When Google was founded in 1997, its mission statement was, “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” At the time, founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin could not have predicted where this would lead them. The current debate surrounding the right to be forgotten, raises big questions on the level of responsibility that Google has regarding the information it organizes and makes available. The very public struggle surrounding the execution of this ruling has inspired this week’s Media Policy Meme: the Google Doodle.

With almost 6 billion Google searches conducted every single day, the Google homepage and the “Doodle” that often fills its center is one of the most recognizable images in Western popular culture. Google Doodles are artworks and widgets that are occasionally featured in substitute of the Google logo on the homepage. They are posted to commemorate certain holidays and important events and have become a widely recognizable and often copied visual phenomenon.

One might think was more of a corporate stunt than a meme, but actually the first Doodle was just posted by Page and Brin in 1998 as a playful way to notify their users that they would be away for the weekend at the Burning Man festival. It took off from there.

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User generated Google Doodles are encouraged by Google, and there is an active community of doodle-interested participants online, who circulate them and sometimes even give them to Google. Recently, A Mexican Football fan made her own Google Doodle to show support for her team during the World Cup. This interactive Doodle she designed and shared depicts Arjen Robben’s dive during the Netherlands 2-1 victory over Mexico.