Google's playable Les Paul guitar doodle cost businesses around the world £166m in lost productivity

The Google guitar doodle marking Les Paul's birthday last week cost the world £166million in lost productivity.



The late guitar pioneer was celebrated on what would have been his 96th birthday with his own playable doodle.



Anyone logging onto the Google homepage on June 9 and 10 would have seen the authentic-sounding doodle above the search box and could have strummed away using either their mouse or keyboard.



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The company spent just £9,300 on the design but, according to website Extreme Tech, this small investment ended up costing a staggering £166million as office workers took time off to play the interactive 'guitar'.

Workers spent a total of 10.7million hours distracted by the doodle, the weblog said.

Google's Guitar Logo Plays An Encore

Feature Lets Visitors Record 30-Second Songs By Strumming Chords



(CNN) -- Internet procrastinators got a second day to improvise virtual guitar tunes, thanks to the popularity of Google's homepage guitar logo.

The "doodle," as Google refers to its one-off logo designs, featured a six-string guitar, which let visitors record 30-second songs by strumming chords with a flick of the mouse.

Google posted the widget in honor of electric-guitar guru Les Paul's 96th birthday Thursday. Paul died in 2009 at age 94.

"Due to popular demand, we're leaving the Les Paul doodle up in the U.S. for an extra day," Google wrote via Twitter. "Thanks for jamming with us!"

Remember the interactive Pac-Man doodle from last year? It was such a hit that Google gave it a permanent site. It's unclear whether the Les Paul tribute will get the same treatment.

Whether it was 30 seconds of random strumming or a complicated cover, Google users have come up with a catalog of original songs since Thursday.