The Google Homepage Gets a Background Image by Default

Google introduced a cool new feature last week, which allows you to customize the Google homepage with an image of your choice. It was first introduced to US users and Google said it would eventually be made available to everyone. The roll-out is now complete and the customizable background feature is currently live for all international sites, so Google thought it might be a good time to let everyone know by featuring a background image by default on the homepage.

“To provide you with an extra bit of inspiration, we‘ve collaborated with several well-known artists, sculptors and photographers to create a gallery of background images you can use to personalize your Google homepage,” Google’s Marissa Mayer, VP of Search Products and User Experience, wrote.

“Included in the collection are photographs of the works of Dale Chihuly, Jeff Koons, Tom Otterness, Polly Apfelbaum, Kengo Kuma, Kwon, Ki-soo and Tord Boontje, as well as some incredible photos from Yann Arthus-Bertrand and National Geographic. We’ll be featuring these images as backgrounds on the Google homepage over the next 24 hours,” she added.

The image features changes from time to time, but, at any given point, it’s the same one across all sites. This would be the first time that Google has done such a drastic change to the homepage, but, after adding a working Pac Man game instead of the logo, nothing is really that surprising. You can browse through all the images Google will be featuring ahead of time in the Editor’s Pick section of the background selector.

Now that custom backgrounds are available for everyone, you’ll have no more excuses for not checking out the feature. You can select a custom photo from Google’s picks or from the growing user gallery. Of course, you can choose one of your Picasa images as well, or just upload one from your computer. If a custom background photo on the Google homepage is not your thing, though, you’re out of luck for today, as there’s no way you can get rid of it. Things will go back to normal tomorrow.