Google Wallpaper

If your Google page looked a little different this morning, that's not by accident. Apparently Google is launching a line of background wallpaper for their website. Rather than the basic white background with search box and a few links, Google lets you customize your page with either personal images or ones from their stock photos. Just sign in to your account and Google will look however you want.

I was excited to see familiar artists like Jeff Koons or Dale Chihuly available for a background. There are a number of public photos as well that are really stunning. It was difficult to pick just one. I went back and forth between a couple images before deciding on this Dale Chihuly as my background. I may change it tomorrow though. I do like the flexibility.

I wonder if this is Google's way of competing with Bing's search engine. I've been going to Bing daily to look at the incredible photography that they have available. They change the image daily and then have links for more information about the location, event, animal, or whatever other subject it depicts. Today's image of Lisbon's Belem Tower was so beautiful that I ended up saving the image in a file I keep.

I'm a huge fan of photography and art so I honestly don't mind if this is competition between the two search engines. I like that I can choose my image from Google, and I love that I get surprised daily by Bing. It's a bit like browsing or searching for books. With searching you are guaranteed to get something you like. But with browsing you can discover something completely new. Both wonderful. And now available on my desktop in beautiful colors.