If you go to Google and search for variations of either [christmas] or [hanukkah], you will see Google has dressed up the search results page with holiday decorations. The Christmas version shows Christmas ornaments hanging from the top bar: The Hanukkah version shows Jewish stars across the top bar: In the past they placed these decorations as a border for separating the AdWords ads and the free organic results. Hanukkah started last night and Christmas is just around the corner. I still do not see any decorations for [kwanzaa] - but that might come soon. Postscript [...]

Related Topics: Google: Logos | Google: User Interface

Google has a new easter egg for the winter holiday season - search for [let it snow] and Google will turn the search results page into a powdery snow covered set of search results. The search results will become so hard to see that you will instinctively want to wipe the screen clean with your hand. Instead, use the mouse and it will help you wipe off the snow. Don't have any patience for that? No worries, click the "Defrost" button at the top and the snow will melt away. Finally, you can draw shapes in the snow and share them on Google+ with your friends. Here is a video of it in act [...]

Related Topics: Features: General | Google: Logos | Google: User Interface | Google: Web Search

Google Operating System blog reports Google has changed the behavior of the Google +1 button as seen in the Google search results. Instead of the +1 button being displayed by default, it is now hidden until you place your mouse cursor over the search result. Then the +1 button will show up and let you click on it. Here is a picture of the animation seen when you mouse over the search result, which brings up the +1 button and the right gray arrow bar on the right of the search result: Then when you mouse over the +1 button, it will turn blue and when you click on it, it remains blu [...]

Related Topics: Google: +1 | Google: User Interface | Google: Web Search

Google might like to apologize to those of you who are just now getting accustomed to the new black menu bar that appears at the top of most Google properties. You know, the one that just launched at the end of June? Well, skip that. As the saying goes, what's new is old. The black menu bar is gone. Or will be soon. Google has announced a new Google Bar that sits in the same horizontal space as Google's logo and search bar. I'm not seeing it yet in my searches, nor are others at Search Engine Land HQ, but here's a sneak peek from Google's blog post: Why the change? According to [...]

Related Topics: Google: User Interface | Google: Web Search

Google+ content is slowly -- but very surely -- expanding its footprint inside of Google.com's main search results. The latest integration comes via the rel=author tag that Google's been supporting since the summer. Mike Blumenthal tipped us to this latest change, which may (or may not) still be in testing. Here's how it works for me, which -- as I'll explain below -- is slightly different from what Mike B. is seeing. When a search result with rel=author appears in Google's search results, the author's avatar and the adjacent byline both now link to a new Google search results pa [...]

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