Google finds a new look

The new Google logo
The new Google logo

Google has unveiled the biggest change to its logo in its 17-year history.

It's the sixth logo the internet search giant has had since launching in 1998, and the first to go sans-serif.

Visitors to the Google homepage today are treated to one of the company's signature animations, or 'doodles', which shows a hand erasing the old logo, writing the new one in chalk.

"This isn't the first time we've changed our look and it probably won't be the last, but we think today's update is a great reflection of all the ways Google works for you across Search, Maps, Gmail, Chrome and many others," Google's Tahar Yehoshua and Bobby Nath wrote on the company's blog.

"We think we've taken the best of Google (simple, uncluttered, colourful, friendly), and recast it not just for the Google of today, but for the Google of the future."

The blue, lower-case 'g' that represented Google is now an upper-case, four-colour 'G'.

"We've taken the Google logo and branding, which were originally built for a single desktop browser page, and updated them for a world of seamless computing across an endless number of devices and different kinds of inputs (such as tap, type and talk). "It doesn't simply tell you that you're using Google, but also shows you how Google is working for you. For example, new elements like a colourful Google mic help you identify and interact with Google whether you're talking, tapping or typing."

The change comes only a few weeks after boss Larry Page announced Google would soon become a subsidiary of Alphabet, a new company which would own not just Google, but other ventures not directly related to its internet-based services.

The last change Google made to its logo was in 2013, when it shifted from faux-3D to a flat look.

The new logo, already present on the web, will be rolled out to the company's various products "soon".

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