Google refreshes its homepage with ad for Nexus 7, not a doodle

When Google messes with its homepage, it usually adds a Google doodle. But on Tuesday that space was reserved for an ad.

The tech giant used its homepage, one of the most visited places on the Web, to promote its own product -- the Nexus 7 tablet.

On Google.com, an animation starts to play below the search box. A line appears and expands in the white space toward the bottom and out pops the Nexus 7, bumping the text above it.

If you click on the Nexus 7 you’re directed to the Google Play page for the 8-gigabyte model of the the company’s tablet.

But as rare as it is for Google to use its homepage for an ad, it isn’t unprecedented.

The Mountain View, Calif., company has used its homepage to promote every Nexus device. It has also used its homepage from time to time to promote new services. It did so following the launch of Google+, using an arrow to point to a link for the social network.

The company has also used its homepage to promote causes and to note special occasions, such as the SOPA/PIPA protest this year and Steve Jobs’ death in October.

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