Google’s Doodle Dipped in Valentine’s Day Subtlety

By Ryan Blitstein, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.

Feb. 15–Would a Google by any other name search as sweet? That’s what visitors to Google.com might have asked themselves Wednesday about the puzzling “Google Doodle” logo on its home page.

The doodle, which substituted a chocolate-covered strawberry for the second “g” in the company moniker, was meant to celebrate Valentine’s Day. What appeared seemed to read: “Googe.”

Google Doodler Dennis Hwang said on the official blog: “I just know that those with true romance and poetry in their soul will see the subtlety immediately.”

The blogosphere late Wednesday was rife with debate over what exactly the subtlety was. Some said Hwang was referring to Debbie Googe, ex-bass guitarist for the Irish alt-rock band My Bloody Valentine. Others mentioned 16th-century English poet Barnabe Googe, reputed to have written the line, “I did but see her passing by and yet I love her till I die.” The simplest explanation, though, was that the strawberry’s green stem was meant to form a subtle “l.”

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Copyright (c) 2007, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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