What Font Does Google Use?
What font does Google use on the web? That’s one of the questions web developers everywhere have been asking since the dawn of the web. In fact, there have been quite a few questions posted online and over at the Google Answers blog. It seems Google has a habit of always knowing and giving its users the most up to date information. Well, here is some more enlightenment on this subject for you.
The first question everyone wants to know the answer to is “What font is Google using?” The short answer is Times New Roman. That’s what it was used to be and that’s what it will most likely remain in the future. However, as stated before, Google recently changed their default settings to their material design philosophy which is very much contrary to the traditional web design practices that have been followed by the search giant. So, now they use something called Helvetica. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that the use of Helvetica is bad.
I am just saying that if you’re a web developer or designer, you should probably consider changing your default font to something different. A lot of web developers make the mistake of choosing the same font as their web host. When you do this, you risk making your website seem very unprofessional. This will definitely turn off potential customers. You want to be remembered as the person that gave the website its personality instead of the other way around.
Another question that often comes up when you’re trying to get someone to notice you is “What font is Google using for its navigation bars?”. It used to be a big deal because you were using something that said Google. If you looked at the background image of the page you were visiting, it would say something like “Google Search Results Center”. Now, though, whenever you clicked the image link, it says something different.
My advice? Don’t use any font for the in-text links. They’re simply too hard to read nowadays and many Google users prefer the text font.
Another question that frequently comes up is “Why is MSN font so much smaller than Google fonts?” I have no idea! I don’t know the guys that designed either of those engines. I also have no idea why Microsoft has yet to figure out how to make their web site’s text fonts bigger. Even if they did, it probably would not be worth it considering the fact that MSN’s text font is probably the best in the world.
Many people believe that if you’re on a big commercial site, you must have some fancy typeface. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fonts that are most popular with web designers today are Helvetica, Arial and maybearial. These are the most widely used fonts on the web today.
So there’s nothing new about this question. The only thing new is the technology that’s now available. Go surf the web and see what typefaces look best to you. You’ll be surprised!
If you’re confused about which typeface you should use for your project, there are some proven strategies that will help you get started. Try using a serif typeface for anything that’s printed in a print magazine. That’s the best way to portray authority. This will be a dead giveaway that you’re using a serif font.
Don’t be afraid to use a sans-serif font if it’s simple and understated. For example, when I create my company newsletter, I use Times New Roman. It’s just fine. When I’m working on an e-book, I prefer to use Arial. People read Arial a lot and it’s simple and easy to read. This is very important.
If you need to find out what font does google use, all you have to do is type the name of the font into one of the search engines. For example, if I need to look for a casual typeface for my e-book, I can type “ganzo” into the search box. Google will show me all the fonts that are related to “ganzo”. I can also check out my font folder in my computer for any ganzo font that I might need to download.
You can also use what you know for inspiration. If you’re artistic, you can create a whole website or cover using your favorite fonts. You could also use what’s available on your computer’s system. Try out some of the most popular fonts, like Times New Roman, Arial, and Futura. Once you find a font you like, download a copy of it to your machine and open up a free font viewer like Fontspring or Adobe InDesign. Make sure the program you’re using has a built-in character editor so you can edit any of the fonts you’ve downloaded.