What was Google’s first foray into the literary canon? The first US Google Doodle based on an author was for Arthur Conan Doyle and his classic Sherlock Holmes series, doodled on May 21, 2006.
The Doodle features the classic multicolored Google logo, but instead of the middle “ogl”, a shadowy figure in a classic Sherlock Holmes trench coat, pipe, and rain hat, examines a series of footprints with a magnifying glass below the yellow light of a tall streetlamp. The Doodle celebrated the 147th birthday of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the classic British detective series.
So what was Google’s motivation? This is a classic novel by all standards. Perhaps the symbol of the magnifying glass, still featured on the search engine, evoked Google’s hope that people would use its website to solve their own mysteries through searching the Internet. If nothing else, the circular footprints, curved pipe, and tall streetlamp provide necessary references to the “o,” “g,” and “l” needed to spell the search engine’s name.
