The first Google Doodle, on August 30, 1998, which celebratedBurning Man
AGoogle Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of thelogo onGoogle'shomepages intended to commemorateholidays, events, achievements, and historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running annualBurning Man event in Black Rock City, Nevada, and was designed by co-foundersLarry Page andSergey Brin to notify users of their absence in case the servers crashed.[1][2][3] Early marketing employeeSusan Wojcicki then spearheaded subsequent Doodles, including an alien landing on Google and additional custom logos for major holidays.[4] Google Doodles were designed by an outside contractor, cartoonistIan David Marsden until 2000, when Page and Brin askedpublic relations officerDennis Hwang to design a logo forBastille Day. Since then, a team of employees called Doodlers have organized and published the Doodles.[5]
Initially, Doodles were neither animated norhyperlinked—they were simply images withtooltips describing the subject or expressing a holiday greeting. Doodles increased in both frequency and complexity by the beginning of the 2010s. On October 31, 2000, the first animated Doodle celebrated Halloween.[6] On May 21, 2010, the first interactive Doodle appeared later celebratingPac-Man,[7] and hyperlinks also began to be added to Doodles, usually linking to asearch results page for the subject of the Doodle. By 2014, Google had published over 2,000 regional and international Doodles throughout its homepages,[8] often featuring guest artists,musicians, and personalities.[9] By 2024, the Doodlers team had created over 5,000 Doodles for Google's homepages around the world.[10]
In addition to celebrating many well-known events and holidays, Google Doodles celebrate artists and scientists on their birthdays.[11] The featuring of Lowell's logo design coincided with the launch of another Google product,Google Maps. Doodles are also used to depict major events at Google, such as the company's own anniversary.[12] The celebration of historic events is another common topic of Google Doodles including aLego brick design in celebration of the interlocking Lego block's 50th anniversary. Some Google Doodles are limited to Google's country-specific home pages while others appear globally.[13]
In May 2010, on the 30th anniversary of the 1980arcade gamePac-Man, Google unveiled worldwide their firstinteractive logo, created in association withNamco.[24] Anyone who visited Google could play Pac-Man on the logo, which featured the letters of the wordGoogle on the Pac-Man maze. The logo also mimicked the sounds the original arcade game made. TheI'm Feeling Lucky button was replaced with anInsert Coin button. Pressing this once enabled the user to play the Pac-Man logo. Pressing it once more added a second player,Ms. Pac-Man, enabling two players to play at once, controlled using the W, A, S, D keys, instead of the arrows as used by Player 1. Pressing it for a third time performed anI'm Feeling Lucky search. It was then removed on May 23, 2010, initially replacing Pac-Man with the normal logo. Later on that day, Google released[25] apermanent site to play Google Pac-Man (accessed by clicking on top icon), due to the popular user demand for the playable logo.[25]Pac-Man Doodle drew an estimated 1billion players worldwide.[26]
Since that time, Google has continued to post occasional interactive and video doodles:
On May 21–22, 2010, Google introduced an interactive game celebratingPac-Man on its 30th anniversary.
On June 8, 2010,Robert Schumann was celebrated with a Google Doodle for his 200th birthday only inGermany.
On September 4, 2010, the Google logo was changed to aninteractive Buckyball to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its discovery.[27][28] The Buckyball, also known as theBuckminsterfullerene C60 is a molecule made entirely of carbon.
On September 6, 2010, Google launched its fourth interactive Google Doodle.Google Instant – Particle Logo replaced its static logo with aJavaScript-based particle movement simulator where dynamic colored balls can be manipulated with the movement of the mouse cursor over the logo, or by shaking of the browser window.[29] Unlike some other Google Doodles, this one is unclickable.[30]
On September 7, 2010, another Google Instant family logo known asKeystroke Logo was released. A greyed-out colorless logo lit up with the standard Google colors as the first six letters of a search query were entered.[31]
On October 8, 2010, Google ran its first video doodle, a short animation set to the music ofImagine to mark what would have beenJohn Lennon's 70th birthday.[32] Similarly,Freddie Mercury's would-be 65th birthday was celebrated on September 5, 2011, with an animated clip set toDon't Stop Me Now.[33]
On April 15, 2011, Google sported the first live-action video doodle, in commemoration ofCharlie Chaplin's 122nd birthday.[34] This doodle was a black and whiteYouTube video that, when clicked upon, started playing before redirecting to the usual Google search featuring the doodle's special occasion. All parts in this short film were played by the Google Doodle team, and special behind-the-scenes footage was to be found on the Google blog.
Google displayed an interactive electric guitar doodle starting June 9, 2011, to commemorate the 96th birthday ofLes Paul (d. 2009). Apart from being able to hover the cursor over the doodle to strum the strings just like one of Les Paul'sGibson guitars, there was also a keyboard button, which when enabled allowed interaction with the doodle via the keyboard. The doodle still maintained some resemblance to the Google logo. In the U.S., the doodle also allowed the user to record a 30-second clip, after which a URL is created and can be sent to others. The doodle remained on the site an extra day due to popularity in the U.S. It now has its own page linked to the Google Doodles archives.[35]
On January 18, 2012, for users in the United States, Google placed a censor bar on top of their logo toprotest SOPA and PIPA.
On May 23, 2012, for what would have been instrument inventor and synthesizer pioneerRobert Moog's 78th birthday, the Doodle team pulled off their own feat of engineering: a fully playable and recordable Google logo resembling a vintageMinimoog Model D synthesizer. Electronic analogMoog Synthesizer timbre and tones would come to define a generation of music, featuring heavily in songs by The Beatles, The Doors, Stevie Wonder, Kraftwerk and many others. Much like the musical machines Bob Moog created, this doodle was synthesized from a number of smaller components to form a unique instrument. Mouse or computer keyboard was used to control the mini-synthesizer's keys and knobs and fiddle with oscillators and envelopes.Synthesizer doodle patched the keyboard into a 4-track tape recorder that could share songs.[36][37][38]
On June 23, 2012, in commemoration ofAlan Turing's 100th birthday, Google's logo became an interactiveTuring Machine.[39]
On September 13, 2012, Google created a doodle forClara Schumann to commemorate her 193rd birthday.
On November 23, 2013, Google's logo changed to a playableDoctor Who game in honor of the show's 50th anniversary.[40]
On May 19, 2014, for the 40th anniversary of theRubik's Cube, Google made an interactive virtual Rubik's Cube that people could try to solve.
On April 14, 2015, for the 155th anniversary of thePony Express, Google made a playable 2Dside-scrolling doodle game in which the player collects mail, avoids obstacles, and delivers up to 100 letters from California to Missouri.[41]
On October 1, 2015,Annie Besant's 168th birthday was commemorated with a Doodle.[42]
On December 17, 2015, a Google Doodle was featured honoring the 245th anniversary ofBeethoven's date of birth.[43] It features an interactive game to match the musical writing in correct order as it featured 4 levels.
On January 22, 2016, for the 151st birthday ofWilbur Scoville, creator of theScoville Scale, Google made a playable doodle game in which the player plays as an ice cream cone throwing ice cream scoops at a variety of peppers to neutralize their heat. Gameplay is based on the timing of a mouse click or space bar press which rapidly increases in difficulty. The game features 5 levels, each featuring a different type of pepper (Bell Pepper, Jalapeño Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, Ghost Pepper, andTrinidad Moruga scorpion) and a fun fact about each pepper along with its measured Scoville Heat Units.[44]
On August 5, 2016, for the2016 Summer Olympics, the Google app received an update for Android and iOS devices to include 7 mini games calledDoodle Fruit Games featuring Strawberry, Blueberry, Coconut, Pineapple, and more. It lasted until August 21, with a new mini game every day. The game was accessible on the Google app by clicking on a play button.
On October 30, 2016, forHalloween, Google added a game series calledMagic Cat Academy, featuring a cat named Momo fighting ghosts. To play, users had to click on a play button, and "draw" to kill the ghosts.
On February 11, 12, 13 and 14, 2017, forValentine's Day, Google added a game featuring the endangeredpangolin, an African and Asian mammal, that goes through four levels (one released each day), while collecting objects, and avoiding obstacles.
On 28 February 2017, Google celebratedEdhi with a Google Doodle hailing his "super-efficient" ambulance service.[45]
On May 9, 2017, a Google Doodle was featured honoring the 181st birthday ofFerdinand Monoyer. He was a French ophthalmologist who in 1872 introduced thedioptre, the reciprocal of focal length in metres, as a unit forlens power; its use greatly simplifies calculations when combining lenses. He devised an eye chart where every row represents a different lens power, from smallest to largest. A close look at the Doodle may reveal to the reader a tribute to Monoyer:[46] his name, hidden in the chart.
On June 22, 2017, to commemorate the 117th birthday ofOskar Fischinger, a musician, Google released an interactive fullscreen Doodle that let users create their own musical songs by tapping on the screen. The user could then choose to share it to social media. The game was accessible by tapping on 2 play buttons.[47]
On August 11, 2017, the 44th anniversary ofDJ Kool Herc's pioneering use of thehip hopbreak, the Google Doodle allowed users use a doubleturntable to act as a hip-hopDJ.[48]
On September 4, 2017, to commemorate the 83rd birthday of Russian baritone singerEduard Khil, Google added a video doodle that featured an animated Eduard Khil singing "I am very glad, as I'm finally returning back home", known globally as theTrololo song.
On December 4, 2017, Google celebrated 50 years of kids'coding languages with an Interactive Doodle.[49][50]
On December 8, 2017, Google commemorated the 287th birthday ofJan Ingenhousz with a Doodle.[51]
On January 29, 2018, Google celebrated Taiwanese singerTeresa Teng on what would have been her 65th birthday.[52]
On May 3, 2018, Google celebrated the work ofGeorges Méliès by making a doodle that encompassed his famous work such asA Trip to the Moon andThe Impossible Voyage. The doodle is also the first google doodle that was shown in 360-degrees format, with the viewer being able to rotate the video to give them different points of view.[53]
On June 10, 2018, Google celebrated the history ofgarden gnomes by releasing an interactive Doodle where the player can use a catapult to launch their clay gnomes into the farthest reach of their garden.[citation needed]
On September 21, 2018, thestop-motion, animated video Google doodle, celebratingFred Rogers, was created in collaboration with Fred Rogers productions, The Fred Rogers center, and BixPix entertainment.
On October 30, 2018, forHalloween, Google added a multiplayer game calledGreat Ghoul Duel, featuring two teams of ghosts racing to collect spirits and steal them from the other team.[54] Games can support up to 8 players, and users could create custom invite links or match with random users across the globe.Great Ghoul Duel was the first Doodle to support multiplayer over the internet.[55]
On November 11, 2018, Google celebrated the 58th posthumous birthday ofChristy Essien-Igbokwe, who was a Nigerian musician and actress.
On March 7, 2019, Google celebratedOlga Ladyzhenskaya, a Russian mathematician.
On March 21, 2019, Google celebrated German composer and musicianJohann Sebastian Bach by creating the first Doodle that usesartificial intelligence to make music. When a button is pressed, the Doodle uses machine learning to harmonize a user-created melody into Bach's signature music style (or alternatively into a Bach 80s rock style hybrid if anamp on the right side is clicked).[57]
On July 16–20, 2019, Google celebrated the 50th anniversary of theApollo 11 Moon landing by NASA whereNeil Armstrong became the first man on the Moon.[58]
On August 12, 2019, for India, Google commemoratedVikram Sarabhai's 100th birthday. He is internationally regarded as the Father of the Indian Space Program.[59]
On December 9–10, 2019, the interactive Google doodle game celebrated the Mexican card gameloteria.
On March 20, 2020, near the beginning of theCOVID-19 pandemic, Google honoredIgnaz Semmelweis for pioneering the practice ofhand washing. The Doodle animation specifically showcased how to properly and thoroughly wash one's hands.[60]
Google also released several doodles in the following weeks thanking various industry workers who helped people out during the pandemic.
Some games were re-released for people staying at home during lockdown to play.[61]
On April 22, 2020, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, a Doodle game was created in partnership withthe Honeybee Conservancy, wherein a honeybee is guided by the player to pollinate flowers, while facts about the honeybee and its impact are shared between levels.[62]
On September 1, 2020, Google honoredJackie Ormes, known for being the first African-American woman cartoonist, along with being the creator of the Torchy Brown comic strip and the Patty-Jo 'n' Ginger panel. The Doodle animation showcased a slideshow of her career.[63]
On October 30, 2020, a second installment to theMagic Cat Academy was made for Halloween. It had a similar gameplay, but a different setting (underwater) and focused on sea creatures such as theimmortal jellyfish and theanglerfish.
On December 10, 2020, Google celebrated St Lucian economist, professor, and authorW. Arthur Lewis.
On December 30, 2020, Google celebrated Alaska native civil rights championElizabeth Peratrovich, who played an instrument role in the 1945 passage of the first anti-discrimination law in the United States.
On January 15, 2021, Google honoredJames Naismith, known as the inventor of the game ofbasketball. The Doodle animation showcases a person making a basket.[64]
On March 10, 2021, Google honoredWu Lien-teh, depicting Wu Lien-teh assembling surgical masks and distributing them to reduce the risk of disease transmission.[65][66][67]
On June 9, 2021, Google honoredShirley Temple with an animated depiction of her during her career as a child actress alongside her later service as a diplomat.[68]
On September 2, 2021, Google made a doodle celebrating the 138th birthday of the Polish biologistRudolf Weigl, known for inventing theepidemic typhus vaccine.[72][73]
On September 5, 2021, Olivia When made a doodle celebrating the 107th birthday of theChilean poetNicanor Parra,[74] being visible in 15 countries, includingChile.[75]
On September 6, 2021,[76] Google made a doodle celebrating the 100th birthday of theSpanish writerCarmen Laforet,[77] in which she appears reading a book on a balcony.[78]
On September 8, 2021, Google made an 80-second illustrated video celebrating the 32nd birthday ofTim Bergling, in which a lot of people appear enjoying the songWake Me Up by the Swedish DJ.[79]
On September 17, 2021, Google did a doodle celebrating the birth ofMichiyo Tsujimura, a Japanese biochemist known for her research on green tea and its nutritional benefits.[82]
On November 14, 2021, Google celebrated the 216th birthday of German pianist and composerFanny Hensel.
On November 20, 2021, Google celebrated Creole classical musician and composerEdmond Dede.
On December 2, 2021, Google celebrated French painterGeorges Seurat.
On December 6–7, 2021, the interactive Google doodle celebrated one of the world's most popular dishes:pizza!
On December 17, 2021, Google celebrated the 315th birthday of French mathematician, physicist, translator, and philosopherEmilie du Chatelet.
In January 2022, Google created a special Doodle that shows up when one searches for the termWordle, based onthe online game that had risen to popularity the previous month. The Doodle mimics playing the gameWordle on the nameGoogle.[86]
On January 8, 2022, Google celebrated one of history's most influential scientific minds, English cosmologist, author, and physicistStephen Hawking.
On January 17, 2022, Google celebrated what would have beenBetty White's 100th birthday (she died just weeks earlier on December 31, 2021) by having rose petals fall from the top of the screen and the phrasethank you for being a friend appear at the bottom when the user searches for her name, both references to her popular television role onThe Golden Girls.[87][88][89]
On January 26, 2022, Google celebrated the 124th birthday of Russian born, Polish avant-garde sculptor and art theoreticianKatarzyna Kobro.
On February 9, 2022, Google celebrated athleteToni Stone in honor of Black History Month.
On February 17, 2022, Google celebrated Dr.Michiaki Takahashi's 94th birthday with a doodle showing first the research phase, then a boy withchickenpox, a doctor giving the chickenpoxvaccine, and ending with bottles of medicine and dots giving a graphical representation of the declining number of cases due to the vaccine.[90]
On March 16, 2022, Google celebrated the 200th birthday of French painterRosa Bonheur.
On April 29, 2022, Google hit all the right notes by celebratingToots Thielemans on what would be his 100th birthday.
On April 30, 2022, Google took you toU.S. Route 66 with a video doodle.
On May 2, 2022, Google celebrated the birthday of the black Canadian American engineer and inventorElijah McCoy.
On May 19, 2022, this Asian Pacific American heritage month doodle celebratedStacey Milbern and her legacy on what would be her 35th birthday.
On May 22, 2022, Google celebratedThe Great Gama in honor of his 144th birthday.
On June 4, 2022, Google celebrated the inspiring life ofKiyoshi Kuromiya and the legacy of activism he left behind.
On June 6, 2022, Google celebratedAngelo Moriondo, the man who invented the espresso machine.
On June 17, 2022, Google celebrated British composer, teacher, and opera singerAmanda Aldridge.
On June 25, 2022, Google honored German diaristAnne Frank with a slideshow doodle.
On July 6, 2022, Google celebrated the 71st birthday of Native American stand-up comedianCharlie Hill.
On July 18, 2022, Google celebrated what would have been the 112th birthday of electronic music producer and physicistOskar Sala.
On July 26, 2022, Google celebrated thesteelpan with a video doodle.
On July 31 – August 1, 2022, the interactive Google doodle game celebratedpetanque, a beloved French outdoor game played around the world.
On August 23, 2022, Google celebrated the 104th birthday of physicist and meteorologistAnna Mani.
On September 8, 2022, the date ofQueen Elizabeth II's death, Google erected a specializedgrayscale Doodle in theUnited Kingdom and certain otherCommonwealth nations, which comprised simply a colorless Google logo and a hyperlink toQueen Elizabeth II in honor of the late monarch. A dedicated page was erected for the Doodle on Google's Doodle archive site, but it was not displayed in the normal listing.[91][92]
For the date of Queen Elizabeth II's funeral on September 19, Google changed the aforementioned grayscale Doodle toblack.[93][94] This Doodle, as with the grayscale one erected on her date of death, was also not displayed in the normal archive listing on Google's Doodle archive site.
On October 11, 2022, Google celebrated the musician and entertainerTito Puente.
On October 30–31, 2022, Google re-released theGreat Ghoul Duel multiplayer Doodle from 2018 with additionalmaps andachievements.[95] The game was originally scheduled to be released 2021 but it was delayed due toserver and designing difficulties.[96]
On May 22, 2023, Google celebratedBarbara May Cameron, a photographer, poet, writer, and activist.
On June 9, 2023, the Google doodle video celebratedWilli Ninja, an iconic dancer and choreographer known as the Godfather of Voguing.
On June 10, 2023, Google celebratedscones, an afternoon tea treat in the United Kingdom.
On June 20, 2023, Google celebrated the Polish sculptor and artistMagdalena Abakanowicz.
On July 12–13, 2023, the interactive Google doodle game celebrated the Indian street foodPanipuri, also widely known as golgappa.[98]
On July 16, 2023, Google celebrated Indian American artist and printmakerZarina Hashmi.
On July 17, 2023, Google celebrated the 204th birthday of American scientist and women's rights activistEunice Newton Foote with a slideshow doodle.
On August 4, 2023, Google celebrated the life ofAltina Schinasi, an American artist, designer, and inventor.
On September 15, 2023, Google celebrated Guatemalan American labor organizer, journalist, and activistLuisa Moreno.
On September 27, 2023, Google celebrated its 25th anniversary with a unique doodle that chronicles the evolution of theGoogle logo from 1997 to the present, which ended with the current logo having the two "o"s in the logo turning into the numbers 25 in reference to Google's 25th anniversary, which is shown asG25gle.[99]
On September 29, 2023, Google celebrated the 89th birthday of psychologistMihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
On September 30, 2023, Google celebrated deaf French educator and intellectualFerdinand Berthier.
On October 2, 2023, Google celebrated theAppalachian trail with a slideshow doodle.
On October 17, 2023, Google celebrated the 118th birthday of Mexican American media pioneer, broadcaster, and community activistRaoul A. Cortez.
On October 20, 2023, Google celebrated the 122nd birthday of jazz singerAdelaide Hall in honor of UK black history month.
On October 31, 2023, Google celebratedHalloween by showcasing a Halloween slideshow poem.
On November 3, 2023, Google celebrated Chiricahua Apache sculptor, painter, and book illustratorAllan Houser.
On November 21, 2023, Google celebrated Chinese Australian surgeonVictor Chang.
On March 7, 2024, Google celebrated what would have been Mexican singerLola Beltrán's 92nd birthday in an animated doodle.[100]
On March 11, 2024, Google celebrated theflat white, a beloved coffee drink of steamed milk poured over a shot of espresso.
On August 19, 2024, Google celebrated Welsh poet and deaf activistDorothy Miles.
On September 9, 2024, Google celebratedS'more with a slideshow doodle.
On September 19, 2024, Google celebrated Cuban American silent film actor and activistEmerson Romero in honor of Hispanic heritage month. The doodle was canceled on September 15, 2024.
On September 25–26, 2024, the interactive Google Doodle game celebratedpopcorn.
On October 19, 2024, Google celebrated thestaurikosaurus, one of the oldest dinosaurs ever discovered
On October 24, 2024, the interactive Google Doodle game celebrated October's finalhalf moon phase.
On October 30–31, 2024, a third installment to theMagic Cat Academy was made for Halloween. It also had similar gameplay, but a different setting (space) and focused across the layers of the atmosphere.
On November 15, 2024, Google celebrated thekayak in honor of Native American heritage month.
On November 21, 2024, the interactive Google Doodle game celebrated November's finalhalf moon phase.
On November 28, 2024, Google celebrated the American holiday ofThanksgiving.
On December 16, 2024, Google celebrated the Independence Day ofKazakhstan.
On December 22, 2024, the interactive Google Doodle game celebrated December's finalhalf moon phase.
On January 23, 2025, the interactive Google Doodle game celebrated January's finalhalf moon phase.
On February 1, 2025, Google celebratedhouse music in honor of Black History Month.
On February 6, 2025, Google celebratedgumbo, a dish that might blur the lines between soup and stews, but has become a staple in Louisiana's cuisine.
The original Google Doodler,Dennis Hwang, at a Doodle 4 Google event in Beijing, 2009
Google holds competitions for school students to create their own Google doodles, referred to asDoodle 4 Google.[101] Winning doodles go onto the Doodle4Google website, where the public can vote for the winner, who wins a trip to theGoogleplex and the hosting of the winning doodle for 24 hours on the Googlewebsite.
The competition originated in the United Kingdom, and has since expanded to the United States and other countries. The competition was also held in Ireland in 2008.[102] Google announced aDoodle 4 Google competition for India in 2009[103] and the winning doodle was displayed on the Google India homepage onNovember 14. A similar competition held inSingapore based on the theme "Our Singapore" was launched in January 2010 and the winning entry was chosen from over 30,000 entries received. The winning design was shown on Singapore'sNational Day on Google Singapore's homepage.[104] It was held again in 2015 in Singapore and was themed 'Singapore: The next 50 years'.
On September 13, 2007, Google posted a doodle honoring authorRoald Dahl on the anniversary of his birth, but this date coincided with the first day of theJewish holiday ofRosh Hashanah, and Google was immediately criticized by members of the Jewish community for this decision, mainly because Dahl has been accused of anti-Semitism. Google removed the Doodle by 2:00 p.m. that day, and there remains no evidence of its existence in Google's official Doodle archive to this date.[105][106]
In 2007, Google was also criticized for not featuring Doodles for Americanpatriotic holidays, such asMemorial Day andVeterans Day.[107] In that year, Google featured a logo commemorating Veterans Day.[108]
In 2014, Google received some criticism for not honoring the 70th anniversary of theD-Day invasion with a Doodle and instead honoring JapaneseGo playerHoninbo Shusaku.[109] In response to the criticism, Google removed that logo from their homepage and added a series of links to images of the invasion ofNormandy.[109]
On May 19, 2016, Google honoredYuri Kochiyama, an Asian-American activist and member of theMaoist-basedblack nationalist groupRevolutionary Action Movement, with a Doodle on its main American homepage.[110][111] This choice was criticized by conservative commentators due to some Kochiyama's controversial opinions, such as admiration forOsama bin Laden andMao Zedong.[110][112] U.S. SenatorPat Toomey called for a public apology from Google.[113] Not like the anteriorly cited times, Google did not respond to any criticism, nor did it alter the presentation of the Doodle on its homepage or on the Doodle's dedicated page.[114]
In 2014, a report published by SPARK Movement, an activist organization, stated that there was a large gender and race imbalance in the number of Doodles shown by Google, and that most Doodles were honoring white males.[115] The report was widely reported in the media, and Google made a commitment to increase the proportion of women and racial minorities.[116][117]
Google typically abstains from referencing or celebratingreligious holidays specifically in Doodles, or in cases when they do,religious themes andiconography are avoided. Google has acknowledged this as an official policy, stating in April 2018 that they "don't have Doodles for religious holidays", according to "current Doodle guidelines". Google further explained that Doodles may appear for some "non-religious celebrations that have grown out of religious holidays", citingValentine's Day (Christianity),Holi (Hinduism), andTu B'Av (Judaism) as examples, but that the company does not include "religious imagery or symbolism" as part of those Doodles.[118]
Google has been criticized[by whom?] for what has been perceived as its inconsistency regarding the implementation of its religious holiday policy, notably its lack of Doodles for majorChristian holidays. Critics have pointed to its yearly recognition of the Jewish and Hindu festivals of Tu B'av and Holi, while Easter only received an official Doodle once in 2000 (and a themed homepage in 2019).[119][120]Christmas is not specifically celebrated by name,[a] although a Doodle with a seasonally festive and/or winter theme has always been present on December 25 since 1999. Since the mid-2010s, Google has also repeated their December 25 doodle on January 7, which is the date for Christmasin the Eastern Orthodox Church, but the word "Christmas" has never explicitly been used; the terminology "holidays" and "Eastern Europe" are used instead of "Christmas" or "Eastern Orthodox Church".[121][122]
Google first created a Doodle forEaster in 2000, and did not acknowledge the holiday on its homepage again until 2019. In March 2013, Google was criticized[by whom?] for celebrating American activistCesar Chavez on Easter Sunday with a Doodle instead of Easter.[123]
In 2019, after an 18-year hiatus, Google presented an atypical "Doodle" for Easter, for thedesktop version of their homepage only. Unlike what is seen in virtually all other Doodles, the Google logo itself was unaltered in the presentation of the Doodle, and users had to click on the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button where "Lucky" is replaced with an anthropomorphic Easter egg,[120] which triggered a falling array of Easter-themed items such as eggs, bunnies, andhot cross buns. Some of these items were hyperlinked, leading to a detailed page about Easter customs. Google's official Doodle archive page originally contained an unlisted entry for the 2019 Easter Doodle, which has since been removed.[b][124] Notably, the 2019 Easter-themed homepage was not visible frommobile devices unless the "Desktop mode" option was triggered on the mobile browser, leading to the majority of users not ever seeing the "Doodle".Danny Sullivan, technologist with Google involved with the Easter-themed homepage, responded to an inquiry about its absence on mobile by saying it was "hard to do the interactivity dependably [on mobile]".[125]
In 2020, Google once again celebrated Easter atypically on its homepage, but not as a Doodle. AnEaster egg was placed below the "Google Search" and "I'm Feeling Lucky" buttons, with hovertext indicating "Happy Easter".[126] When clicked, the egg led to a search results page for "Easter". This is similar to howMemorial Day andRemembrance Day have been recognized by the company in the US.[127]
^abEvery year since 1999, Google has posted a special international doodle as either one logo or several interconnected logos, spanning at least the day of December 25 (sometimes beginning as early as December 1 and ending as late as December 27). Many of the logos have had winter themes, despite it being summer in the Southern Hemisphere, but few have had explicitlyChristmas themes, opting for generic seasonally festive imagery instead. Google has rarely if ever used the word "Christmas" in relation to these Doodles, though multiple news sources have.[15][16] Google has used terminology including "season's greetings", "happy holidays", "'tis the season", "end of year" and "holiday series" to describe the Doodles. In certain years the Doodle would be redisplayed on January 6 and/or 7, the date of Christmas in some regions and denominations.
^Although Wayback Machine's archival of the 2019 Easter Doodle's dedicated page did not record the actual Doodle logo or text, it is evident that a dedicated page was erected at the URL "google.com/doodles/easter-2019" and later removed by Google just prior to the Wayback Machine's attempt to archive it, as archival of this URL was automatically triggered by the Wayback Machine on Easter Day 2019 (April 21), which is not the case for any other type of invalid URL in thegoogle.com/doodles/ path index. The citation provided shows that the page was triggered for archival on April 21, 2019.
^Terdiman, Daniel (May 21, 2010)."Google gets Pac-Man fever".Geek Gestalt. CNET.Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. RetrievedDecember 24, 2010.
^abMayer, Marissa (May 23, 2010)."PAC-MAN rules!".Official Google Blog.Archived from the original on December 2, 2010. RetrievedAugust 30, 2010 – via Blogspot.
^"Queen Elizabeth II – Google". September 8, 2022. Archived from the original on September 9, 2022. RetrievedSeptember 9, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Queen Elizabeth II Sep 19".Google.com. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. RetrievedSeptember 19, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Queen Elizabeth II (Sep 19)".Google Doodles. September 19, 2022. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. RetrievedSeptember 19, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^abMulshine, Molly[1]Archived June 8, 2014, at theWayback Machine "D'oh: Google Deletes Non-D-Day Doodle – They accidentally honored a Japanese Go player instead"The New York Observer, June 6, 2015; Retrieved June 17, 2015
