Google - was it worth it? Search engine slightly changes its logo

Old logo....Google has a new logo, but you’ll really have to search to stop the difference. Source: AP

Source: www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/

THE world’s biggest brand has just undergone a revamp. But blink and you’d miss it. The online giant has its pluses, but this logo change will leave you searching.

To say the change is slight is an understatement.

The company has decided to move the second ‘g’ one pixel to the right and the ‘l’ has been moved one pixel down and one to the right.

No word on how many hours were poured in to the logo “revamp”. It was spotted by one eagle-eyed Reddit user.

The change is apparently better designed to help readability.

That is because previously the bottom of the ‘l’ and the ‘e’ didn’t line up. And clearly you can’t have that.

Google has tinkered with its logo a number of times over the years.

In 1998 it was launched in a Baskerfield Bold typeface and the ‘G’ and the ‘l’ were both in a lime green shade.

Then just a few months later the company moved to using an exclamation point at the end, much like Yahoo!, as well as changing the ‘G’ from green to blue.

It dropped the exclamation mark in 1999 and became a closer version of the logo we know today but with a slight shadowlike 3D typeface.

That had a good run until 2010 when the flatter typeface started to be used.

The redesign comes as Google launched its long-awaited Chromecast dongle in Australia, giving locals a new way to stream internet content via high-definition TVs.

The device, which has been available in the US since July last year, will sell for $49 from JB Hi-Fi, Dick Smith, and the Google Play online store.

The Chromecast is a stick, about the size of a cigarette lighter, that plugs into a TV’s HDMI port and acts as a conduit for internet content from phones, tablets and computers via a Wi-Fi network.

In Australia, Chromecast will support YouTube, Google Play Movies, Google Play Music and music-streaming service Pandora.

Movie-streaming service Quickflix says it is in the final stages of testing its Chromecast app, while Foxtel’s Presto service will be available from July.

The ABC is also working on a Chromecast-compatible app.

Since the gadget’s launch in the US, more than 5000 developers worldwide had signed up to create apps, said product manager Raunaq Shah in a blog post.

“We’re looking forward to seeing the range of great TV shows, movies, music and more from local content creators, which will soon be available for Aussie audiences,” he said.

“Chromecast will help Aussie mobile content lovers bridge the gap between their devices and their TV.”

Chromecast is designed to challenge Apple TV, which has similar functionality but works within Apple’s iTunes ecosystem.

Movie and TV streaming service Netflix, one of Chromecast’s most important partners in the US, is not yet available in Australia.