Say Goodbye To Google Homepage Background Images

As previously reported, background images on the Google homepage are about to be a thing of the past. People who used the feature are not thrilled.

Back in September, Google said that users would no longer be able to upload pictures starting on October 16, and that the feature would be completely shut down in November. More recently, people using the feature started seeing the following message on their homepages:

Background images are going away on November 16, 2012

Thank you for using background images. As we build a more streamlined Google Search page for everyone, we’ll no longer be able to support customization with background images. So you will no longer be able to see your background pictures starting November 16, 2012.

Click Remove to stop using a background image now. Your current background image and Picasa web albums will still be available to you.

Well, the day has come, and despite a significant amount of backlash from users, the feature should be a memory going forward. Welcome to the Google homepage the rest of us are using.

lead image via eltictac (reddit)

There are 31 Comments. Add Yours.

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Michael Phillips
January 11, 2013 at 1:17 pm

GOODBYE GOOGLE……HELLO BING.

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Betsy
January 2, 2013 at 10:59 pm

I had a lovely water-washed cavern lit with the colors of the setting sun on my google homepage. How boring to look at a white page. I feel like I’m in a hospital room waiting for the doctor to come and diagnose me with some terrible disease. Any way to fix this?

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Leon Teichroeb
December 23, 2012 at 2:17 pm

What the heck does Google think their doing? Do they know this is really BAD for popularity because soon no one will use Google.

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Anonymous
December 11, 2012 at 4:17 pm

This is a major step down for Google. Google backgrounds was a really cool and fun feature that a lot of people used, would it really have been that difficult to keep it?

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NotGivingMyName
December 6, 2012 at 3:52 pm

F*ck you Google

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jim S
November 22, 2012 at 11:23 am

They never told us the reason ? I did use and like the feature.

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leroy brown
November 22, 2012 at 6:50 am

put back the personal background images

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Shawn
November 21, 2012 at 9:38 pm

I hate the white blank google homepage. I used to change phots and wallpapers on it and really enjoy having it.

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Pat Matera
November 21, 2012 at 5:37 pm

I hate the blank page…think I’ll look for another search engine to personalize my page with…Google is not the “end all” to my world!

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Brenda B.
November 20, 2012 at 10:00 am

I loved the image I had on my Google homepage. It was a very calming image of a home in the country w an unexpected red phone booth sitting right by the house. I feel like changing my e-mail to another company; really! Is this just a power trip on Google’s part? To me this makes for bad business relations. I sure hope that they reconsider.

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Linda Denning
November 19, 2012 at 12:18 pm

I am so tired of Giant Companies,ie: Google, AT&T, Electric, Gas, Cable, Satellite …not to our Government … Not Listening to what makes “WE THE PEOPLE” happy! What “”WE” want or care about. Our problem is that “WE” just keep taking it from ‘Everyone’ as if “Well, OK, that’s just how it is now …” If we don’t start taking a stand on things we are all doomed to a dogs life! Change your internet! Tell Google we don’t like what they are doing!
I am not a crazy person that writes opinions on everything. This is the first time I have even posted one! I am just fed up with government and companies using my money to change things for the worse and never “Really” asking me!!

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  john burgess
  November 27, 2012 at 8:51 am
  
  lets put it to the popular vote
  
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shabnam
November 19, 2012 at 5:02 am

yeah i think so ..

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vnloya
November 19, 2012 at 4:02 am

why take this feature away

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Norah
November 18, 2012 at 9:16 pm

Im so disappointing..I dont like Bling and just want my wonderful background back..=(

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Russell
November 18, 2012 at 5:11 pm

I wish google would allow bg images – I don’t understand the reason…

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Courtney Lamm
November 18, 2012 at 1:42 pm

I don’t understand people who want to fix things that are not broken, Google seems to like to compete with Microsoft, maybe time to see what Microsoft has to offer? This is a major mistake on Google part!

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Richard Horton
November 18, 2012 at 1:05 pm

The world is impersonnal enough , you just helped that along. Thanks.

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Hilary Kott
November 18, 2012 at 9:55 am

It made people happy. How hard would it have been for you to have left it the way it was?

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greg12750
November 18, 2012 at 9:13 am

Google has to rely on it’s users to stay in business. I suggest that we all stop using GOOGLE for a mont, go to another search engine and show BIG BAD GOOGLE just who makes their site and stock function. Let’s pass this around and by the end of the day we can hit over 40 million Google users. BOYCOTT GOOGLE. We the PEOPLE.

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  the doc
  November 30, 2012 at 11:05 pm
  
  Why notfixthings that don’t work well. Like googlearth or buy people search and make it free so youkethe loyal users happy and recruit moreusersinstead of stomping onloyalusers wo loveoldgoogle. Sounds like new Coke allover again
  
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Kevin Dakin
November 17, 2012 at 10:31 pm

I agree with every one else. Why get rid of a good thing when it doesn’t harm anything.

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Michael
November 17, 2012 at 2:23 pm

The richest and most used search engine and they had to down size? When you try to be the best you don’t take away the things that make you the best!Well with Dick Clarke,Hostess and now this I guess the world is really coming to an end!!

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David
November 17, 2012 at 7:28 am

Not a big problem now all things being equal, I’ll just went back to mamma.com. I used mamma for 10yrs and went to google.com but, mamma is just as fast and streamlined.

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paul cramer
November 17, 2012 at 5:17 am

stupid move

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PJ
November 17, 2012 at 1:33 am

I had to move from Hawaii where I lived my whole life to Sacramento, CA
Where I hate living. The picture that I had posted as my back ground made me feel every time I used google that I was back home. Why have you provided us this all of these years and now you aren’t? It is always about the money, what about how this affects us?

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Nancy Anderson
November 16, 2012 at 11:52 pm

I really would like a background on my google homepage.
Why are U doing this???

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Ritika Kapoor
November 16, 2012 at 10:53 pm

If not this then what?

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Ritika Kapoor
November 16, 2012 at 10:52 pm

IF not this then what next?

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frank parrish
November 16, 2012 at 9:44 pm

Good Grief Charlie Brown…What’s next!

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John Beihl
November 16, 2012 at 8:03 pm

I think that your decision to discontinue background images was a very poor choice. There was no reason for it to be discontinued. I enjoyed using the background image as part of my usage of google.