Google users in the United States will notice today that we "turned the lights out" on the Google.com homepage as a gesture to raise awareness of a worldwide energy conservation effort called Earth Hour. As to why we don't do this permanently - it saves no energy; modern displays use the same amount of power regardless of what they display. However, you can do something to reduce the energy consumption of your home PC by joining the Climate Savers Computing Initiative.

On Saturday, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in their local time zone. On this day, cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne, Dubai, and Tel Aviv, will hold events to acknowledge their commitment to energy conservation.

Given our company's commitment to environmental awareness and energy efficiency, we strongly support the Earth Hour campaign, and have darkened our homepage today to help spread awareness of what we hope will be a highly successful global event.
Why did Google choose this specific organization?
We believe in doing our part to help combat climate change, and found the Earth Hour initiative to be a timely, important event. Further, we think the "lights out" idea's individual-centered nature is something that millions of people worldwide can participate in. In short, we really like it. So we did something about it.

How can I get Google to do something similar for my organization or project?
We welcome your ideas on how we can become more socially and environmentally responsible. Although we can't guarantee either a placement on the Google homepage or even a response to every query, we do read every email we receive and welcome your ideas of organizations that you believe we should feature. If you'd like to submit a proposal, please send it to us at proposals@google.com.
©2008 Google

I was going to, but I forgot.

That dark Google stuff is hard on my eyes though. :mad:

I wish google would turn them back on. They've been bothering me all day. Google's my homepage. lol

google "turned it's lights back on."
i was going to turn my lights off, but i completely forgot.
i was barely home until just now though.

Our entire neighbourhood went dark - both inside and outside. I was so proud of them.

I also turned the computer right off for more than the hour so I didn't see what Google was doing but good for them.

I'm surprised more in the U.S. didn't participate. It's a little disappointing since they consider themselves the "world leader" in so many other things. No wonder you guys forgot - I saw little about it on U.S. t.v. but it was all over the papers and t.v. in Canada.

I was camping. So my lights were out. Didn't drive. I carpooled with a bunch others. Their lights were presumably out, as well.

I'm not surprise the US didn't participate.

i took a nap, so technically my lights were out.

lolz gae.

Our house is full of windows so we don't use much light to begin with. But when you live somewhere that rains so much, you still have to use lights no matter what. But on a sunny day, you could say my family participates on the lights out thing everyday.

Our house is full of windows so we don't use much light to begin with. But when you live somewhere that rains so much, you still have to use lights no matter what. But on a sunny day, you could say my family participates on the lights out thing everyday.

ditto

I didn't remember, and as usual, I had on a bunch of lights.

Nope, I didn't, I was watching Steve Byrne on Comedy Central. :D