Google is 20-Years Old and Look How Far They’ve Come
August 31, 2018
Internet giant, Google, has become a staple in homes around the world, with millions logging queries through the search engine, using their virtual AI, Google Assistant, and even making calls through Google phones. As massive as it is, raking in over 850-billion dollars a year, it might be difficult to believe that it all started back in 1996 as a tiny garage company.
It was ’96 when two Stanford University graduate students named Larry Page and Sergey Brin created a site called BackRub, which was not only a search engine, but ranked pages by link and traffic. This was the beginning of what we now know commonly as backlinks. The following year, BackRub changed its name to Google, and with a healthy sum of investment money, the two began something real, working from the garage of a friend named Susan Wojcicki. There must be something “techy” in the water around that area because Susan wound up running YouTube and is now very successful herself.
Money and Motivation by Google
The pair began expanding by ’98, with more investors, and by ’99, they’d managed to create a nice nest egg of around 25-million USD. This amount was used to create the Google empire we know today. A movie to Mountain View, California, and some marketing and Google became the official teammate of Yahoo, which was known for their e-mail and search engine at the time. Google supplied Yahoo searchers with query answers and developed their own business on the side. By the year 2000, Google was beginning to include the famed Google Doodle as part of their brand and branched out to include other languages, aside from American English in their search engine.
It may have started beneath Yahoo, but the company has since far surpassed them. It might be surprising to learn that back in 2002 Yahoo tried to buy out Google for a measly $3-billion. Seeing what the company makes now, it’s a good thing the tech giant declined and kept trekking on their own. The company chose to go public in 2004, starting their foray into email with Gmail. The following year, Google Maps and Google Earth became a reality and the company continued to grow.
Google As a Global Brand
There’s been a lot of controversy lately about Google in China and their plans to censor online information. Some might not recall, but this isn’t new territory for the tech company, who launched in China for the first time back in 2006. Then, Google had to censor its shared information as well, but they were adamant to make it available for everybody. This would also be the year it conquered YouTube and stepped into the offices of millions around the world with Google Docs.
The next few years would be a whirlwind of confusing success with the beginning of Android in 2007, Chrome in 2008 and their self-driving car in 2009. In 2015, after years of success, Google rebrands itself for the second time in its existence, going from Google to Alphabet, Inc. Of course, the search engine has retained its name, but with so many additional holdings and businesses branched out under the Google franchise, the parent company name allowed Google to set certain aspects of its corporation apart.
Modern Google as We Know It
Now, Google has become a super power in the internet world, raking in billions of dollars, owning and operating much of what we see and use online, and providing services in and out of the home. Since its introduction of the Google Home system in 2016, Google users AI use has increased by millions, catching up to and even surpassing Apple’s Siri in the process. Now, it appears that the biggest competition Google has is Amazon, the ecommerce giant who has taken great leaps into the world of streaming video, music and eBooks.
Google’s newest plans for expansion include a second foray into Chinese culture, as much of their product base has been banned in the country. This will be part of the Google initiative to become a global brand. The company has made it clear that it wishes to be available in every country across the globe, including small towns in Africa where internet is not already available.
To put things into perspective, Google has grown from a tiny dream for two University graduates into a multi-billion-dollar global public company. Google dictates the success of online businesses around the world and is the point of contact, which makes or breaks a company’s popularity online by ranking them systematically in their results list.
What makes Google’s algorithm work? Only Google really knows the answer to this, and there’s still no guidebook for internet business moguls to draw inspiration from. However, the tech giant has been very forthcoming in each update and the types of information and changes included therein. Every year, Google users see a variety of algorithm updates, changing the way mobile data is ranked, opening doors to new ways of searching, and a variety of helpful products and services.
Google has become a staple in the lives of those who use it, and if it disappeared tomorrow, it can be assumed that the world would be in complete chaos. So, on that note, it’s a very happy 20th birthday to Google and its founders. Having accomplished so much in only two decades, the world waits with bated breath to see what Alphabet, Inc. holds in store for it in the decades to follow.