14 DAY TRIAL // Google doodles are very common and the search engine regularly marks events and celebrations with a custom logo. Today it's running an "Agatha Christie" doodle to commemorate the author's birthday.
In itself, the doodle is nothing special, but it is the first doodle displayed on Google.com since Google Instant was launched and this comes with a few peculiarities.
Agatha Christie is a name that needs no introduction. She is the best-selling author of all time and her works have been translated in over 100 languages.
They have also been adapted countless times for film and TV. Hercule Poirot is probably her best known character.
The author is known worldwide which is why the doodle is present on many of the localized versions of the search engine.
The doodle shows the Google logo letters dressed up in period attire in what appears to be a crime scene. The first "G" sports Poirot's unmistakable moustache, while the yellow "o" seems to have met an untimely demise. All of this while "e" is trying to make a stealthy exit.
The doodle itself is larger than most images until now. This has very much to do with Google Instant. The new homepage, introduced with Google Instant regularly sports a significantly larger logo and a wider search box than before.
To accommodate for the changes, the new doodle is longer and taller than its predecessors. Once you start typing something, the doodle is gone as Google Instant takes over. Clicking on the doodle leads to a search for "Agatha Christie."
Google regularly sports similar doodles and they usually celebrate a well known person. However, Google's last two doodles were used to build up hype for Google Instant.
In the first, the Google logo was formed out of moving particles that were pushed away by mouse activity. The second doodle featured a colorless Google logo which regained its color as users typed a query.