After almost 14 years of the trademark minimalistic search has something gone ‘Bing’ behind the Google homepage? 

Of course there has been an option for some time now for registered users to customise their Google homepage via iGoogle, but the plain and simple search box on a plain white background has endured as the norm, until now… 

Today millions woke up to find that their beloved search engine has been plastered with a selection of gaudy images from city-scapes to lily ponds, with functionality for registered users to select and customise the background from their own images, web pics, or Picasa content. 

But what happens if, like me, you try to remove Google’s eye watering equivalent of tacky ‘flock’ wallpaper and revert to the ‘old-skool’ look?  Well, first off you won’t get anywhere unless you create a Google account and sign-in, (tough luck if you want to avoid this!)  Once signed in, click the link to change the background image and you’ll see an over-lay box with various options, click on ‘Learn more’ and you’re told that “You can remove your background image at any time by clicking Remove background image in the bottom left corner of the homepage.” 

Not too complicated then, you might think?  Well unfortunately you’d be wrong, the fact is there is NO ‘Remove background image‘ link in said corner, only the ‘Change background image‘ link which brought you to this ‘help’ page in the first place, so for now at least, it appears we’re stuck with it. 

While I’m sure a few users will love the new look, I suspect that the vast majority of Googlers are going to be pretty frustrated with the current situation…

Update:  As of around tea-time (GMT) Google has reverted back to it’s old style simple goodness for non-registered users, and registered users can also opt for the old Google look whilst signed in, HOORAH!!!

Want to earn some spare money as a writer for us? Send us an email!