Despite being rather conservative about its homepage, Google frequently features customized logos to mark special occasions and events. From sporting events to national holidays, from rather obscure celebrations to obvious choices like Christmas, Google isn't missing too many occasions to treat its users to a new doodle. Google has been celebrating the first day of the new year for 10 years now and has come up with some pretty interesting designs over this period which also provide a small glimpse at its evolution from a promising startup in 2000 to the biggest company on the web in 2009.

The very first New Year's doodle popped up on January 1st, 2000, and was one of the earliest doodles for Google, the eighth to be precise. Interestingly, Google is likely to do more doodles in a month these days than it did in its first two years. The 2000 doodle isn't particularly good looking, but we have to remember that those were simpler times when Geocities was still going strong and the AOL - Time Warner seemed like a brilliant idea.

In 2001, Google returned with another New Year doodle featuring white teddy-bears, you can't go wrong with cute furry animals, a theme that has carried on since then. The following years, Google continued with the animals theme and then in 2003 and 2004 as well. The doodles themselves are rather generic and there isn't too much 'symbolism' behind them, but it's the thought that counts, right?

The 2005 New Year doodle is probably the most interesting and the most clever. It features the regular Google logo, the one being replaced soon after 10 years of faithful service, but it casts a shadow of sorts spelling out 2005. The furry animals make a comeback in 2006, this time a beaver takes the spotlight, for some reason. The 2007 and 2008 doodles revert to the holiday theme with fireworks and confetti and Google's goes wild again for 2009 with a very detailed party/jungle scene with elephants and giraffes celebrating the New Year, as they usually do. So, what's in store for 2010? Well, we'll have to wait until next year to find out, thankfully 2010 is coming soon enough.

2000 - 2004

2005 - 2009