It seems that retirning the /doodles page is the intended function of the "I'm feeling lucky button" when the search string is empty.^1

Thank you for the correction. I learned something about that button I never knew.

What did the button do in the years before /doodles existed. The button has existed since the early days, but not /doodles.

1.

https://fossbytes.com/what-does-the-im-feeling-lucky-button-...

https://www.pcworld.com/article/460864/google_changes_im_fee...