Will Google Change Its Background Color to Save Energy?

Taylor — Tue, 29 May 2007 20:05:50 +0000

With energy conservation at the forefront of most recent debates, the idea or rather the theory has been brought to the table that a predominately black computer screen uses less energy than a predominately white screen. This theory was originally introduced by the Energy Analysis Department at the University of California Berkeley and has more recently been brought to our attention by Blackle.

Blackle is just a search page, but instead of having a white background like Google, it uses a black background with grayish font. Although it may be slightly more difficult to read, Blackle claims that “a black version of the Google search engine would save a fair bit of energy due to the popularity.” A blog entry titled Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year, goes more in-depth into these claims.

But I can’t help but wonder how energy use will influence web design in the future. Will designers opt for a more energy friendly predominately black page? Or will readability and the love of creative and colorful design win out? My guess is that just like energy efficient cars, it will take a while before function wins out over good design.

How Websites Are Successful

Taylor — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 18:38:16 +0000

Anyone can create a website and put it on the world wide web, the key is learning how to get noticed, how to have a successful website. Working for a web design company, I have become increasingly familiar with the steps anyone must take in order to achieve success on the web.

These five things are key:

brand
traffic
conversions
retention
the process

Here is an incredibly informative post detailing these Five Cornerstones of Successful Websites.

Taylor Custer » Website Design

Will Google Change Its Background Color to Save Energy?

How Websites Are Successful