Google unveils new logo; blocks Flash ads

By Barry Eitel

SAN FRANCISCO

Google revealed a brand new version of its iconic logo Tuesday, alongside a series of other changes to its Web search service.

The edit is the fifth revision Google has given its logo since the company launched in 1998. Written in multi-colored sans-serif typeface, it more closely matches the logo of its recently announced holding company, Alphabet.

Led by Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Alphabet was announced last month as a major restructuring of Google that creates separate companies for the business’ diverse interests, which span medicine to self-driving cars.

“Today we’re introducing a new logo and identity family that reflects this reality and shows you when the Google magic is working for you, even on the tiniest screens,” according to an official blog post written by Tamar Yehoshua, vice president of product management, and Bobby Nath, director of user experience.

Along with its Web search logo, the company also changed its mobile app design and other design features.

“We’ve taken the Google logo and branding, which were originally built for a single desktop browser page, and updated them for a world of seamless computing across an endless number of devices and different kinds of inputs (such as tap, type and talk),” Yehoshua and Nath continue.

Google also announced Tuesday it would automatically pause advertising built using the Adobe Flash programming language in its Chrome browser, a move meant to push advertisers away from the bug-ridden and notoriously vulnerable software.

Flash, first shipped in 1997, has come under increasing criticism from tech innovators such as Google and Mozilla for its sluggish speed and security risks.

Beyond banishing Flash, Google also claimed it would punish mobile sites that block content with large ads asking users to install apps.