Putting the "G" in Fugly
When the site first appeared and all the cool kids were using it, I could forgive the logo. I thought, hmm, ugly and dumb but they’re just starting out and they’ll see the error of their ways and do something about that soon enough, get someone who knows a little about design and logos and suchlike to touch that sucker up, tighten the screws, slap a new coat of paint on the thing. I’m sure it’s like a temporary deal, something maybe that the owner drew on the back of a napkin or something.
I think I agree with everything Lance says about Google having an embarrassingly amateurish logo. I’m all for the charm of something being homemade, but after the first, I dunno, five billion dollars in valuation, somebody should take the time to make a proper logo.
You could probably extrapolate some big-picture “Are the geeks going to suffer long term because they don’t have a proper respect for marketing, branding and communications?” think-piece out of this, but for now I’d just settle for something more attractive on the Google homepage.