How to personalize your search engine homepage with customized pictures

(Google)

Google is constantly re-inventing its products and providing new ways for consumers to make Google products feel like their own. Google's latest personalization tool lets users choose their own google.com background image.

"Today, we're introducing a new feature that brings a whole new level of personalization to Google by letting you add a favorite photo or image to the background of the Google homepage. You can choose a photo from your computer, your own Picasa Web Album or a public gallery hosted by Picasa which includes a selection of beautiful photos," said Google in a June 2 blog post.

The feature is being rolled out to Google.com users across the globe and should be available to most users within the next few days.

To change the background image (and make Google Search look much more like Microsoft's Bing), log into your Google account and simply click on the "Change background image" image link found on the bottom left hand corner of Google's homepage. From there a window will pop up letting you select a background image from your computer, Picasa account, Picasa's public gallery or from Google's selection of recommended images.

You can change the image as frequently as you like by clicking on the "Remove background image" link in the bottom left corner of the homepage. To add a new photo, just repeat the steps above.

Ask.com started offering themed "skinned searches" back in 2007 letting users choose how their home page would look. Microsoft' Bing search engine also comes with a background photo skin. Bing adorns their homepage with a new picture every day but does not currently enable consumers to pick and choose their background image.

Google offers a range of other visual customization options for services such as iGoogle, Gmail, its Chrome web browser and its Android OS.

About.com has put together some helpful tips on personalizing Google services. You can view the tips here: http://google.about.com/od/personalizegoogle/Personalize_Google.htm