Tech Search

This logo reminds me of the playable version of Pac-Man that Google presented in May, though it doesn't have the same destructive effect on office productivity.

But the Mountain View, Calif., company has yet to explain what it's trying to say with its latest in a long line of custom logos. Today's animation has yet to be mentioned on its official blog, and Google's PR office has not answered an e-mail I sent earlier this morning.

A story in London's Telegraph quotes a company spokeswoman as saying, "Today's doodle is fast, fun and interactive, just the way we think search should be."

That piece suggests that the balls logo celebrates the 12th anniversary of Google's founding. A PC World write-up echoes that speculation but also wonders if the doodle commemorates the 15th anniversary of JavaScript and notes how it's written in the Web's HTML 5 language instead of Adobe Flash.

Maybe Google is just trying to demonstrate that you don't have to use Flash for fancy animated graphics anymore? That's an excellent point, although some users have complained that the bouncing balls bog down their computers. You will, however, need a modern browser to see Google's creation -- i.e., not Microsoft's obsolete Internet Explorer 6 -- and in case you don't have one, Google helpfully provides a link to download its own Chrome browser.