New! This year, finalists will be judged on a state-by-state
basis as described below: 
New! Doodles will be judged in the following grade groups:
Doodles will be judged based on the following:
250 doodles from across the country will be chosen by a panel of Google employees based on which doodles they feel best represent the theme "If I could travel in time, I'd visit...". In each state, one doodle will be selected in each grade group, meaning each grade group and each state will be equally represented. (Entries from the District of Columbia will be judged with entries from Maryland.) These doodles will be displayed in an online gallery beginning May 2, 2012.
The Guest Judges and Google doodlers will select the best doodle from each of the 50 states as the State Winner. These 50 State Winners will be displayed in an online gallery on the Doodle 4 Google website.
The U.S. public will vote for their favorite doodle from the 50 State Winners. Online voting will take place from May 2, 2012 6:00 a.m. Pacific Time (PT) to May 10, 2012 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time. The highest ranking doodler from each grade group will be named as a National Finalist. We will announce the five National Finalists (1 per grade group), in an awards ceremony held in New York City on May 17, 2012.
At the final event, one of the five National Finalists will be named the "National Winner of Doodle 4 Google" and the national winner's doodle will be featured on the Google homepage on May 18, 2012 for 24 hours.
The National Winner will have his or her doodle featured on the U.S. Google.com homepage. He or she will be awarded a $30,000 college scholarship to be used at the school of his or her choice, a trip to New York for an event on May 17, 2012, a Google Chromebook computer, a Wacom digital design tablet, and a t-shirt printed with his or her doodle on it. We'll also award the winner's full time school a $50,000 technology grant towards the establishment or improvement of a computer lab or technology programming.
Each of the other four National Finalists will win a $5,000 college scholarship to be used at the school of their choice, a trip to New York for the final event on May 17, 2012, a Wacom digital design tablet, and a t-shirt printed with their doodle on it.
Each of the other 50 State Winners will win a trip to New York for the final event on May 17, 2012, a Wacom design tablet, and a t-shirt printed with their doodles on it. All 50 Regional Finalists will also have their doodle displayed in a special exhibit at the New York Public Library.
Each of the other State Finalists will receive an official winner's certificate and be featured on the Doodle 4 Google contest web site.