Google spruces up home page

If Google’s famously sparse home page is too plain for you,the company is giving you some more options.

A bold colour photo of sand dunes replaced the white background to Google’s search box Thursday. You can replace the desert scene with an image of your own or others available from Google. Or you can stick with the classic format.

n a blog post last week,Google Inc. said the move is aimed at making the “search experience more relevant,useful and fun through personalization.”

It also follows an artistic choice made by Microsoft Corp.’s search engine,Bing,which also uses images as a background to its search box.