If what you're seeing is a little icon with a blue 'G' in the same
font as the Google logo, it is nothing to worry about. It's a
'favicon.' Different browsers handle favicons in different ways.
Google's favicon looks like this:
Google.com: Favicon
://www.google.com/favicon.ico
You can learn more about favicons here:
Favicon.com
http://www.favicon.com
And here:
Xube: Favicon
http://www.xube.com/favicon/favicon1.html
Internet Explorer's handling of favicons is notoriously flaky. For
instance, in preparation for answering your question, I visited the
Google.nl site. The favicon did not appear; Internet Explorer's 'E'
icon continued to display in the address bar. However, when I returned
to my browser's homepage, which is Google.com, the favicon appeared!
The next time I did a search on Google.com, the results page had
reverted to showing the 'E'. Curiouser and curiouser.
There is a useful trick for forcing the display of favicons. I can't
be certain that it will work for every version of IE, but it works for
me:
"Some (not all) sites use 'favicons', which Internet Explorer should
display beside the favorite (or any other shortcut to the site)... IE
frequently loses track of its favicons, however, and the icons revert
to the standard.
You can often force a favicon to load. To do this, browse to a site
(say, msn.com). In the address bar, drag the icon from the left of
the URL to the right end of the address bar (just past the URL)."
MSN Groups: Computer Help Club
http://groups.msn.com/computerhelpclub/general.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=47493&LastModified=4675475378626348774
Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "google's favicon"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=google%27s+favicon
I hope this helps! If anything is not clear, please request
clarification; I'll be glad to offer further assistance before you
rate my answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |