Picture that: Google lets you add your photos to the iconic search page

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Google will be letting people personalise the iconic Google Search home page by allowing them to add pictures of their own choice as the background.

Called Freeze-Frame, the picture-adding function will be rolled out over the next few days, starting in the States. A small button will appear at the bottom right hand side of the homepage letting people click and personalise. You can upload picture from your own computer, from your Picasa account or from a selection of pictures on a public gallery hosted by Picasa.

Microsoft’s search engine Bing has used pictures as one way to distinguish itself from Google – arguably enhancing its reputation as a good search engine for pictures (something we wrote about back here). This will add a little Bing-like colour to Google’s famously simple homepage.

A prize to the first person to do something funny with the placement of the search box. Putting it over someone’s mouth? I see potential here.

Anna Leach