Google HomePage

goo·gle, verb meaning to use the Google search engine to find information about a particular topic on the Internet. “Go Google it! Don’t ask me!” You might hear someone say that these days. But when did “Google” become a verb? Well, it all started in 2006 when the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam Webster Collegiate decided to add the word to its dictionaries. You may think that this would be a claim to fame for Google but it is not so. In fact, having the word “Google” in the dictionary could be one of the worse things to happen for the company. By having the word in the dictionary and used commonly as a verb Google could potentially lose its trademark over the term “Google”. This is because, in legal terms, you cannot trademark a generic term such as a verb.

Google is so protective of its trademark and the Google homepage that it has written blog posts on the company’s BlogSpot blog indicating the correct usage of the term “Google”. The company has also issued cease and desist letters to organizations that utilize “Google” as a generic term.

As everyone knows Google is the search czar of the world. However, it was not always that way. In the 1990s the major search engine was Yahoo!. How many of you remember that? Anyway, here are a few snapshots of the Google homepage over the years.

There are many guides to making Google your homepage but the easiest way is to go to this link and click the Make Google My Homepage button. After clicking the button you will be prompted to make Google your only homepage or as one of many tabs when you open your browser.

Did you know you can personalize your Google Homepage? This personalized homepage allows you customize the Google Homepage to your liking. You can choose what information you want to see such as the current weather in your city or stock quotes. Below are the instructions on how to go about setting up your Google personalized homepage.

1. Go to Google Personalized Homepage URL.
2. At first this page will look very boring and bland but we're going to change that! Click on the "Select theme" link (it's on the right-side of the screen). Here you can choose a theme of your liking to spruce things up a bit.
3. Next we want to do some more customizing. So we're going to click "Add Gadgets." Here you will be able to add gadgets such as news, etc.