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Google has made a change on their homepage. They have replaced “©2008 Google� with “©2008 Privacy�, which appears just below the search box. Google always wanted to keep the homepage of their search engine simple and to implement it practically, they have been using a simple technique i.e. keeping as low number of words on the homepage as possible. Less the number of words on the homepage, less time it will take to load. This philosophy seems to work effectively. Google homepage currently contains 28 words.

A number of privacy groups have suggested Google to insert a ‘privacy policy’ link on its homepage as per California law, but Google said that it understood the law differently.

According to Google’s VP Search Products & User Experience, Marissa Mayer:

So, today we’re making a homepage change by adding a link to our privacy overview and policies. Google values our users’ privacy first and foremost. Trust is the basis of everything we do, so we want you to be familiar and comfortable with the integrity and care we give your personal data. We added this link both to our homepage and to our results page to make it easier for you to find information about our privacy principles. The new “Privacy” link goes to our Privacy Center, which was revamped earlier this year to be more straightforward and approachable, with videos and a non-legalese overview to make sure you understand in basic terms what Google does, does not, will, and won’t, do in regard to your personal information.

Larry and Sergey made it clear to Marissa that the only way the privacy option can be added is by taking a word away so that the the number of words remain the same. Ultimately they replaced it with the word ‘Google’.

Yesterday, a U.S. judge ordered Google to return each and every information regarding the viewing habits of YouTube users to Viacom, including the IP address and username. The decision came in after Viacom filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Google in March, 2007.

Google is considering the issue of privacy very seriously for quite sometime, and after yesterday’s court decision, it was necessary to amend a few things. This change seems to be in the line of that decision. In the near future it won’t be unusual to see some more changes concerning ‘Privacy’.

The privacy option is appearing on the homepage of Google but not on other pages like iGoogle.