by
Michael Arrington
on
February 14, 2007

A reader wrote in to suggest we take a good look at Google’s Valentine’s Day logo, which appears to have dropped the “L” and simply reads “Googe.” The strawberry stem arguably is the missing letter, but this sure reads like Googe to me.
See all of Google’s past holiday logos here.
Update: Google discusses this on their blog. Dennis Hwang says there is no missing letter, and “I just know that those with true romance and poetry in their soul will see the subtlety immediately.” Some bloggers are pointing out that “Googe” is the name of a poet that wrote about love once or twice. Whatever. All is well at Google.
















Comments
I didn’t believe this at first and had to go check it our myself, sure enough its Googe. Hopefully they will change this soon. Googe on Valentines Day just doesn’t seem right.
e4tttt5j6yrtgedfytgretrefrhgt
Why exactly is google always changing it’s logo? It’s kinda degrading for the human mind, to be pointed to a certain ideology that is not shared by everyone. I mean for example not everyone eats chocolate on valentines day and some even have diabites… So I don’t know I guess they are concentric on base values and I think it’s wrong to do that .. I don’t see Yahoo changing it’s logo every month.
Oops !
What oops?
lmao!
Maybe Googe just sounds more romantic
Protrox: You need some chocolate. You need it now! Right now! Really, it will help you take life less seriously.
Maybe the “g” and the “l” are together because they are so in love
A quick glance at the Y! and Goog logos will tell you the strategical diff. between the two companies:
Google is wired up [i.e. high on tech], and one needs some time to understand what’s there in the pic [algos/cryptic/new ways of doing things [search box/Gmail/GTalk?]) while Y!’s logo has a couple showering in love..
More here: http://www.pluggd.in/2007/02/h.....yahoo.html
“It’s kinda degrading for the human mind, to be pointed to a certain ideology that is not shared by everyone.”
Oh please. By this rationale it’s immoral to wish anything upon anyone. I can’t wish someone Happy Birthday because they might not deem birthdays worth celebrating. I can’t shake someone’s hand, because they might have some debilitating fear of germs. So I guess the answer is to be stupidly PC about things people don’t care about.
“I mean for example not everyone eats chocolate on valentines day and some even have diabites…”
I’m sure tons of diabetics are offended when they see chocolate on Valentine’s day.
The green part makes an “L”
Hub is right.Give hub a cookie.
Ok. Cookie for Hub.
Relax.
it’s a simply, temporary, theme change to acknowledge valentine’s day - it’ll be gone the next day most likely
throwing in a diabetic factor spin to it?
throwing in a potential confusion, googe, clause?
lol - you people are the most linear, anal, squares.
Google just knows how to draw buzzz
sinha: I think you mean to say, “Yahoo’s holiday logo is well designed. Google’s is not.”
Josh
Basically what I meant was that the logos capture the essence of the two companies.
Yahoo - predictable, involves community, is a community product,
while
Google - Geeky and unpredictable [so draws attention]
looks like webtech is on the case again.. certainly earning her money!
Protrox, excellent troll.
You heard it here first: Google has officially changed it’s name to Googe. The name “Google” was sooooo late 90s, but the monosyllabic “Googe” is new, innovative, and chic.
In case anyone cares, I changed the CenterNetworks home page (click my name) to use festive Vday colors
— we kept all the letters intact tho.
I think it’s supposed to read “Goo-e”
I was going to make a Google + spooge joke…
But I didn’t.
…but the coolest thing is that Google could write whatever they want, you would in most cases still read Google. I bet most of the users are not realizing that the L looks funny, and this is what´s really great about it.
One day, we’ll just see a big serif “G” and we’ll all know what it means. I guess most of the readers on this blog already identify the Google brand with a single letter “G” (as used in their favicons).
I don’t know about you guys, but I totally saw the “L” as the green stem when I saw the logo and had to look hard to see how you guys were seeing “Googe”.
HVD.
I love their holiday logos! And I can see the L in the stem now that you’ve pointed it out. No Googe…
What is most bothersome to me about Google’s logo dressups is the ignoring of veterans day and other certain patriotic days while giving special recognition to birthdays of some artist who lived in 1650.
A little love to our lost brothers Google?
And by the way, the strawberry would have made a better O and left the L
Googe must be so embarrassing…in Australia.
@ #2
die in a fire, douche bag. if you don’t want to be “forced” into an ideology, use msn search.
I missed the L too, but geez.. u’re taking this too serious… it’s just a logo that will last for one day…
Google wouldn’t be Google if they didn’t do these freaking things.
The Register also has a humorous take on the apparent oversight.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2.....tines_day/
Must be a slow news day.
Hey, I just read Finnish Digitoday.fi news. The was an article about search engine marketing. It was posted two hours ago and it said:
“Googen Suomen johtaja Petri Kokon…” which translates to “Googe Finland’s CEO, Petri Kokko…”.
Might be a typo… or could it be catching on this fast?
Look dammit. It’s google’s logo. They can do whatever the hell they want with it. Don’t like it. Go to another site. People need to STFU and stop whinning about why some days they have a special logo and some days they do not. It’s just like clothes.
Some days you wear makeup some days you dont. Some days you wear blue socks some days yo wear black. Some days you are happy, some days sad. Some days they want a special logo and some days they dont.
It’s not like they are changing the logo on buildings, press packages, etc!
With that said, HAPPY Valentine Day
-Steve!
This has been in the works for a while. Google is changing their name to Googe. They recently acquired googe.com. Research has shown that googe is easier to brand in non-english speaking countries.
That’s what I said this morning, and nobody at the office noticed.
I have to agree with Protrox. After looking at the Google logo, my glucose levels are out of control.
I saw the Valentine’s Day Google brand and saw Googe. I read the stem as the serif that comes off the lower-case ‘g’, not an ‘l’.
Mike, try pronouncing Google right after you’ve stuffed your mouth with a chocolate covered strawberry. I am pretty sure what you say will come out sounding like GOOGE.
Now why don’t you find some tech news to report… Your latest posts resemble the pre-mature findings of a junior software tester.
“It’s a bug! It’s a hack!.. oh no.. I spoke too soon.”
So, hmmm, what is that L doing to that O exactly ? Reaching for the G spot ?
Linear squares?
If its a mistake, its a mega one!!!..Maybe these are signs of
newly found bureaucracy inside Goog?
http://www.pluggd.in/2007/02/g.....cracy.html
It was fun while it lasted… Valentine’s Day, that is.
haha way to be boys,
http://digg.com/design/550_HQ_Nature_Wallpapers
Haven’t you guys ever heard of being “GOOGE-GOOGE-GA-GA” in love?
sheesh.
/(ok, maybe I’m reaching)
It is not a mistake they did it on purpose:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/
“You may have noticed today’s Google Doodle on our homepage in celebration of romance and good food (something we consider extremely important).
When you look at the logo, you may worry that we forgot our name overnight, skipped a letter, or have decided that “Googe” has a better ring to it. None of the above. I just know that those with true romance and poetry in their soul will see the subtlety immediately. And if you’re feeling grouchy today, may I suggest eating a strawberry.
A very happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!”
Should be googie woogie
How do you miss this one?? Funny.
Mike Arrington writes about “Google” being misspelled, but spells Technorati “Technorait” in the very next article. Too funny!
I just say:
GUGE: http://googlechinablog.com/gugeflash.swf
I defintely see the “L”, stem and chocolate swirl. Come on mates, it’s obvious!
WTF is the #15 post about? Does someone have a grudge with Chad?
i think they are going for “goo e” — pronounced “gooey” — thus “entendre-izing” their name, with the icon separating the 2 syllables for added effect…imho…
Maybe i’m looking at this(among the majority of things i come across daily) from a marketing point of view, but to me it seemed obvious at first sight that they did it on purpose. Why? Because people talk about it.
Did they get free press? Definitely.
Did it harm the brand? I highly doubt it.
Mission accomplished.
(and yes, i read the blog entry Mark Kelso posted. Is it true? That’s up to you to decide.)
I hate it when comments get deleted and then you sound like are retard coz you refrencing a non existant comment. Mike can’t you put comment deleted or something when you delete someones comment.
Perhaps they should have left the “l” and used the strawberry for the o’s?
That is unbelievable. How could they get that wrong. For TechCrunch with a twist http://www.techcrunchme.com
Google posted a blog clarifying that this is not a missing of letter.
Checkout Google’s official blog for more info.
I, for one, am looking forward to more from Googe-gate.
“I did but see her passing by, and yet I love her till I die.”
- Barnabe Googe
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
As the competetion slowly gaining momentum, Google knows it will vanish in about 6 year from nows.Google known for its creative ways in expressing, wants to accept this bitter truth in their own style.
So starting from this year, they will take out one letter each year — Googe, Gooe, Goe,Go,G and ” “.
They are being creative even when they go down
Common guys. How hard is it to see a heart shaped chocolate in that logo. Heart is a symbol of love, thus L. Googe sounds cute, but I am afraid we are back to Google.
a little bit bored on valentine’s day, mike, to post this?
nothing better to do?
rb.
Hey everybody,
It’s all great how everyone piled on my exclusive story and made it there own.
I logged the first story on the Internet about the logo at 7am on Valentines Day,and can prove it. This is the third exclusive I’ve had on the Internet in 3 months.
Where’s the justice?
http://www.monkeytypesthebible.....d-for.html
-MTB
coming soon:
http://thegoogleblogger.com
how long does it take for a post to show up?
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