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Why is the Google Bar Black?

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If you look at a Google.com today you’ll notice a new black bar that spans the top of the page. The menu bar isn’t new, but the change in color may be drawing you to the Google menu bar for the first time.

Google Black bar

Why is the Google Bar Black?

Google has just launched Google+, a new social project for many users, which will be using an enhanced black toolbar when it rolls out to all users. It seems that Google has updated the toolbar to black on all Google sites, except Gmail, to prepare users for the new look.

You can see more about what the new toolbar will do in this short Google+ video, or head over to our look at Google+ to learn more about Google’s latest take on social.

When you get access to Google+ the new toolbar will allow you to access new tools including your circle of friends, video hangouts, your Instant Uploads from your Android camera and the social network style Google+ page which will allow you to connect and share with your different groups of friends.

More than Google+

In addition to preparing the masses for Google+, the new color fo the Google toolbar is meant to call attention to the many services Google offers in addition to search and email. Most notably, the color change will draw users’ attention to services like Google Docs, Google Reader News, Shopping and more. Surprisingly, there are a large number of users that don’t know about these handy free apps and services.

Ultimately, the switch to the new Google+ look has the chance to attract the attention of many users to Google’s other services. The more users are attracted to this service, the more likely Google will be to deliver additional features and enhancements to these great tools.

Can you Change the Color of the Google Bar?

UPDATE: Here’s how to turn the black Google Bar back to white or hide it from the homepage. Thanks for the tips in the comments.

For now, you can’t change the color of the Google Bar or Google+ bar. We’re guessing that most users won’t care what color this bar is, but we certainly understand the desire to change the color so that the Google bar is the same color throughout the Google experience.

130 Comments

130 Comments

  1. Dickinsw

    06/29/2011 at 8:52 pm

    I hate the new color.

  2. Dickinsw

    06/29/2011 at 8:52 pm

    I hate the new color.

    • Chris

      06/29/2011 at 10:01 pm

      Change is good. Would you want Google to keep their 1998 design? Should we just get rid of internet all together and speak to our friends in person and get information at the libary by reading outdated books? Should we go back to not having cell phones and we will have to use pay booths (or go really old school and use smoke signals?) should we go back to driving Model Ts? Should we go back to Rabbit ears and a black and white TV? Change is a part of life. Get over it kid. The new look looks awsome and will stay. deal with it

      • Jan

        06/29/2011 at 10:28 pm

        What do any of your points have to do with the topic at hand?  The new toolbar isn’t a huge leap in available technology; it’s just been changed in a way that some people find visually distracting.  I hope that Google decides to include a way for users to change it, because I find it obtrusive.

        • Chris Wagner

          06/30/2011 at 12:04 am

          That and New Coke….   Remember the background when Bing came out.  Sometimes one has to admit that the change may not be right…..  

        • Mark

          06/30/2011 at 5:30 pm

          I agree with Jan…but I would have used the words “visually disgusting”!!

        • Tuddle

          06/30/2011 at 11:07 pm

          Mark, you just misread it.  It says visually “distracting,” not “disgusting.”

        • Diddlydudette

          07/02/2011 at 2:43 pm

          I hate that black bar on Google. If they are testing it out, let all complain because it is distracting. I’m tempted to make yahoo or another search engine my default home page.

        • Ggg

          08/01/2011 at 10:09 pm

          I agree.

          Why does the
          Google change the bar from a better looking color to the distracting color? The
          only consequence from the changing results in loosing your loyalty of your
          customers, who like Google a lot and have been set up the Google as their home
          page.

        • HM

          08/09/2011 at 11:05 pm

          It also stops my favories list from being visible in IE9.  Not being able to see my favorites is a major major flaw.  Google should fix this or junk this feature!

      • Rosadis

        06/30/2011 at 4:15 am

        I liked google with white and colors. Google doesn’t seem like a “black” kind of brand – it’s supposed to be friendly and cheerful. 

        And your argument is complete reductio ad absurdum. Dickinsw stated his personal feelings on a piece of style. 

      • A_Name

        06/30/2011 at 7:02 am

        1: Hell YES!
        2: I don’t have a mobile phone
        3: I know people that still use rabbit ears
        4: If I could use smoke signals, God knows I WOULD!
        5: the black bar on the white background, as apposed to just white, is highly distracting, and I, to, hate it.
        6:Get over it kid. the new look looks terrible, will stay only with many arguments, and no we will not deal with it.
        7: You are the only one here who likes it.
        8: As has already been said, one centimetre x 8 or so centimetres got their colour changed. This is not the internet gods sending their magical new tech.
        9: To Google: I dont care what colour that bar is. You are a search engine. If i want something else, i will go to a different site. I will still only use you to SEARCH!!!!!

        I think thats it. Lol.

      • Dunno

        06/30/2011 at 7:38 am

         Change is only good if there is a benefit. What benefit does this change bring? None. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it

        • Emily

          07/06/2011 at 9:20 am

           I think there is a benefit. Just depends on who that is for. The benefit is that more people notice it therefore more people use the features, therefore more advertising space therefore more money is spent. Thousands will have been spent to research what colour would be best for that bar to make the optimum amount of people see it.

        • Anonymous

          07/30/2011 at 5:43 am

          Emily, kicking people in the balls will get you noticed, but it won’t make you popular.

      • dru

        06/30/2011 at 7:41 am

        changing something for the better is good. If its not broke, don’t fix it. 

      • Matthieu Claude Bernard

        06/30/2011 at 8:33 am

        What are you talking about? Think before you speak. The change of color has made google less user-friendly. If you’re one of the many users who use google’s other search functions you’ll notice it. The search functions on the left where it says “everything, images, videos, news, shopping, more, etc” used to have a color coded icon next to it, now it’s all black. It’s like making traffic lights for pedestrians all the same color, while you could still see the walking/standing little man lighting up, taking away the red and green colors make it so much less convenient.

      • Picnz69046

        06/30/2011 at 8:37 am

        Quite frankly i dont like black so i guess i will have to  go to bing or Opera 

      • Shali

        06/30/2011 at 9:04 am

        You’re not visually impaired.  So don’t call me a kid and tell me to “get over it.”  However, I did find a workaround – anyone using IE8 should check out the Accessibility tab under Internet options – clicking all three of these boxes gave me back control over my Google home page, although most users may be able to get the change they want by using just one or two of the three options. 

        FYI, just because the Internet allows anonymity, that doesn’t mean you need to act like an arrogant little punk with no regard for anyone else’s point of view. 

      • Lussafunt

        06/30/2011 at 11:26 am

        Your attitude is so ‘bodysnatcher’ like. They got you didn’t they.

      • Hoppietoad

        06/30/2011 at 11:48 am

        Change for change’s sake sucks… how stupid.  This new black menu bar is the work of SATAN!  Anyone who “likes” it is an agent from HELL!

      • Tiefling

        06/30/2011 at 11:51 pm

        …Yes, I would like for Google to keep their 1998 Look. If you’re going to improve something actually improve it. “Change” Does not imply “Better” and rarely ever does it.

      • Mikecampiani

        07/01/2011 at 6:41 am

        No, but people should have OPTIONS.  It’s about freedom and choice.  Why should we have to bear what Google forces on us?  I mean really. ……

        And no, it is not awesome and no it won’t stay because those of us who don’t like forced change, have already created a script that allows us to CHOOSE if we want it back the way it was. 

        You deal with it. 

      • Don't Fight Life

        07/01/2011 at 10:27 am

        Thank you Chris for stating the obvious.
        To all the whiny “oh no, it’s distracting” people, you are basically showing how conditioned
        you have made yourselves to the illusion of static web interfaces, or any interfaces for that matter.
        So instead of depending on Google, go and un-condition yourselves, it might not feel pleasant, but it won’t kill you.

        As the man has said, “Change is a part of life. Get over it kid.” and if you don’t like that, guess what, someday something WILL happen to YOU, and there won’t be a damn thing you or anyone around you will be able to do to stop that. In fact, this will happen to all of us, you can either delude yourself into an illusion of control, or you can get wise and start preparing yourself.

        Undoubtedly someone reading this is thinking “Whoa dude, chill out! It’s just a menu bar…”
        Not only is it NOT just a menu bar, it’s everything all around us, it’s the redlight at the corner, it’s that speeding ticket you just got, are getting, or will get, it’s the parking spaces at the mall which are too far away from the stores to be forgetably comfortable. It is NOT JUST A MENU BAR, it’s every god damn thing that will never surrender to your will and will never ever let up it’s relentless march towards disorder, towards chaos, towards entropy, now go and resist that, and pretend such behavior is sane.
        As Alanis Morissette would say “Isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think?”…

        I’v been implying it all along so I’ll just be out with it, “TIME IS OUT TO GET YOU”
        and
        “TIME ALWAYS, ALWAYS WINS”.
        If you disagree, then I invite you to stop time… Well, go on then, go ahead, stop time.

        Furthermore, to all the “It’s not a logical argument” responses, you people are trying to be clever by hair splitting. The topic is “change is inevitable”, the specific manifestation at hand here is Google’s menu bar. The color has changed. It doesn’t have to be innovative technology that “makes your life easier” because everything isn’t about you, if you do not wake up and smell the coffee on this point, one day life will send a bucket of ice-water your way. Why wait for a painful change?

        Primarily, Google is responsible for (in our times) the best search engine on the planet , but they are about much more than search. The Social networks are trying to carve up the internet into pieces over which different interests can hold dominion, Google is at it’s core, all about removing those types of obstacles.

        Google is thus using the contrast of the menu bar to leverage it’s massive traffic towards launching it’s Social service(s). If the menu bar was not distracting, YOU would not notice it, and therefore YOU are being carefully manipulated to act as electrons in a wire, to click on various elements of the menu bar.

        If you still think that everything is all about you, then you’re in for some pain, this is as true today as it was in ancient times. That fact has NOT changed.

        • Muygrape

          07/01/2011 at 7:06 pm

          Bravo sir!  I enjoy reading six paragraph rants that hit on the juicy points  and end with a certain panache that only someone with a solid handle on the language can pull off.  I commend you sir for letting your points be known and entertaining me during the read. 

      • Joe

        07/03/2011 at 9:09 pm

        What about when herpes changed into super herpes STFU Chris. Son!

      • Miscsubbin

        07/18/2011 at 4:41 pm

        Because a change from light to dark is the same as hundreds of years of technological advancements. Some of us think it looks like shit and that has nothing to do with a fear of change. You know why we think that? It’s because it looks like shit and clashes with the overall Google style.

        Maybe you’re right; maybe any change at all it good and we should learn to accept it. How about Google changes the background to a sickening green? After all, it’s just a small style change, and change is good! Without that sickening green background, it would be the equivalent to living in the stone ages!

        Or we could accept the fact that some people like different things and get on with our lives.

      • Anonymous

        07/30/2011 at 5:41 am

        So, if I dump black paint on my car, it’s a new car?  What pointless and stupid argument.

        Speaking of Model Ts, Henry Ford once remarked that his customers “can get cars in any color they want, so long as it’s black.”  GM offered a wide range of colors, and knocked Ford sales down to second place in very short order.  Ford started offering colors t lure customers back, but never did regain the leading spot again.

      • Tracy1ny

        08/02/2011 at 6:56 am

        People are visual… the white screen enhanced google as a homepage option.. the black bar to many is an eye sore for many.. why get over it when people can wait out the removal options or change to Bing. Aesthetics matter. People see their homepage similar to their desktop… some want it uncluttered.

      • myownopinion

        10/21/2011 at 4:43 am

        wow,you’re an obnoxious moron aren’t you,how dare people make a comment that you disagree with,the sheer cheek of these peolpe.Ok everybody,take note of what Chris say’s,as he now speak’s for all of us,his word is law,and to disagree shall be outlawed,,,get a life.

      • Marty

        11/01/2011 at 5:53 pm

        I think you blew that a little out of proportion.  He was simply stating that he disliked the new colour.  Everything described in your comment came from an assumption that the user disliked anything that had to do with change.

      • Teresa

        11/19/2012 at 9:48 am

        The change is not good as I have trouble actually seeing the symbols against the black colour. why werent users consulted abouth this?
        Teresa

      • injiktoplqkto

        12/17/2012 at 2:22 pm

        Sure, circle of life. I will go murder whole your family, and then “GET OVER IT” KID!!!
        Are you egotistical or what? The fact that you want to wear T-shirt does not mean all people have to do that. So, you cannot just accept different opinion and truth besides your own? Looks like YOU are the one who is narrow-minded and subjective.
        Chang is NOT always good. Is the greenhouse effect good? Is the dying good? Is getting sick good? Is beating you up to death good?
        Just don’t push me with examples of life about change!!!
        Why don’t you go in some forest and CHANGE some trees by cutting them off?
        IS that GOOD enough for you???
        mmm smoking cigarettes is very good for you nerves. really?
        If you like everything in this life and every change, then you are just a simple puppet in the hands on …. who knows.

    • Dfjay89

      06/29/2011 at 11:29 pm

      I DON’T EITHER!!!!

    • RisibleM

      06/30/2011 at 2:45 am

      Me too.

    • Kasia

      06/30/2011 at 4:18 am

      I hate the black toolbar! Google is such a TOOL! GIve me back white…Please!

    • Littlecharlie16

      06/30/2011 at 7:45 am

      Try google chrome canary 

    • Joe

      06/30/2011 at 10:44 am

      i wish they would add the option to change the color back. now that i know it’s for Google+ i’m cool with that. i don’t have to be reminded every day that there’s Google+ with a funky looking toolbar. Lemme change it!

    • Melanie_sands

      06/30/2011 at 11:30 am

      It’s to filter out people who have less than 20/20 vision, because they are either old or nerds or people who spend their lives reading books – and thus are also nerds and lame. The grew writing on the black background is for cool people who dress in black from head to toe, like architects. Or gothic teenagers. So maybe we should just DROp Google – especially since it is incapable of updating google groups since June 27th. Google forgot to filter-out itself.
      Melanie

    • Anonymous

      06/30/2011 at 1:54 pm

      I would have gone for the red-blue-green-yellow look, as it’s more modern.

    • Larry

      06/30/2011 at 2:08 pm

      Me too… it looks awful

    • Yeti

      07/03/2011 at 3:41 pm

      I had google news as my home page. I did not want their loathsome black bar. There is a greasemonkey script workaround for Firefox. The other workaround is to say by by google. I did just that.

      • Yeti

        07/03/2011 at 3:46 pm

        In fact the black clashed with my soft hued pale blue and beige theme. It looked awful. Guess what, some of us don’t want all the bells and whistles that come with google anyway. From now on, different home page and different search engine. Satisfied Google? 

  3. Dickinsw

    06/29/2011 at 8:52 pm

    I hate the new color.

  4. Xcvbnm

    06/29/2011 at 9:02 pm

    it looks ghetto

  5. Annoyed by the change of color

    06/29/2011 at 9:04 pm

    The black is stupid, I don’t care about the new features but the black is tacky and needs to be removed

    • Chris

      06/29/2011 at 9:59 pm

      Change is good. Would you want Google to keep their 1998 design? Should we just get rid of internet all together and speak to our friends in person and get information at the libary by reading outdated books? Should we go back to not having cell phones and we will have to use pay booths (or go really old school and use smoke signals?) should we go back to driving Model Ts? Should we go back to Rabbit ears and a black and white TV? Change is a part of life. Get over it kid. The new look looks awsome and will stay. deal with it

      • Lost45bear

        06/30/2011 at 1:24 am

        Hi Chris, this is why all of us over 35 refer to you and your peers as the “zero generation”.  There are more of us than there are of you.  P.S. you even look like a troll….

        • Johnny32

          06/30/2011 at 2:34 am

          I’m a part of that ‘zero generation’ that you referred to, and I think Chris’ comment is dumb, too.

      • Hixguy1

        06/30/2011 at 3:47 am

        Chris,  your argument is that some of us are opposed to change.  That’s hardly the reason and you’re missing the point.  The black color contrasting against the white background is visually ANNOYING TO MANY OF US … kind of like reading all capital letters.  Get it ????

        • Rosadis

          06/30/2011 at 4:17 am

          you’re right, I think, but I realized after I posted that we need to stop feeding this troll. 

  6. Rere

    06/29/2011 at 9:08 pm

    Looks crap

  7. Seafan

    06/29/2011 at 9:09 pm

    “they” took my history and bookmarks tool etc out of full screen view. Hate it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  8. brj

    06/29/2011 at 9:16 pm

    go back to the original…. black is not good,.

  9. Dlira

    06/29/2011 at 9:39 pm

    Ugly! Why can’t the Google people just stick to their simple, winning concept?

  10. GK

    06/29/2011 at 9:44 pm

    Not easy on the eyes.  I hate it. 

  11. shaun haddrill

    06/29/2011 at 9:46 pm

    someone had a bad day at the office and decided to go black…

    • Chris

      06/29/2011 at 10:00 pm

      Change is good. Would you want Google to keep their 1998 design? Should we just get rid of internet all together and speak to our friends in person and get information at the libary by reading outdated books? Should we go back to not having cell phones and we will have to use pay booths (or go really old school and use smoke signals?) should we go back to driving Model Ts? Should we go back to Rabbit ears and a black and white TV? Change is a part of life. Get over it kid. The new look looks awsome and will stay. deal with it

      • jrhartley

        06/29/2011 at 10:41 pm

         And Chris, you certainly don’t like just to say it once do you, matey?

      • Sue

        06/29/2011 at 11:11 pm

        Chris keeps repeating himself, stuck in an infinite loop.

      • ChrisRS

        06/30/2011 at 1:12 am

        Change is good. I suppose that “no change” is “not good”.
        When you change what you want to say it would then be good to post a reply.

        Actually, change is change.

      • ChrisRS

        06/30/2011 at 1:12 am

        Change is good. I suppose that “no change” is “not good”.
        When you change what you want to say it would then be good to post a reply.

        Actually, change is change.

  12. Akotacoyote

    06/29/2011 at 9:56 pm

    I like the black bar

    • JB

      06/30/2011 at 6:36 am

      Me too

  13. Chris

    06/29/2011 at 9:59 pm

    Change is good. Would you want Google to keep their 1998 design? Should we just get rid of internet all together and speak to our friends in person and get information at the libary by reading outdated books? Should we go back to not having cell phones and we will have to use pay booths (or go really old school and use smoke signals?) should we go back to driving Model Ts? Should we go back to Rabbit ears and a black and white TV? Change is a part of life. Get over it kid. The new look looks awsome and will stay. deal with it

    • CoachCarl

      06/30/2011 at 2:42 am

      You’re the most ironic poster I’ve ever read. You keep talking about “change is good” yet YOU’RE NOT CHANGING WHAT YOU’RE SAYING.” I agree that change is good…but dude, change it up. Give us more funny examples of no technology (which for the record, all those changes you listed appear good, but they have ripple effects which have devastated our culture in one way or another…regardless i still like my microwave). 

  14. Nursie

    06/29/2011 at 10:16 pm

    this new black bar sucks!!!  Just as bad when Yahoo changed their layout.  Why do companies do this??? Something works well, user friendly,people are familiar with something and rely on its simplicity…so they think “LETS CHANGE IT!!!” DUMB DUMB DUMB!!!

    • Emily

      07/06/2011 at 9:24 am

      Things getting noticed = more advertising. end of. :)

  15. Annmarie Vancoillie

    06/29/2011 at 10:20 pm

    I don’t like the new look.  Why not make the apps bigger, so people notice them more. Not black.  I like colour.  I love Google though. Especially pacman. 

  16. Pfieldhouse

    06/29/2011 at 10:24 pm

    Sorry Google but that is a No No. I hate the black bar. I use a theme in IGoogle and the black bar has made the menu harder to see. Leave well alone or at least give us the option to go back to the original colour. Oh, and Chris, have you got nothing better to do than copy and paste the same inane comments!

  17. Samogosaric

    06/29/2011 at 11:03 pm

    “We’re guessing that most users won’t care what color this bar is”Guess again. I’ve just notice it and in 10 seconds I have 10 tabs open to see if there’s a way to change it back. The thing is – internet makes us feel more and more free, free to use it the way we want to use it. However if you make a decision for me, guess what, I’ll look for ways to go around. it. Changes should go in the way of giving more options to the user, so black bar is tolerable only if I can change to yellow, magenta, green or back to white. Because I hate somebody making changes for me, I’ll will try to find any way possible to go around it or even stop using Google services altogether – if this is not reverted back to previous state or giving me an option to do so. OR if somebody doesn’t make a browser plug-in in near future to get rid of this nuisance. In essence: I feel a lack of respect

     “the new color fo the Google toolbar is meant to call attention to the many services Google offers in addition to search and email”
    It’s advertisement? One more reason I need to add-block it as soon as possible. 

    “Surprisingly, there are a large number of users that don’t know about these handy free apps and services.”
    Buy an advertisement like anybody else (and prepare to be add-blocked). 

    “The more users are attracted to this service, the more likely Google will be to deliver additional features and enhancements to these great tools.”
    The more you’ll try to influence my behaviour without respecting my privacy while browsing the more likely I’ll ignore your agenda all together and look for other providers. Maybe I don’t care about addition features, maybe I do, but please ask me nicely, don’t intrude by basically putting an advert on every search page. Put a square somewhere next to which it says: “I have read about google’s new doodads, I looked at them, now please leave me alone” which I can click and get back to my business as usual.  

  18. Christian

    06/29/2011 at 11:32 pm

    It sucks. They could have just added shadowed line to make the bar border so it looks like a bar, without making it black. This was proof that google does not make good decisions all the time anyway.

  19. Test

    06/29/2011 at 11:43 pm

    It looks very unpleasant to me, plus I spent ages trying to work out if my browser was broken

  20. Test

    06/29/2011 at 11:45 pm

    My mum is partially sighted and reading is best when there is a clear contrast. She probably wont be able to see the menus now.

  21. Jesse

    06/30/2011 at 1:26 am

    This is all a marketing ploy.  They are using the change in colour it to draw attention to the menu bar,
    and will revert to white later as that will also draw more attention and return things to “normal”. 
    Otherwise many users might not notice the changes. :-)

  22. Oria

    06/30/2011 at 1:40 am

    Black is incredibly distasteful on websites these days. Especially black and red. Ugh google, get some new colors, yeah? It’s way too dull for such a colorful logo!

  23. Michael

    06/30/2011 at 1:41 am

    I kinda like the black bar. But that’s just an opinion, everybody has them :)

  24. Michael

    06/30/2011 at 1:41 am

    I kinda like the black bar. But that’s just an opinion, everybody has them :)

  25. Jon

    06/30/2011 at 1:53 am

    Google seems to be making their navigation menus stand out more. For example, the bigger icons on mobile (great because now I can actually touch what I want to) and a black menu bar…

    The black is nice, but I don’t know about the red! Maybe they’ll change it to that nice blue color they’ve been using. Looking at the first image, it appears the bar is transparent without color — it would make sense for it to be black then, and hopefully it stays there like Twitter’s navigation does when you scroll?

  26. mark

    06/30/2011 at 1:58 am

    the idea of google and its success is its simplicity – the screen is not full of crap….so keep it simple and get rid of the black tool bar or at least allow us to go back as before….it is distracting in a bad way….i too spent ages trying to get rid of it or change the colour.

  27. Amdr24

    06/30/2011 at 2:22 am

    I hate it – Give me back the original bar.  Stop messing with me stuff!

  28. freeballer

    06/30/2011 at 2:46 am

    Oh god. Please, anything but black.

  29. Jeremy Current

    06/30/2011 at 3:23 am

    I hate it. It looks like a virus. 

  30. Kerameya

    06/30/2011 at 4:30 am

    The black toolbar strikes me as the latest silly move by Google. This is a dumbing down and a slumming down. I use Google for serious research not entertainment. So enough of the rabbits, bouncing balls and cutesy graphics as well on every obscure holiday ! Google,  please work on something constructive, like continuing to improve the search engine.

  31. trollface

    06/30/2011 at 4:49 am

    googles racist

  32. Meh

    06/30/2011 at 5:43 am

    get rid of the black bar, get rid of the bar all together. Just give me one button that says “more”  that will allow me to access the other parts of google. that will be enough

  33. Zacchig

    06/30/2011 at 5:44 am

    Instead of “hanging out” with our friends online, why don’t we just go see them in person? Technology is trying to replace human interactions and it’s going to make the younger generations less capable of dealing with people face to face. 

    • Gran Torino

      06/30/2011 at 6:07 am

      Get out and touch someone, then!!

    • Emily

      07/06/2011 at 9:32 am

      I dont think technology is trying to replace human interactions,I think it enables interaction that may not have othewise taken place, but it is the people who are using it excessively. Its moderation, theres much more networking and interactions now thatcould never have been possible face-to-face and although I agree it maybe taking place of some social interactions that really should be personal and face to face, thats not just the development of the technology,that can be everything from how a kid is introduced to outdoor activities, family interactions,school fetes, kids clubs. I hope you see what i am getting at and not just putting across an argument for the sake of it!

  34. Royce

    06/30/2011 at 6:26 am

    Look at the bottom of google!!! It has freakin links! FAIL! 
    They need to remove it, google is getting cheap,

  35. S3rvana

    06/30/2011 at 6:56 am

    Black google depresses me… =(

  36. Spud

    06/30/2011 at 7:44 am

    they also took away some features in searches.  I noticed the Exact image size seach is gone, now its just large, medium or icon… no option anymore to set specific sizes, although they have the ability to print the sizes on the thumbnails… Stupid idea to remove that, makes things much harder to find.

  37. Sandos

    06/30/2011 at 8:14 am

    It looks like the toolbar takes up more screen space too. Bad, ugly

  38. Jan

    06/30/2011 at 8:30 am

    In firefox the solution is simple:
    Install the add-on ‘Greasemonkey’  (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/greasemonkey/)
    This addon is capable of changing webpages through user-scripts.
    Go to https://userscripts.org/scripts/show/105735 and install the script to change to google-blackbar to its nice white color.
    (It should also work with chrome and opera.
    Greasemonkley for IE is also available: https://www.gm4ie.com/download.html
    but I have not tested that.)

    Life is good again.

  39. Nicx

    06/30/2011 at 8:36 am

    yeah… I though my computer was broken… blond moment there!  Google was having the blond moment, not me!

  40. Morgan

    06/30/2011 at 9:53 am

    I loathe the new black bar. I used to love having the Google screen as my home page, but now I can’t see it without cringing. I can’t imagine how anyone at Google could think of this change as an aesthetic improvement.

  41. Morgan

    06/30/2011 at 9:53 am

    I loathe the new black bar. I used to love having the Google screen as my home page, but now I can’t see it without cringing. I can’t imagine how anyone at Google could think of this change as an aesthetic improvement.

  42. Quylej

    06/30/2011 at 10:37 am

    Just allow us to hide the toolbar, thats all, just allow us to hide the dam thing.

  43. Hiphilt

    06/30/2011 at 10:50 am

    Changing the look of an old friend like Google home page is unacceptable. Especially without notifying al its users first. Just stop using Google as a protest they will soon put it back to how it was when they lose advertising revenue

  44. bobbtodd

    06/30/2011 at 10:51 am

    I agree with the majority here, the new bar sucks. Thank you Samogosaric for the Greasemonkey link. I didn’t even know that was possible, I’ll be watching that site closely from now on to see what else comes up. Still, I would much prefer to remove the added script and be able to change the color via an option.
    I trust google, I have faith in google. All mighty google will give us our option.
    Our Google, Who art on Internet , hallowed be  Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done,  on earth, as it is in Internet. Give us this day our  daily search results and forgive us our un-safe image searches as we  forgive those who search against us; and lead us  not into temptation, but deliver us from lack of options and black menu bars. Amen.

  45. Leyland384

    06/30/2011 at 12:00 pm

    Just like their obnoxious “Fade” effect, the black also sucks big time

  46. Leave Blank

    06/30/2011 at 12:53 pm

    so ugly!!!!! and hurts my eyes! it would be nice if Google can focus on bring real results on searches, Google is very not useful this days, if you search for anything if will bring you crappy websites on first 100 pages, so.. is really not very useful anymore, and they knows it… that’s why they put that +1 crap, hoping that people will do their job instead, so.. web sux, i think that we all need a second version, like zzz.mysite.com :)) www became something like coca cola.. dhl .. ebay .. facebook.. and some othe big stuff, the rest.. is just paying cash to hosting companies

  47. Scotty7

    06/30/2011 at 1:01 pm

    Black bar is terrible

  48. Emma B

    06/30/2011 at 1:09 pm

    I hate it. It doesn’t look like Google. I like big change, not small. If you’re going to change it, might as well change other things too. The bar just takes away the Google-ness of Google, which is hard to do.

  49. R Arnal

    06/30/2011 at 1:52 pm

    Please allow users to change the color of the black bar.  It’s annoying and hard to read.

  50. Raja

    06/30/2011 at 2:28 pm

    i Hate Black Bar

  51. Anon

    06/30/2011 at 3:06 pm

    Hate it. Also, it’s not just about longevity. I use gmail and google because I like the feel/look of it. Changing that look changes my experience and I immediately want to use a different service for my mail and searching. If it were customizable (LIKE EVERY OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA SITE EVER) then I wouldn’t mind.

  52. Anon

    06/30/2011 at 3:07 pm

    *Longevity? no I meant Continuity. Lol.  Morning brain!!

  53. John

    06/30/2011 at 3:20 pm

    What you forget is that us old-timers have trouble viewing the dull grey print in the black background.  The only choice that is BOLD white is “Web”.  What about the others?  Certainly a company that can program a guitar can bold the choices when you point to them! 

  54. guest

    06/30/2011 at 3:27 pm

  55. guest

    06/30/2011 at 3:48 pm

    and, um.. the reason ‘web’ is bold and white is because it’s the option you’re on.

  56. Christie

    06/30/2011 at 5:49 pm

    Just like everyone else, I don’t like the new black bar. I loved the cheerful colorful look Google used to have. The black look is dreary and depressing. That shouldn’t be Google’s style. I love Google and is the only search engine I use, which is why I’m complaining about this.

  57. Burglar

    06/30/2011 at 6:16 pm

    I like it !

  58. Andrew Payne

    06/30/2011 at 6:51 pm

    I have always suggested Google as a home page to friends, associates and customers because of the clean, no frills (junk) appearance and the fast load speed because of that lack of junk.
    Now here we go. First the black bar. Next some extra features and “conveniences”. Pretty soon, we might as well use the incredibly slow MSN or Yahoo as our home page. 
    Sorry, I’ll take fast over pretty or convenient any day.
    Personally, I’d like to find a search engine that just has one line on it labelled Search and a spot for favorites.

  59. Taylormade377

    07/01/2011 at 12:41 pm

    I switched to bing i hate it so much. The whole reason I used google over yahoo was because it had such a clean appearance. Im done with it. Bing from here on in

  60. b-0-m

    07/01/2011 at 7:13 pm

    you can change the color if you are using firefox, install the addon stylish and install this style: https://userstyles.org/styles/50112/google-bar-change-color?r=1309544772

  61. Anonymous

    07/02/2011 at 11:09 pm

     re.: ” We’re guessing that most users won’t care what color this bar is” …. 
    Not in This User’s case!!..

    Lighting & Color affect mood, and while I like plenty of sites with a striking, dark color schemes — just seeing that bold, black bar across the top of my search page is a HUGE turn off! 

    It’s strange but it really gives a me negative vibe.
    And part of what I dislike most about it is how the White Text over the Black Bar isn’t even White.. it’s a kind of Fuzzy, blurry, off-white! 

    Ugh!!  It’s just a mess. Google has unwittingly triggered a visceral response in a lot of people.
    I Really, Really Hate it!

    • Janet Terry

      07/17/2012 at 8:01 pm

      I will no longer use google. Don’t they understand that asthtetics are important? I don’t want to see an ugly black bar in my browser.

  62. Tim

    07/05/2011 at 3:52 pm

    You see what happened when Myspace turned black!

  63. Laura Evans

    07/06/2011 at 12:11 pm

    Google’s black navigation bar doesn’t look great to me. I prefer the white they had.
    If I wanted a Google black screen I would just go all black with Blackl https://www.blackl.com/black-google.html . If I am not using a black Google I want a white one with a white bar.
    Hope they change it back soon.

  64. Jim C

    07/07/2011 at 7:11 pm

    I hate the black bar simply becasue you cannot read the words inside the bar, so it’s pretty useless.
    I’m thinking of dropping Google and switching to another search engine if this bar isn’t fixed soon,  I think other will do the same.
    JIm

  65. Changjun Qi

    07/09/2011 at 5:35 am

    It’s disgusting.

  66. Lambchop

    07/22/2011 at 7:02 am

    I hate this new black bar. It’s ugly and distracting. It’s stressful to look at!

  67. Its159am

    08/18/2011 at 3:00 pm

    If you guys find the black bar obtrusive or distracting, then stop using google. Simple as that.

  68. Dewberry

    09/13/2011 at 4:46 am

    Haha, big deal, it can be changed, so many whiners that need to get a life!

  69. ky

    09/15/2011 at 12:02 pm

    I don’t mind the black ne, but it disturbes me that I have a light grey with blue links when I have custom gmail look with a dark brown background. WHY?

  70. Jerre

    11/28/2011 at 7:08 am

    We do not want a BLACKTOOL-BAR, we wish you would stop making it so, we have enough trouble seeing it as it is. Please change it back to White and leave it that way (WHITE)..

  71. CeeBee

    11/30/2011 at 5:42 pm

    It’s horrible, so hard to read. Put it back!!

  72. Irate user

    12/11/2012 at 1:40 am

    WHAT IDIOT DECIDED TO CHANGE THE COLOUR OF THE GOOGLE TOOLBAR TO BLACK???? How morbid is that?? You say it changed colour back in June 2012 …..well I’ve got news for you….I bought my iPad in September 2012 and the google toolbar was blue right up until about half an hour ago today (11 th December 2012) when it suddenly changed to black!!!! How come every other computer or laptop in our house still has a blue toolbar???
    So you are wrong, whoever you are……we do care about what colour it is !

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