Sesame Street, Droid get Google's love

Bert and Ernie shared space on Google's home page on Friday with an ad for Motorola's Droid, the Verizon Wireless smartphone that went on sale on Friday.

(Credit: Screenshot by Ina Fried/CNET News)

As the newsroom's biggest Sesame Street fan, I'd be remiss if I didn't highlight the tribute Google paid to the PBS show this week, on the occasion of its 40th anniversary.

On Wednesday, Big Bird's feet and lower body graced the home page, while Thursday saw Cookie Monster nibbling on the Google logo. On Friday, Bert and Ernie served as the O's in Google.

But Bert and Ernie had to share the home page on Friday, as Google also used a front-page link to tout the new Motorola Droid smartphone that went on sale at Verizon Wireless stores.

Although such promotional pitches aren't the norm for its homepage, Google has used them in the past to tout the Chrome browser as well as the first Android phone, T-Mobile's G1.

Big Bird's feet served as the "L" in the Google logo on Wednesday, as the search giant kicked off its tribute to Sesame Street.

(Credit: Google)

As for the Sesame Street "doodles," Google Vice President Marissa Mayer noted that "many Googlers grew up on Sesame Street."

"We're delighted to have partnered with Sesame Street to create this special series of doodles, particularly since we share the same values of education, diversity, and accessibility," Mayer said in a blog posting.

Lest anyone doubt my devotion to the show, here's a video interview I did with Elmo Live, when that toy came out last year.

[jture]

Umm, you mean Big BIRD (on Wednesday). <br /><br />The Cookie Monster logo was the best!

[eltoro2827]

the droid sucks!

[nopinktoday]

No it doesn't. It's as simple as that.

[eltoro2827]

no , it really does.

[Paul_Christie]

It really doesn't. Try it.

[jeeves86]

troll.

[billeeyum]

Have you used one? I switched from a Curve to the myTouch (for about 5 days) which i then took back to switch to verizon and get a droid. Me and my wife both love them. My brother likes it better than his Pre. Its better than the mytouch, and compared to the droid the curve barely qualifies as a "smart" phone. The email is better, the browser is better, the user interface is better, the build quality is better, every thing is better. My wife was seriously skeptical of getting a touch screen phone and only did because she had 30 days to return it. 2 days after she got it she had already decided there was no way she would ever return her Droid.

[p2bpinoy]

Here's a complete collection of cool &lt;a href="http://p2bpinoy.emzii.com/2009/11/google-logos-in-celebration-of-sesame-streets-40th-anniversary/"&gt;Sesame Street characters on Google doodle&lt;/a&gt;.

[helpingout09]

The Droid has been great so far--at least for me. Found a great deal on it, too. Check out http://BuyDroidPhones.com to get the deal I did.

[play7]

Elmo? stange how he always appears to top muppet for SS..........If he a al lis wonderful all is perfect icon. Where the world is not even close to being that way. Elmo now seems to have sold out. Oh well there goes many childhood memories with this ad.