Search giant Google on Saturday gave visitors an advance New Year greeting with what appeared to be its last Doodle for 2011.
Visitors to Google's homepage (www.google.com) were greeted with a festive scene with the letters in the word "Google" taking part in a New Year party.
Google presents a festive "Happy New Year" logo as its last Doodle for 2011.
Clicking on the doodle will lead to search results of images and articles for "Happy New Year."
Among the top search results were the "Happy New Year" song by Swedish pop group ABBA, and search results for New Year greetings.
Google's more popular Doodles this year had included interactive ones honoring the late musician Freddie Mercury, and a playable Les Paul guitar.
Last June, Google even provided live imagery of a total lunar eclipse, using images from Slooh.
A separate article on tech site Mashable said the doodles were originally created in 1998 as a sort of “out of office” notice when Google’s founders left for Burning Man.
Since then, the Doodles have become an online phenomenon in their own right.
“They have been made to celebrate international holidays, historical landmarks, famous birthdays and just about anything else you can imagine. The doodles have also become something of an art form, with noted artists and designers submitting doodles on special occasions,”