Google's John Lennon Doodle

Google's doodle that celebrates the 70th anniversary of John Lennon's birthday doesn't seem special until you click on it.

Google embeds a short animated video for John Lennon's "Imagine". After using bigger doodles, image animations, particle simulations and JavaScript games, it's time for video doodles.

Unfortunately, clicking on the YouTube video doesn't send you to the search results page for [John Lennon], but Google used a trick: after playing the video, you're automatically redirected to the search results.

If you don't see the doodle on Google's homepage, go to Google Australia or Google India.

Google's Particles Doodle

Google's homepage shows another animated doodle, but this time Google doesn't offer any information about the doodle. The homepage animates some particles which are used to create the Google logo.

It's very likely that the interactive doodle celebrates Google's 12th birthday. Google usually celebrates its birthday on September 7th or September 27th, depending on the year. "Google opened its doors in September 1998. The exact date when we celebrate our birthday has moved around over the years, depending on when people feel like having cake."

Happy Birthday, Google!

Here are Google's previous birthday doodles:

Google Doodle Notifier

If you picked a background image for Google's homepage, you probably noticed that Google uses a special white logo. Unfortunately, the customized homepage can't show the regular Google logo and Google doodles for special events.

That's the reason why Google shows a small notification icon next to the logo when there's a doodles you can't see.

When you click on the colorful icon, Google shows the doodle on a white background.

I wonder if Google will use full-page doodles for users who picked a background image.