Google has been universally panned for using their logos as app icons. I think most people in this thread are talking about UI vs app icons (essentially avatars for apps at this point).
Visually uniformity is a broad trend that affects both areas. The monochrome line-art UI icons that are used everywhere are every bit as bad as Google's app icons.
Here are some icons I screenshotted off a website. I challenge you to tell me what they mean
marginalia_nu|2 months ago
Here are some icons I screenshotted off a website. I challenge you to tell me what they mean
http://www.marginalia.nu/junk/icons.png
http://www.marginalia.nu/junk/icons2.png
Hint: „ǝsıɹdɹǝʇuǝ ʎɹʇ„ sı dn oʇ ƃuıʇuıod ʍoɹɹɐ ǝɥʇ puɐ „sǝsıɹdɹǝʇuǝ„ sı ǝqoʃƃ ǝɥ⊥