Google's home page is its heritage

Some things never change, including Google's home page. Essentially the same since its debut on 2 December 1998 with the "I'm feeling lucky" button hardly anyone ever seems to use, Google Inc.(NASDAQ:GOOG) has steadfastly refused to alter the look of its simple home page. In his article "Ever So Humble" in today's Washington Post business section, Alan Sipress examines the emotional bond developers and users have with the look and feel of familiar home pages. The simple look of Google's home page, empty of all but the most basic text and graphics, is part of its heritage. Over 82 million Americans use that home page each month. Over the years Google has test marketed slight variations in its home page design. At one time, the page contained mover 50 words. Users rebelled. The page now contains at most 33 words, in addition to the multi-colored Google logo sometimes decorated for major holidays.

Marissa Mayer, VP for search products and user experience, argued that adding more options to the home page would only confuse users. Both Froogle, Google's shopping service, and Google Groups have been kicked off the home page after failing to attract enough user attention during their trial runs. Google is now wrestling over whether to add an option of Gmail, Google's email service, to the home page. Right now, such a radical change does not look likely.