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A year after Google debuted Chrome with a bang, the browser may have failed to meet expectations. But recent moves by the search giant signal a new campaign in the war against rivals, analysts said today.

“From the outside, the thought last year was that Google would push Chrome a lot more than it has,” said Ray Valdes, an analyst for Gartner, who said he expected Chrome to have a larger slice of the browser market 12 months after its September 2008 launch. “But with this deal, Google is signaling to the market and to competitors, that it’s taking a more traditional approach to marketing Chrome.” (continue reading…)

Google had released a statement which did not help much in ending speculation. It stated, “We consider the second ‘o’ critical to user recognition of our brand and pronunciation of our name. We are actively looking into the mysterious tweet that has appeared on the Google twitter stream and the disappearance of the ‘o’ on the Google home page. We hope to have an update in the coming weeks.”

While some people speculated that the Earth had made contact with aliens, others believed that it was merely a publicity stunt for the new sci-fi film, District 9. Google later provided a clue on its twitter page, posting, “1.12.12 25.15.21.18 15 1.18.5 2.5.12.15.14.7 20.15 21.19.” The numbers when replaced with corresponding alphabets, read, “All your O are belong to us.” This was a reference to Zero Wing’s poor Japanese to English translation.

The first Google Doodle was to the Burning Man Festival of 1998. Google usually includes various modifications and humorous features, such as cartoon modifications of their logo, for use on holidays, birthdays of famous people, and major events, such as the Olympics. These special logos are now called Google Doodle.