iGoogle Redirects to the Google Homepage

As promised last year, iGoogle will no longer be available after November 1st. That's today. Google kept its promise and iGoogle now redirects to the Google homepage: http://www.google.com/webhp?nord=1.

iGoogle's original name was Google Personalized Homepage, back in 2005 when the service was launched. It was an extension of the Google homepage that allowed you to add gadgets, feeds and themes. The Google dashboard was a great way to keep up with the things that matter to you: news, weather, mail, calendar, bookmarks, to-do lists and more. These use cases are better served by mobile apps and browser extensions. In many ways, they replace iGoogle gadgets.

iGoogle in 2007:

iGoogle in 2012:

The last day of iGoogle:

The truth is that very few iGoogle gadgets were updated by their developers and many gadgets were broken or didn't work well. Google didn't create iGoogle gadgets for new services like Google+ or Google Keep. iGoogle tried to stay relevant by adding features like social gadgets and canvas view, but they were tied to projects like OpenSocial or Google Reader (discontinued).

Google Now is probably Google's replacement for iGoogle. While Google is the only one that can create cards, a Google Now API could change that. Google Now shows information that's likely to be relevant when you need it using various sources like: Gmail, Google Calendar, Google News, Web History, location services. Google also shows gadget-like cards for searches related to calculations, unit conversions, weather, your mail and much more.

If you still want to use a service like iGoogle, I recommend 2 personalized homepages: Netvibes and My Yahoo. They have fewer gadgets than iGoogle, but they're pretty good. My Yahoo even imports your iGoogle settings (the iGoogle settings page is still available).

iGoogle's Final Countdown

iGoogle now shows a message like this when you visit the site: "iGoogle will be shutting down in 21 days. Be sure to take a few minutes to backup any important data you may have stored in iGoogle."

The "Learn more" link sends you to this page which explains why "iGoogle will be retired on November 1, 2013". The most popular alternative to iGoogle seems to be Netvibes. Back in 2006, I wrote a post about Netvibes and called it the best personalized homepage. iGoogle has improved a lot since then, while Netvibes hasn't. Netvibes doesn't offer a lot of gadgets, but you can still add feeds, search gadgets, weather, bookmarks, calendars, mail, to-do lists.

A site that looks more like iGoogle and supports iGoogle gadgets is igHome. It's ad-supported and less polished than iGoogle, but it's pretty good.

There's also the new My Yahoo, which has a lot in common with iGoogle. "The refreshed design gives you a sleek, tailor-made starting page to access your email accounts, calendars, stock portfolio, sports scoreboard, weather, Flickr, and of course your favorite content - from Yahoo and around the Web. You can also choose from a range of cool new themes from designers like Oscar de la Renta, Rachel Zoe and Jenni Kayne."

Somewhere between the rise of mobile apps and the fall of desktop gadgets, personalized homepages became less important. Your smartphone has better apps than iGoogle's gadgets, it's always with you and it's better suited for showing information at a glance. There's also Google Now that anticipates your searches, browsers have "new tab" pages you can customize using extensions, smartphones have cool lock screens and some of them support widgets, while wearable devices promise even better real-time updates.

The most popular iGoogle gadgets? Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Translate, Google Map Search, Sports Scores, NYTimes.com, Facebook for iGoogle, Movies, To-Do List, Google News, Google Finance Portfolios, Weather, Sticky Note. Most of them have less than 1 million users and were updated a long time ago. Their corresponding mobile apps have a lot more users and are frequently updated.

iGoogle's New Interface

Google's personalized homepage has a new interface inspired by Google+. There's a prominent button for adding gadgets, a unified menu for gadgets that's hidden until you mouse over a gadget, an option to hide the sidebar and a bigger search box that supports voice search if you use Chrome. The links to the advanced search page and language tools page have been removed, while the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button is only displayed below the list of suggestions,



{ Thanks, Tim. }

Google Tests a New Layout for iGoogle

There's a new iGoogle interface that's only available to a small number of users. Google dropped the rounded corners and only shows the controls when you mouse over a gadget. Another change is that gadgets have a small icon next to the title.

Avery M., who sent this tip, noticed the new interface when visiting iGoogle Japan, but that could be a coincidence.



{ Thanks, Avery. }

iGoogle now replacing the Start Page

The Start Page is being automatically be converted to iGoogle. The Start Page gadgets your users have configured will be migrated to iGoogle pages, after which users can modify their iGoogle gadgets, tabs and themes. Your Start Page web address will automatically redirect your users to iGoogle.

Editions included:
Standard, Premier, Education and Partner Editions

Languages included:
All languages supported by the Start Page

How to access what's new:
To reach iGoogle, visit http://partnerpage.google.com/yourdomain.com. Be sure to replace "yourdomain.com" with your actual domain name.

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Google Classic Plus

The new feature that lets you add a background image to Google's homepage has a name reminiscent of Microsoft: "classic plus". When you click on the link to iGoogle, there's an option to switch to the classic homepage. Now the classic homepage has an important feature that was only available in iGoogle: themes.


It will be interesting to see if Google adds more features from iGoogle to the "classic plus" homepage. Google could add some simplified gadgets that show if you have new messages in your Gmail inbox, new events in your Google Calendar agenda, gadgets for weather and news. Since Google only shows the search box and the two search buttons if you don't move your mouse, the gadgets wouldn't clutter the homepage.

Google Search Integrates With iGoogle

Google Search tests a new feature that lets you add an iGoogle gadget corresponding to a search result. For now, the link "add to iGoogle" is displayed for a small number of sites (BBC, New York Times, National Geographic, TVGuide.com, NPR, Flixster, Epicurious) and it's not clear if publishers can enable it.


After clicking on the link "add to iGoogle" displayed next to a BBC result, Google added BBC's official gadget to my iGoogle page. Unfortunately, Google also set a cookie value so that every time I go to google.com, it redirects me to iGoogle. Clicking on "classic home" at the top of the page solves this problem.

New Ways to Read Feeds in iGoogle

iGoogle added two new views for feeds: a slideshow view for photo feeds and a view that shows the headlines and a snippet from the lead story. You can change the view for each feed by clicking on the arrow icon, selecting "Edit settings" and choosing one of three views: headline only, headline and lead story or slideshow.



By default, Google shows a small number of hand-picked feeds in the sideshow view and uses the "headline and lead story" view for feeds that support Media RSS. "These new views not only create a better experience for users, but also give publishers an opportunity to more easily expose rich content, often already present in their RSS feeds. To take advantage of this new feature, publishers simply need to add images and associated Media RSS and/or enclosure elements to their existing RSS feeds. We'll then grab the images, resize them down as necessary, and provide hosting/caching. Additionally, we'll make the images clickable and display a 150 character snippet in the Headline and lead story view," explains Google.

There's a guide for publishers which offers more information about the new views. All Blogger feeds use Media RSS, so they'll be displayed in the "headline and lead story" view.

Friend Suggestions in Google Chat

The Google Chat gadget from iGoogle's sidebar started to show friend suggestions and they're usually people you've emailed frequently. Google also shows a list of Google Translate bots that help you translate the messages from a conversation.



Another new feature lets you send some of your contacts to someone you've emailed frequently.


It seems that the suggestions are displayed even if you've enabled this option in Gmail: "Only allow people that I've explicitly approved to chat with me and see when I'm online". By default, Gmail automatically invites to Google Chat the users whom you frequently email. "Gmail determines which contacts you'll be able to talk to without having to invite each other."

{ Thanks, Bogdan. }

Send Files in Google Chat

One of the few features that are available in Google Talk's desktop client, but couldn't be used in the web-based gadgets from Gmail, iGoogle and orkut, is file sharing. The missing feature is now available in iGoogle and orkut, but not yet in Gmail.

"Starting today, you can share photos, documents, and other files while chatting in iGoogle and orkut. To give it a try, just click Send a file... in the Actions menu while chatting with a friend (no download required). This feature is also compatible with the file transfer functionality in the Google Talk downloadable software, so you can share files directly from the web with folks who use the desktop version," explains Google.

You can send multiple files at the same time, but you can't select multiple files from the file picker dialog. Google Chat doesn't support transferring files larger than 100 MB.


Google Talk's desktop client is no longer updated, as Google focused on improving the chat feature from Gmail and adding similar features to iGoogle and orkut. Google Talk's homepage still links to the Windows client, but the first option is a plug-in for video chat.

{ Thanks, Niranjan. }

iGoogle Themes Explorer

iGoogle didn't make it easy to change your themes: you had to visit a separate page, find a theme, add it and then repeat the process until you found a great theme.

Now it's easier to pick a theme: click on "Change theme from [insert current theme's name]" and you'll see a small list of themes. You can select a category, sort the themes by popularity or recency and even type a query like [puppy], [flowers] or [batman] in the search box.

Snack time with the new iGoogle for Android and iPhone

We like iGoogle because it lets us "snack" on interesting information all day long. We can read a little bit of news here and there, glance at finance portfolios, take a look at the weather forecast, and then do a Google search. It doesn't require a big commitment of time and energy — it's simply there for us whenever we need it. This kind of availability is even more important on a phone, where it can take a long time to surf. That's why iGoogle is so convenient on mobile devices. When you're waiting in line, you can check iGoogle on your phone for a quick "info snack" — even in areas with mediocre network coverage.

But speed isn't everything. Many of you have told us that you wanted to use more of your iGoogle gadgets on your phone. You wanted to see your tabs, too. We read your blog comments and forum posts and put your requests at the top of our to-do list.

Today, we're excited to roll out an improved beta version of iGoogle for the iPhone and Android-powered devices. This new version is faster and easier to use. It supports tabs as well as more of your favorite gadgets, including those built by third-party developers. Note that not all gadgets — like those with Flash — will work in mobile browsers.

One of our favorite new features is the in-line display of articles for feed-based gadgets. That means you can read article summaries without leaving the page. You can also rearrange gadget order or keep your favorite gadgets open for your next visit. None of these changes will mess up the layout of gadgets on your desktop computer, so feel free to play around and tune your mobile experience.



The new version of iGoogle for mobile is available in 38 languages. To try it out, go to igoogle.com in your mobile browser and tap "Try the new Mobile iGoogle!" Bookmark the page or make it your home page so you can return to it quickly. Finally, please fill out our survey by clicking on the "Tell us what you think" link at the top of the new home page. We'll continue to use your feedback to make iGoogle even better.

Update on 6/12 @ 8:35 AM: Video added. Check it out!

Posted by Dan Zivkovic and Zhen Wang, software engineers, Google mobile team

Mobile search access gets faster; iGoogle gets easier to use

Posted by James Watts, Software Engineer

We at Google are obsessed with making your mobile search experience as fast as possible. With that in mind, we've just updated our mobile homepage to allow for a quicker load time, providing you with even faster access to the information you need while on the go.

How do we do this? When you navigate to google.com in your browser, we cache the homepage on your phone. If you bookmark this homepage, then returning to Google using the bookmark is almost instantaneous. Whether you come to Google by browser or through our new search plug-in, starting your search is now quicker and simpler than ever before.

Also launching today is an improved mobile iGoogle interface that provides you with access to your mobile-compatible gadgets anytime, anywhere. We've linked your iGoogle gadgets directly from the new mobile home page and made it easier for you to set up your mobile iGoogle page from the desktop. By going to your iGoogle settings page on a computer, you can choose and rearrange your favorite gadgets for your phone. For example, if weather and news are the most important items to you when on the go, you can drag and drop these gadgets to the top of your page. In addition, you can now read article summaries by clicking on the "More" option on any RSS gadget.

Watch the video below as Steve Cheng and I demo the new search and iGoogle for mobile from opposite sides of the continent. Or just go to iGoogle to sign in and get started. And once your page is set up, remember to bookmark iGoogle on your phone for fast access to all your content. Note that these improvements are available on all non-iPhone devices, as iPhone users have alternative Google search and iGoogle offerings. Happy searching!

Google on the iPhone: Macworld Makeover

Posted by Sidney Chang, Product Manager, Google mobile team

Six weeks since launching the first version of an integrated Google.com on the iPhone, we've heard a lot of meaningful and insightful feedback from you and we've addressed some of them in this current release:

• Customization of tabs: We're all very diverse in what products we use, particularly on mobile. Now you can customize the tabs you want on Google.com. Go to the More tab and press "Custom tabs" to select your favorite three Google mobile products.
• New and improved Gmail: The latest version of Gmail delivers messages to your inbox without the need for you to refresh it. Also, if you need to write an email, we help you complete the address -- you only need to type out the first few letters of your contact. Read more about pre-fetching and address auto-complete on the Gmail blog.
• New and improved Calendar: A calendar can be one of the most important things on a phone. Now Google Calendar is faster and has a month view.
• iGoogle for the iPhone: One of the most common requests to date has been to include personalized modules. We're happy to announce a new iPhone-optimized version of iGoogle that mobilizes all of the modules you know and love. Simply click on the iGoogle link from the Google.com home page or go to www.igoogle.com.

Some of you have been wondering why we've made this only for the iPhone. The entire experience is made possible by the iPhone's general usability (touch and high-resolution) and the capabilities of its web browser (AJAX, CSS). It's also pretty cool that the iPhone has an unlimited data plan so you never have to worry about cost when you're browsing the web. And we're working on making this version of Google.com available outside the U.S.

To get to the latest Google on your iPhone, just go to Google.com on your iPhone or iPod Touch web browser. Let us know what you think!

Google Reader On Google Homepage

Google Reader has a module that can be added to Google Personalized Homepage (/ig). You can view the posts from your favorite blogs in one place, without adding a separate module for each one. Posts open in a bubble and that is handy if you want to see skim the posts. You can change the number of posts shown, how they are opened (in a new window, in the same window or in a bubble).

Google Reader and Personalized Homepage are somehow similar: both allows you to read feeds, but the reader lets you tag feeds, rate posts and catch up with the news faster. Google could also integrate Google Reader into Gmail, like Yahoo did with Yahoo Mail Beta.

Add Google Reader to Google Homepage

Google Calendar Module For Personalized Homepage

Paul Russell created a module for Google Calendar that displays your Google Calendar appointments in order based on start date and time, highlights any events happening today and lets you decide how many events to display.

Unfortunately, for the moment, this module has a major flaw: it won't work if your calendar has recurring events (e.g.: birthdays).

Update: Google has created a module for Google Calendar, which works much better.

Related:
Google Calendar plugin for Google Desktop

Google Personalized Homepage

Google users can create a personalized page that can contain latest news from your favourite sites and some interesting widgets, similar to the panels from Google Desktop. You can see the weather in your city, search torrents, create a ToDo list, lookup an IP address, enjoy interesting Flickr pictures, view your del.icio.us bookmarks or your site traffic from Alexa.

If you want to create a personalized homepage for Google, visit http://google.com/ig.

To add content to your page, go to Google Homepage Directory.

To add this blog to your Google homepage, click .