9/11, Google & The Internet

Sep 11, 2009 at 9:28am ET by Barry Schwartz

As everyone knows, today is the 8th year anniversary of the terrible 9/11 attacks. Many people, companies and organizations are doing things to remember the day. A lot of people are asking why there is no logo from Google for today. The quick answer is that Google does not do Google Doodles (aka logos) for sad days like this, they typically only do these types of logos for happier occasions.

But that does not mean Google is not doing anything. They have partnered up with several organizations and companies to bring together a web site named Make History at 911history.org. The site has a storytelling sharing tool that uses the Google Maps API to display Google’s Street Views. It allows “people to place and then share their photos and videos in geographical context, collectively piecing together the history that was witnessed, one photo and video at a time,” Google said. The site is also hosted on Google’s cloud computing environment, Google App Engine.

On the logo front, both Microsoft Bing & Ask.com have used meaningful background images for their home pages. Here are pictures:

Clearly, the Yahoo home page has news and images for the day. Plus Gary Price at ResourceShelf has compiled a comprehensive list of how the Internet is remembering the day.

Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.

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