Google Doodle
The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running annual Burning Man event in Black Rock City, Nevada, and was designed by co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to notify users of their absence in case the servers crashed.
[1][2][3] Early marketing employee Susan Wojcicki then spearheaded subsequent Doodles, including an alien landing on Google and additional custom logos for major holidays.
[5] Initially, Doodles were neither animated nor hyperlinked—they were simply images with tooltips describing the subject or expressing a holiday greeting.
By 2014, Google had published over 2,000 regional and international Doodles throughout its homepages,[8] often featuring guest artists, musicians, and personalities.
They have included artists like Ekua Holmes, Jennifer Hom, Sophia Foster-Dimino, Ranganath Krishnamani, Dennis Hwang, Olivia Fields, Nate Swinehart, Lynnette Haozous, and Eric Carle.
[17][18][19][20][21][22][23] In May 2010, on the 30th anniversary of the 1980 arcade game Pac-Man, Google unveiled worldwide their first interactive logo, created in association with Namco.
On September 13, 2007, Google posted a doodle honoring author Roald Dahl on the anniversary of his birth, but this date coincided with the first day of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, and Google was immediately criticized by some groups[specify] for this decision, mainly because Dahl has been accused of anti-Semitism.
[109] In response to the criticism, Google removed that logo from their homepage and added a series of links to images of the invasion of Normandy.
[109] On May 19, 2016, Google honored Yuri Kochiyama, an Asian-American activist and member of the Maoist-based black nationalist group Revolutionary Action Movement, with a Doodle on its main American homepage.
[110][111] This choice was criticized by conservative commentators due to some Kochiyama's controversial opinions, such as admiration for Osama bin Laden and Mao Zedong.
Google further explained that Doodles may appear for some "non-religious celebrations that have grown out of religious holidays", citing Valentine's Day (Christianity), Holi (Hinduism), and Tu B'Av (Judaism) as examples, but that the company does not include "religious imagery or symbolism" as part of those Doodles.
Critics have pointed to its yearly recognition of the Jewish and Hindu festivals of Tu B'av and Holi, while Easter only received an official Doodle once in 2000 (and a themed homepage in 2019).
[119][120] Christmas is not specifically celebrated by name,[a] although a Doodle with a seasonally festive and/or winter theme has always been present on December 25 since 1999.
Unlike what is seen in virtually all other Doodles, the Google logo itself was unaltered in the presentation of the Doodle, and users had to click on the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button where "Lucky" is replaced with an anthropomorphic Easter egg,[120] which triggered a falling array of Easter-themed items such as eggs, bunnies, and hot cross buns.
