The sloped crossbar on ‘e’ is characteristic of early Roman typefaces of the so-called Venetian or Humanist class¹, which were inspired by Carolingian script².
Catull³, the font on which the former Google wordmark was based (it's not exactly Catull — some details are simplified, like the serif edges being snapped to 45°), is actually closer to the script than to typical Venetian typefaces — which, once you've seen the whole thing, blows the idea of the old logo looking ‘more professional’ out of the water, unless your profession is ‘medieval scribe’.