Google Gothic

If you love the darker side of life then Google gothic will match your persona, meet your Goth needs and generally make you feel right at home. Online. I prefer the light and bright (though predictable) version that we’ve all grown to know and love. However I’m not a Goth and I don’t feel the need to turn the lights down and the atmosphere up.

I’m one of those people that think things really do go bump in the night and I prefer my homepage to look familiar. And non-atmospheric. Although I remember the black Google interface it didn’t appeal to me in the same way as it may have done to my fellow Goth internet users.

In and among, someone decided to create a search engine that’s powered by Google search, with a moody and distinctive twist. Gothic decor thrives all over the interface and (of course) the main theme is black. Lots of black. A moon, a couple of gargoyles and, you know … a castle. From a non-goth perspective it looks pretty morose. From a goth’s perspective I’d imagine it’s not so much creepy as it’s comfortable.

Color me black, stick a bat on me, I’m done. That kind of thing.

To be fair it is a good effort. Google gothic incorporates a directory of sorts, one that’s aimed at the goth culture. Plus there’s a blog, a growing community that includes groups, videos and photos (knock yourself out) and something called ‘my worst day’. Having taken a look I’m supposing that sharing some deep and meaningful (to the one doing the sharing) miserable moment in your life is de rigueur when you’re in the Goth culture?

Whatever, it’s a part of the layout, there if you want to join in, something to ignore if you don’t. If you want a choice (and woot … there is one) you can always try Googoth. Slightly different from the more popular version in that it lacks the atmosphere and design. It also includes what is, in my opinion, a rampant attempt to overstuff a landing page with related keywords.

The bit about keywords will only make sense to an online marketer, but it’s there nonetheless. My money’s on Google Gothic as being the better of the two and it does have a healthy fan page on Facebook. Googoth lacks the class and looks decidedly amateurish in comparison and of course there’s the issue of the missing artifacts.

Where are the gargoyles, the moon, bats and castle? And don’t get me started about the cool red font that’s set as default whenever you type in the search box.