If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
So why is Google thinking of changing the color of its search results from blue to black?
“We’re always running many small scale experiments with the design of the results page,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement emailed to CNNMoney.
Google said it was testing the new appearance on a small number of users, but didn’t explain why.
The feedback so far hasn’t been very encouraging. Several users vented their frustration in online forums.
At least 20 discussion threads about the change had appeared on Google’s official help forum by Tuesday morning. Most people posting there were trying to figure out how to get their blue results back.
“I don’t know why all of a sudden my Google Search Results color changed to black…my eyes do hurt from this and I will consider using Firefox & Bing if there is no answer to this question,” a user called Bobby_Bill wrote.
“Me too! I hope this is not the new default. I HATE it. Can we at least CHANGE the color?,” Matthew Hawn posted.
Google appeared to concede that the test was not a resounding success. “We’re not quite sure that black is the new blue,” the Google spokesperson said.
Hyperlinks are typically displayed in blue, turning purple once they’ve been clicked on. Why that particular color was chosen is a bit of a mystery.
One explanation is that blue was the darkest color after black, and so would be easy to see. Our theories say blue was chosen because green and red are the two colors most often affected by colorblindness, while most people can see blue.
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