have found out it was very disliked. I guess the fact that 'remove Google background' was the seventh most searched for phrase today might have had something to do with it."
Microsoft Responds (Score:5, Funny)
There were also a couple of snarky [twitter.com] tweets [twitter.com] from Microsoft regarding the "bing-style" backgrounds.
Didn't even notice (Score:5, Funny)
slow on uptake (Score:5, Funny)
I thought this was just a one-day thing they were doing to show they're aware of the oilpocalypse. Bing has pretty pictures but I don't actually use it for anything. As Stephen Colbert said "Bing is the best search engine. I know because I googled it."
Re:Thanks god. (Score:4, Funny)
What text fading? I don't see any text fading. You must have done something wrong. Especially if you wouldn't even know how to modify that feature. [/typical enthusiast forum response]
Re:Fire that marketroid! (Score:3, Funny)
Google has said in the past that they use an empirical, incremental approach to UI design where user actions are studied and these guide decisions
I have google set as my home page, and the first thing I did when I got to work was search for what is this shite, Bing?! So, google reverting to a lightweight UI -- that was my idea!
Re:Opera users didnt have a problem (Score:1, Funny)
Quick playin' Battlefield: Bad Company 2, finish Fallout 3 dammit.
5 of 50 achievements! Yeesh!
Re:How clever of them... (Score:2, Funny)
The repercussions of being given mammals is terrifying.
Clever on Google's Part (Score:2, Funny)
1) Emulate absurd feature of competitor ...
2) Wait for public upheaval
3) Concede to users' outrage
4) Make it into a news story
5)
6) Profit!
What many people may have gotten from this:
"Wow, Bing still does that? Google was good enough to axe it. Google cares about users. Bing is Tacky"
Re:Didn't even notice (Score:1, Funny)
Oh thanks. What was once ONE day of lost productivity has now become an ETERNITY.
Re:Resistance to change (Score:5, Funny)
> I recall reading that they would like to remove the "I'm feeling lucky"
> button (because no one uses it), but they can't. Users simply can't
> handle large changes.
Well that's an easy one to handle. Just remove it gradually. Every week, take off 1 letter.
I'm Feeling Lucky
I'm Feeling Luck
I'm Feeling Luc
I'm Feeling Lu
I'm Feeling L
etc.
In just a few short months the button will be worn down to a nub and can then be safely removed without causing stress for users.
Re:Opera users didnt have a problem (Score:5, Funny)
Do I even want to know what the background in question looked like? I bet I don't. In fact, here's me explicitly *not* even asking. Whatever it was, I'm glad I missed it.
It was some hot ass chick bent over a bike getting it from the biker. It's a good thing you missed it, it was pretty sinful.