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Not so sweet on 'Googe' Valentine's Day strawberry

Michelle Meyers
Michelle Meyers wrote and edited CNET News stories from 2005 to 2020 and is now a contributor to CNET.
Michelle Meyers
2 min read

Google's replacement of the letters "g" and "l" in its name with a chocolate-dipped strawberry in honor of Valentine's Day has got bloggers keying away, even if to write that the whole thing is a nonissue.

googe

The controversy, at least to some, is that the berry on Google's home page looks like a "g," but not a "gl," and thus makes Google look like "Googe." It's got some wondering whether Google misspelled its own name.

Google denies any such spelling error, arguing that the green stem is supposed to be the "l," which is normally green. Perhaps, but the search giant shouldn't be messing with online scribes on a day that--despite its association with love and kindness--for some is more aligned with sappy cliche and forced commercialism.

Blog community response:

"When you look at the logo, you may worry that we forgot our name overnight, skipped a letter or have decided that 'Googe' has a better ring to it. None of the above. I just know that those with true romance and poetry in their soul will see the subtlety immediately. And if you're feeling grouchy today, may I suggest eating a strawberry."
--Google Blog

"Oopsie! Looks like the Googlers were too busy Razr-scooting around the pinball machine this morning to remember the 'l' in their Valentine's Day-themed logo."
--Gawker

"A bit of Valentine's Day e'gao. Some may argue that the strawberry is both a 'g' and an 'l', but as of 5:30 p.m. Wednesday Beijing time, Google's Valentine's Day logo sure looks like 'Googe.' That's 1:30 a.m. in Pacific Standard--perhaps someone was working a bit too late."
--The China Analyst