{
  "schema_version": "1.1",
  "id": "google-tested-41-shades-of-blue",
  "slug": "google-tested-41-shades-of-blue",
  "url": "https://groundedkit.com/claims/google-tested-41-shades-of-blue/",
  "api_url": "https://groundedkit.com/api/claims/google-tested-41-shades-of-blue.json",
  "claim": "Google tested 41 shades of blue to choose a link color",
  "commonly_cited_as": "\"Google tested 41 shades of blue\"",
  "verdict": "verified",
  "verdict_definition": "Primary source found; it says the same thing, the scope matches, and it is reasonably current.",
  "confidence": "medium",
  "rating": {
    "value": 5,
    "best": 5,
    "worst": 1
  },
  "origin": {
    "publisher": "Douglas Bowman (Google's first visual designer), stopdesign.com",
    "title": "Goodbye, Google (Mar. 20, 2009)",
    "year": "2009"
  },
  "quote": "Yes, it's true that a team at Google couldn't decide between two blues, so they're testing 41 shades between each blue to see which one performs better.",
  "method": "First-hand account in a resignation blog post; no published test results.",
  "drift": [
    "Source: a critical first-person anecdote; results and revenue impact were not published in this source"
  ],
  "interest": "Personal blog of a departing employee criticizing data-driven design.",
  "safe_rephrasing": "Former Google designer Douglas Bowman wrote in 2009 that a Google team tested 41 shades of blue to see which performed better; he cited it as an example of over-reliance on data.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "stopdesign.com — Goodbye, Google",
      "url": "https://stopdesign.com/archive/2009/03/20/goodbye-google.html",
      "primary": true
    }
  ],
  "kind": "stat_check",
  "as_of": "Blog post Mar. 20, 2009",
  "last_checked": "2026-10-16",
  "stale": false,
  "date_reviewed": "2026-10-16",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}