Google Shares the Love Without a Capital L

In usual Google fashion, the company's logo was today decked out for a Valentine's celebration with a strawberry drizzled in milk and white chocolate forming a decadent "g." But after a few visits to the site -- and some careful inspection -- something seemed amiss. Look closely at the logo and see if you can figure it out. Is the little stem on the strawberry supposed to play a role in the logo? I'm not so sure, but maybe that will be Google's response.

At first glance Google's sweet-looking logo looks all of a special treat, but look closely and you may read "Googe"-not Google. A small snafu in the quest to garner eyeballs and votes. The snappy holiday-themed (and sometimes otherwise inspired logos) have sparked interest over the last several years and have even spawned competitions hosted by bloggers and fans around the world to determine which company has the best artwork.

The logo competitions boil down to two competitors: Google and Yahoo!, the search engine rival, whose famous logo has become a household name. In the game of advertising getting your logo "seen" -- and the case of Yahoo!, heard -- is the secret to success. So you can imagine the opportunity presented with each passing holiday, and a chance to grab the attention of bloggers, searchers and media.

In 1995, after Yahoo!'s initial launch getting the logo in front of consumers was the company's main priority. The original purple logo featuring "Y!" made its way across the country on posters and ice cream containers, in commercials and even found a home as a tattoo on the backside of Yahoo!'s financial pages senior producer in its early days (rumor has it has lost a bet). And while most branding efforts focus on consistency, Yahoo! and Google have found a niche in frequent rebranding. What Yahoo! does, Google must do and vice versa.

Earlier this year Google honored painter Edvard Munch with a special logo featuring a rendition of one the artist's most famous paintings. The web was abuzz with chatter about this tribute. And with contests sponsored for everyone from bloggers to school-aged children, both the Google and Yahoo! logos have become cultural icons. Do you Yahoo!?

During Christmas at the end of 2006 both sites featured holiday-themed logos that presented daily story lines. Clicking on Yahoo!'s logo opened a new holiday section with special stories, shopping information and other goodies. Click the Yahoo! logo this Valentine's Day for "Valentine's Day, A Tribute to Love," another special holiday page for those of us looking for love, love stories or last minute shopping ideas.

These companies have created popular eye candy for graphics-hungry fans. And what better treat for Valentine's Day (minus an "l").

Happy Valentine's Day!