You may have been a bit confused a while ago when you opened your Google and thinking, “Wait, I didn’t open Bing” after seeing a very colorful background picture on your browser. Turns out this is what has Google been harping about since last week.
The popular web browser has its homepage decorated with images from artists, sculptors, and photographers from different parts of the world. Users can even use photos from their Picasa album or from their computers. Google intended to display different images on the homepage for 24 hours so the users get acquainted with it.
Observers think that Google is trying to be like its Microsoft-made competitor, and people over at Bing—at least those in Europe—pointed that similarity.
“We’ve lost a background image, if found please return to bing.com ;),” Microsoft Europe cheekily posted on Twitter.
But then, Google quickly pulled the plug on the project and the home page returned to its white barrenness after many users thought the change was permanent. Representatives said that a bug caused the explanatory link not to appear for most users. Those who prefer to have images on their backgrounds can do so through a settings option at the bottom of the screen.
The damage has been done, however. Before the pull out, users who wanted to revert to the classic white background found that they were unable to do so and were even forced to create a Google account to add a new image.
“Remove Google background” became one of the top 10 keyword phrases on Google on Thursday and criticism was blatantly expressed through social networking sites like Twitter.
Source: Google Blog, via AFP
