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Google's holiday doodle serenades with 'Jingle Bells'

The latest holiday-themed doodle ditches last year's abstraction in favor of simple iconography including snowflakes and Santa, putting together a familiar jingle with glowing lights.

Josh Lowensohn Former Senior Writer
Josh Lowensohn joined CNET in 2006 and now covers Apple. Before that, Josh wrote about everything from new Web start-ups, to remote-controlled robots that watch your house. Prior to joining CNET, Josh covered breaking video game news, as well as reviewing game software. His current console favorite is the Xbox 360.
Josh Lowensohn
2 min read
Google's doodle for the 2011 holidays.
Google's doodle for the 2011 holidays. Google

As it's done in years past, Google's put a bit of holiday cheer on its usually stark white search page.

The new design went live today ahead of Christmas. The doodle changes colors and plays "Jingle Bells" after users light up each note with their mouse. Clicking on the page itself does a search for "happy holidays."

The design itself is strongly reminiscent of the glowing Lite-Brite toys, which light up in various colors after being poked through thick, black construction paper. Once animated it looks like plain old holiday lights.

Last year's doodle was a bit more abstract, with a smattering of paintings that could be hovered over to enlarge. Together they spelled out Google, though at first glance looked more like a funky art exhibit. This time around, it's a fixture of easily identifiable holiday symbology, with snowflakes, Santa Claus, bells, snowman, candle, and wrapped present.

Here's what it looks like in action, courtesy of YouTuber MrDwiky01: