Gmail's Black Dot, Do you see it too?

On Both Firefox 3 and Safari, on 2 different GMail accounts I see a black/grayish dot on the top left corner of the page.

Google only indexes Google groups talking about the subject as of today July 4th 2008

groups.google.com/group/Gmail-Help-Reading-Messages-en/br...

UPDATE: 1) Yes, I'm in the US. 2) Some people's theories say that it's an iframe to keep track of your history (so you can click back), and they forgot to remove the border.

UPDATE2: As of August 2008, the dot is gone.

To take full advantage of Flickr, you should use a JavaScript-enabled browser and
install the latest version of the Macromedia Flash Player.

Comments

Gabriel Liendo says:

You know. It could just be an update to the design to make it look like a folded sheet...just saying.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

d3bruts1d says:

I'd have to agree with Gabriel. Looks like a folded sheet.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

syko21 says:

In linux on firefox it looks blurred and ugly so I doubt its there for a style reason.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Angle90 says:

lol @ Frostwire
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

sirtrigby says:

Ahh its driving me crazy now
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Evan Sims says:

Yes! It's been driving me nuts for the last week or so.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

zozomanx says:

With zooming in a bit you can see that it is a page peel over, at least that is what I believe it is.

www.flickr.com/photos/28373248@N08/2640516158 /
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

iratik says:

Google downloads a 1 pixel image to check the download speed of the client's connection. This might be that pixel. www.sajithmr.com/gmail-architecture/
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

uncle_dirtnap says:

This is three iFrame objects of no size and no border piled up. It's part of the AJAX architecture of GMail. Click "Older Version" in the top right menu if you want it to go away.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Adcuz says:

It's actually where someone forgot to set frameborder="0"(I think that's right) at google ;-)

How can people possibly think that is a "page peel over"?
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Got Nate? says:

i dunno about the blurry dot/page curl, but THE REST of gmail sure has had a face lift since i switched to IMAP...
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

huphtur says:

Worse than the black pixel: Gmail turned off the white background in their CSS and is not relying on browser settings. Disable default white background in your browser to see what I mean.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

°Florian says:

Something i just noticed in flickr when you click the "all sizes" button there is a gray dot in the top-left corner of the flickr page!
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

jojo_tron says:

isn't it supposed to be a pi sign in the bottom corner? Funny how some people are turning it into some sort of hijinx or conspiracy.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

adam hirsh says:

nice catch, Florian. I think it's starting to spread...
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

sxenko says:

who gives a shit honestly
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

William Zhou says:

Interesting find.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

bradpurchase says:

That really ticks off my OCD...
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

fak3r (fak3r.com) says:

Weird, and it sticks in the corner even if you scroll down - I'm looking thru the code - there's a call for div class="lpb" can't see what that's referring to. Anyone out there know?

Oh, and this is Linux, Firefox 3
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Chris Utley says:

I prefer to refer to it as Gmail's, "African American Dot"
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

TMcD2k8 says:

It has also been seen on some of the collegehumor.com pages while they are loading
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

_rich_white_ says:

Every time I click on it a monkey runs out of closet.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

rheimbrock says:

I think it means you have won "The Lottery" Shirley Jackson style.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

chadhanson00 says:

its a communist conspiracy
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

vrillco says:

How can someone fail at HTML so badly ? Yeah, it's a bunch of poorly-hidden IFRAMES. That's how that snazzy Ajax interface works. Most people tuck them away, but I guess the Google devs haven't gotten around to it yet.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

chrisntr1 says:

It's the Flash sound iFrame so it can play sounds for google chat etc...
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Randy Tayler says:

In Firefox 3 I can click on it, and it appears to credit my Paypal account $5. Thanks Google! I'm up $3,270 so far.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

freerick says:

I also started noticing the dot recently. On my site we use an 'invisible' iframe to get the back button to work correctly on AJAX-enabled pages. Seeing as the back button is working correctly on AJAX-enabled Gmail pages, I assumed that they use a similar strategy.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

JaceCole says:

when I click on the frame from my Mac, it makes my PC browser crash.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

samZABAR says:

Its a a way for them see all of your MAIL FROM YOUR PAGE!!!!!!

bum bum bummmmmm.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Otto42 says:

It's an iframe that they use to funnel the AJAX requests through. This allows it to maintain browser history, meaning that the back and forward buttons work correctly.

Standard trick, although I'm surprised that they left it visible.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

hardik kheskani says:

just use stylish or grease monkey and use a greyish color....
the dot is gone !!! :D
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

thedusan says:

I see it. It says "TM" as in Trade Mark... duuuuh
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

macewan says:

Windows Firefox 3 it shows. Can help with checking on Ubuntu yet. www.flickr.com/photos/macewan/2640141881/
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

billrocksbridges says:

who cares if there is a dot?
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

krusipo says:

Florian The flickr dot, is part of flickrs geocoding, this picture is s=792600099 t=6751578.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

mike_stone18 says:

It's a google pimple.. otherwise known as a "Blackhead" comes with adolescence..
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

murphydevin says:

Further speculation reveals, it's a black hole.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

xtremedew says:

Randy Tayler You are only getting $5. Mine gives me $20 per click.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Tyler Menezes says:

It's a frame which leads to mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&view=bsp&v er=#xxxxxxxx...
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

OFFTOPICS.COM says:

so...why is there 1510 diggs?
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

jseifer says:

It's not there in Opera 9.51
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

jimmydodam says:

GMail like totally rocks. They always have. Was better when only invites got you a mailbox though. Has slowed down a bit.

JT
www.Ultimate-Anonymity.com
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

cinemafia says:

It's the pupil of Satan.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

spinningwatermelon [deleted] says:

Uh-oh, conspiracy!
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Ian Cube says:

So why's Gmail still in beta?
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

joseypeter says:

No dot visible for me , i think it is got removed
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Carlos Magaña says:

I see that dot!
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

iblish says:

.. uploaded on the 4th of July. while some people are celebrating the USA's b'day, with friends and family, you are contemplating a black dot in your gmail account.

wow. truly sad.

even if you knew the truth about this black dot... do you think it could truly better your life? somehow i find it unlikely.... after all.. you are in front of your computer, on the 4th of July, contemplating a minuscule black dot in your email account.

perhaps you should also learn to spell "mystery" properly before contemplating irrelevant black dots.

IMO .... of course.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

mikemckenzy says:

I've seen that dot there for months...maybe longer. I have always just passed if off like it was just a firefox osx glitch...anyone else remember seeing it before now???
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

kentzlerl says:

@iblish: What makes you think he lives in USA? Because you do then EVERYBODY in this world are meant to live in the US? Or well, there's a second option, do you probably think that the 4th of July is celebrated ALL OVER THE WORLD because you americans are SO important? Just think about it =D

P.S: Happy Independence Day =D (Hope my comment wasn't so aggressive =P)
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Rohit R says:

its Gmail's ASSHOLE!!
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Stefan Neagu says:

It's really weird. This brings back a memory of the Praetorians.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

AWSxsk8er720 says:

...who gives a shit... why is this currently in the top 5 stories?
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

fleetorvl says:

Not a dog-ear, obviously.

It's an empty iframe element used for one of the ajax-ish features Gmail employs.

...I would think Google would've hidden this...
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

faris madi says:

its an empty iframe

iframe id="canvas_frame" class="Lpuind" frameborder="0" src="?ui=2&view=bsp&ver=1qygpcgu rkovy" name="c1ln2ft71fkbr3"

and its being used by one of the javascripts script
maybe its used for IExplorer only
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Jacob Bijani says:

Hey i think its an iframe

for ajax

you need the iframe for the ajax, thats why they do that for.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

petervidani says:

I just wanna know what the freeking dot is

????????
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

junk421 says:

It is most definitely an iframe border - all they need to do is add "border:0;" to the class "invfr" (probably stands for "invisibile frame")

.invfr {position:absolute;left:0;top:0;z-index:-1;wi dth:0;height:0}

I used to do all my ajax stuff with iframes - I pretty much avoid them like the plague, now. They work ok, but using the XMLHttpRequest object is faster and works WAY better for almost everything, the exception being streaming info from a persistent connection.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

jeremiah_owyang says:

It's actually a very small pinpoint camera watching you
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

mitchellmacabre says:

yessssss I have it. I never noticed it before.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

fjpoblam says:

Visible on Safari (and also Webkit), as well as the above browsers, on MacOSX. When I clicked, I was transported to the esrevinu XSOcaM and had to unclick the black dot on the lower right corner of the screen to get back. Whew!
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

aar0on says:

I have it showing in FF3. It's obviously the aliens keeping track on us.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

kellyharmsworth says:

It's George Bush's fault. Blame big oil
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Fayza says:

Yeah, but so?
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

Enrico.C. says:

Yeah, but nobody seems to mention the 'pi' in the lower right corner...
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )

eric.stevens says:

It's an iframe which they forgot to put a zero border on. The code is:
[iframe src="?ui=2&view=js&name=js&v er=abcdefg&am=abcdefg" name="abcdefg" class="invfr" id="js_frame"/]

You can easily use Firebug to locate it. Nothing sinister going on here; they use it for dynamically loading new javascript libraries.
Posted 18 months ago. ( permalink )