Google changes logo after 16 years

Google revealed its new logo, which keeps the red, blue, yellow and green colours of the tech giant's original logo but changes the lettering to a simpler, rounded "Product Sans" font.

Until now, the firm has used a serif typeface for its logo for more than 16 years.

The tech firm said on its blog that it has changed a lot over its 17 year history and today it is changing again, slightly revising the logo's shades of colour, along with the typeface, reported Efe.

It includes a YouTube video that gives a quick review of the company's evolution, from its first steps as a search engine through the creation of Gmail, the Chrome browser and high-definition Google Earth maps of virtually anywhere on the planet.

"This is not the first time we have changed our look and it probably would not be the last, but we think today's update is a great reflection of all the ways Google works for you across Search, Maps, Gmail, Chrome and many others," the firm said in its blog.

"We think we have taken the best of Google (simple, uncluttered, colourful, friendly), and recast it not just for the Google of today, but for the Google of the future," the company said.

Despite its meteoric rise, which has enabled it to rack up annual sales exceeding $60 billion, Google says that there is still a lot to be done and that what it has accomplished so far is just "the tip of the iceberg."

The logo redesign comes just two weeks after the firm based in Mountain View, California, announced the creation of a new conglomerate, Alphabet, which will include Google and six other companies.

The company has been funnelling huge amounts of money into many diverse projects with little or no connection to its main business of online search and advertising, and - as a result - it is now preparing to place everything under the Alphabet umbrella.

Under the restructuring, Google will keep its search and YouTube operations, along with most of its biggest divisions while smaller operations such as Nest home appliances, life sciences, drone deliveries and venture capital investments will operate as individual companies.

All of the companies will be overseen by Alphabet, whose CEO will be Google co-founder Larry Page.