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Google quickly became the techie's engine of choice; yet PageRank, default 'AND' search and default proximity weighting made it ideal for non-expert searchers too. That wide appeal is key, IMO.
Their pages are so low key, that the only thing that jumps out at you that the eye can naturally rest on, is the name. They burn it into your brain on each and every page - including their copy of your page.
That's why I thought the "tab" menu system they are using was counter productive. The darkness of the tab line blows away the eye magnet effect of the logo.