# Google Background - Causing frustration



## HOBOcs (Jan 5, 2004)

Looks like the new Google image background is causing some frustrations amungst the business community and international Google users. Ie www.google.ca defaults to these new desktop images.:down:

FYI - www.google.com does not appear to default to any images and remains "blank" or white. So US users may not see this new feature. It might be that Google is testing it out on the international users first.... This new feature makes Google now look more like "Bing".

At present the only way to rid yourself of the image background is to click on the link "go to google.com" and/or set your IE home page default to www.google.com

Personally - the white background presents business professionalism and an uncluttered screen (one of the main reasons why I use it) I hate clutter, images, pop up windows etc. Google is clean and to the point.

My main frustration is that in order to change the background (or personalize it), is by registering a google account and changing it there. Personally I don't want a google account or any other account - I like to be annoymous - anything wrong with that.

Would be nice to see an simple option on the Google seach page to "Disable backgounds" ... if you really want one, then login to a google accoutn and create one yourself - be my guest.


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## valis (Sep 24, 2004)

just set your favorite link to the advanced search; they haven't mucked with that.


Yet.


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

NoScript in Firefox kills the Google background.....at least until you need to run javascript.


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## Blackmirror (Dec 5, 2006)

Its very in your face 
i dont like it lol


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## namenotfound (Apr 30, 2005)

ucurl said:


> FYI - www.google.com does not appear to default to any images and remains "blank" or white. So US users may not see this new feature.


I see the images on google.com and I hate it


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

I'm not seeing this background at all. I tried using a different browser and visiting www.google.ca and I got the white background I always get.

Can someone post a screenshot?

Peace...


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## Liam1 (Feb 21, 2010)

I seen it this morning and its gone now :/ oh well, they maybe got the point?


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

Liam1 said:


> I seen it this morning and its gone now :/ oh well, they maybe got the point?


Looks to be the case.

Oh well. 

Peace...


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

ucurl said:


> Personally - the white background presents business professionalism and an uncluttered screen (one of the main reasons why I use it) I hate clutter, images, pop up windows etc. Google is clean and to the point.





Blackmirror said:


> Its very in your face
> i dont like it lol





namenotfound said:


> I see the images on google.com and I hate it


So, you guys don't like Bing's default page then?

Peace...


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## Liam1 (Feb 21, 2010)

Bing, I've never tried that, google is all the way for me.


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

Liam1 said:


> Bing, I've never tried that, google is all the way for me.


Well, check out Bing's home page and see what you think.  LOL

Peace...


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## Liam1 (Feb 21, 2010)

Lol yeah, a lot more nature themed than google. Does it search just as good, not like ask jeeves :/


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

Bing's background will change randomly (at least by default) and Bing is wanting to be a more "intelligent" search engine in Google, in that it will return more relevant links in search results than Google. I believe I read somewhere that Bing claims to have more web content indexed than Google as well, but I'm not sure on that.

Peace...


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## Liam1 (Feb 21, 2010)

You never know, they are all trying to beat eachother, I might try and start using bing see what it brings up, I got a virus from a google search the other day, I searched "familly guy Episodes" and clicked a link and got a virus, really they should try to check websites before making them seen by public.


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

Liam1 said:


> really they should try to check websites before making them seen by public.


Actually, Google does this to some degree but they can't reasonably be expected to filter ALL of the sites they index.

Additionally, there are some anti-virus apps that add a layer of protection against malicious sites as well as browser add-ons.

You should investigate these options, if you haven't already. 

Peace...


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

Another horrible mistake by Google. I went to Bing after the sidebar disaster!


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## HOBOcs (Jan 5, 2004)

tomdkat said:


> Looks to be the case.
> 
> Oh well.
> 
> Peace...


Yes - it looks like they recalled the random images "for now" anyways.. .

As I stated earlier - it's the fact that I need to log in and create a Google account inorder to disable or change the images... that what bugs me... not necessayily the images. I guess it's the identity crisis again


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

ucurl said:


> As I stated earlier - it's the fact that I need to log in and create a Google account inorder to disable or change the images... that what bugs me... not necessayily the images. I guess it's the identity crisis again


Ok, fair enough. I wonder if Bing allows disabling of their images or not and what is involved to do so, now that you mention it. 

EDIT: Looks like Bing allows you to disable the background images WITHOUT creating an account BUT you have to search the Bing help to get the link to control the background image display.

Peace...


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## HOBOcs (Jan 5, 2004)

Their (Google's) original post 
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/freeze-frame.html


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

ucurl said:


> Their (Google's) original post
> http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/freeze-frame.html


Thanks for the link. This actually sounds really cool to me:


> From iGoogles debut in 2005 to our more recent launch of stars in search in March, weve enjoyed making your search experience more relevant, useful and fun through personalization. *Today, were introducing a new feature that brings a whole new level of personalization to Google by letting you add a favorite photo or image to the background of the Google homepage. You can choose a photo from your computer, your own Picasa Web Album or a public gallery hosted by Picasa which includes a selection of beautiful photos.*


I can see having an issue with Google showing "random" images of its choosing but allowing YOU to choose the photo that displays is something I like. For a business, the background image could be a corporate image or photo that fits well with the fields on the page. For someone who works at home, like me, the background image could be more... risque...  LOL

Peace...


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## namenotfound (Apr 30, 2005)

I tried Bing when I first heard about it on TV, and haven't used it since for the main reason that it has the background images. I would have stopped using Google for the same reason, but I'm glad to see the stupid backgrounds aren't there anymore.


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## dotty999 (Feb 3, 2006)

tomdkat said:


> Looks to be the case.
> 
> Oh well.
> 
> Peace...


you're link scared me half to death! it continually opened up several more pages that I couldn't easily close! that'll teach me to click unknown links when I'm working!


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

dotty999 said:


> you're link scared me half to death! it continually opened up several more pages that I couldn't easily close! that'll teach me to click unknown links when I'm working!


Really? That link is to an article on cnet. I didn't think they were known for tons of popups, etc.

Here is the raw URL:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-20007366-265.html

Peace...


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## dotty999 (Feb 3, 2006)

phew! that one was ok, I had to close the others via task manager, there must have been at least 15 to 20 pages opened from it!


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## namenotfound (Apr 30, 2005)

Both links work the same for me, I don't understand this popup thing you're having.


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## dotty999 (Feb 3, 2006)

nor do I but it happened..


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## Liam1 (Feb 21, 2010)

I suppose Googles plan isnt so bad now I've heard you can change it, yesterday morning I had like matchsticks up on my screen and it looked horrible.


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## Lanks (Mar 9, 2010)

It's nice Google was giving us the option to do it, but i think the same as some of you guys, that the thing we like about Google, is the fact it's clean and simple. I'm pleased they changed it back to normal 

To be fair, the images were quite nice, good quality too.

Mainly i use Google, but i've started using Everyclick for some of my searches.

You can sign in, choose a charity you want to support, and every search you do raises money for that charity, through sponsorhip and advertising on the site. It's not millions, but for simple searches it work's just as well as the big search engines.

Give it a go if you like :up:

Lanks


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