Google

:For the search engine produced by Google Inc., see Google search; for the underlying technology, see Google platform; for other uses see Google (disambiguation).

History

Beginnings

Google began as a research project in January 1996 http://www.google.com/intl/en/corporate/history.html by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two Ph.D. students at Stanford. They developed the hypothesis that a search engine based on analysis of the relationships between Web sites would produce improved results over the basic techniques then in use. It was originally nicknamed BackRub because the system checked backlinks to estimate a site's importance. (A small search engine called RankDex was already exploring a similar strategy.)

Related Topics:
1996 - Larry Page - Sergey Brin - Ph.D. - Stanford - Backlinks

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Convinced that the pages with the most links to them from other highly relevant Web pages must be the most relevant pages associated with the search, Page and Brin tested their thesis as part of their studies, and laid the foundation for their search engine. Originally the search engine used the Stanford website with the domain: 'google.stanford.edu' (see the Internet Archive Wayback Machine search for http://google.stanford.edu). The domain 'www.google.com' was registered on September 15 1997. They formally incorporated their company, Google, Inc., on September 7 1998 at a friend's garage in Menlo Park, California.

Related Topics:
Stanford - September 15 - 1997 - September 7 - 1998 - Menlo Park

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In February 1999, the company moved into offices at 165 University Avenue in Palo Alto, home to a number of other noted Silicon Valley technology startups. Google received a big break in 1999 when one of the most popular search engines, Altavista, relaunched itself as a user Web entry point, or portal. This unexpected change alienated part of Altavista's user base. Google quickly outgrew its University Avenue home. After outgrowing two subsequent sites, the company settled into a complex of buildings (known by some as "The Googleplex") in Mountain View at 1600 Amphitheater Parkway, in 2003.

Related Topics:
1999 - 165 University Avenue - Palo Alto - Silicon Valley - Altavista - Mountain View - 2003

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The Google search engine attracted a loyal following among the growing number of Internet users. They were attracted to its simple, uncluttered, clean design — a competitive advantage to attract users who did not wish to enter searches on web pages filled with visual distractions. This appearance, while imitating the early Altavista, had behind it Google's unique search capabilities. In 2000, Google began selling advertisements associated with the search keyword to produce enhanced search results for the user. This strategy was important for increasing advertising revenue, which is based upon the number of "hits" users make upon ads. The ads were text-based in order to maintain an uncluttered page design and to maximize page loading speed. It also only cost a very small amount per click to the websites that advertised this way. The model of selling keyword advertising was originally pioneered by Goto.com (renamed Overture, and now Yahoo! Search Marketing)http://www.content.overture.com/d/USm/about/news/mile.jhtml. While many of its dot-com rivals failed in the new Internet marketplace, Google quietly rose in stature while generating revenue.

Related Topics:
Internet - 2000 - Advertisement - Keyword - Goto.com (renamed Overture, and now Yahoo! Search Marketing) - Dot-com

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In February 2003, Google acquired Pyra Labs, owner of Blogger, a pioneering and leading weblog hosting Web site. Some analysts considered the acquisition inconsistent with Google's business model. However, the acquisition secured the company's competitive ability to use information gleaned from blog postings to improve the speed and relevance of articles contained in a companion product to the search engine, Google News.

Related Topics:
2003 - Pyra Labs - Blogger - Weblog - Blog - Google News

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At its peak in early 2004, Google handled upwards of 80 percent of all search requests on the world wide web through its Web site and through its partnerships with other internet clients like Yahoo!, AOL, and CNN.http://www.onestat.com/html/aboutus_pressbox21.html In February 2004 Yahoo! dropped its partnership with Google in order to provide users at its site independent search results and to maintain their loyalty. Google lost user share of the search market. Yet Yahoo!'s move highlighted Google's own distinctiveness and today the verb "to Google" has entered a number of languages first as a slang verb and now as a standard word meaning, "to perform a web search using Google's search engine".

Related Topics:
2004 - Yahoo! - AOL - CNN - Slang

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Google's declared code of conduct is "Don't Be Evil", a phrase which they went so far as to include in their prospectus (AKA "red herring" or "S-1") for their IPO, noting "We believe strongly that in the long term, we will be better served — as shareholders and in all other ways — by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short term gains."

Related Topics:
Code of conduct - Don't Be Evil - Prospectus - IPO

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The Google site includes humorous features such as cartoon modifications http://www.google.com/holidaylogos.html of the Google logo to recognize special occasions and anniversaries, known as "Google Doodles". Not only may decorative drawings be attached to the logo, but as well the font design may mimic a fictional or humorous language such as the Star Trek Klingonhttp://www.google.com/intl/xx-klingon/ and Leethttp://www.google.com/intl/xx-hacker/. The logo is notorious among web users for April Fool's Day tie-ins and jokes http://www.google.com/googlegulp/ about the company.

Related Topics:
Klingon - Leet - April Fool's

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Analysts speculate that Google's response to Yahoo! will be to continue to make technical and visual enhancements to personalized searches, using the personal data that is gathering from Orkut, Gmail, and Froogle to produce unique results based on the user. Frequently, new Google enhancements or products appear in its inventory. Products and demos Google Labs, the experimental section of Google.com help Google maximize its relationships with its users by including them in the beta development, design and testing stages of new products and enhancements of already existing ones.

Related Topics:
Orkut - Gmail - Froogle - Demo

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Original Hardware

The original hardware used by Google included:

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• Sun Ultra II with dual 200MHz processors, and 256MB of RAM. This was the main machine for the original Backrub system.
• 2 x 300 MHz Dual Pentium II Servers donated by Intel, they included 512MB of RAM and 9 x 9GB hard drives between the two. It was on these that the main search ran.
• F50 IBM RS6000 donated by IBM, included 4 processors, 512MB of memory and 8 x 9GB hard drives.
• Two additional boxes included 3 x 9GB hard drives and 6 x 4GB hard drives respectively. (the original storage for Backrub). These were attached to the Sun Ultra II.
• IBM disk expansion box with another 8 x 9GB hard drives donated by IBM.
• Homemade disk box which contained 10 x 9GB SCSI hard drives

Logo Evolutions

The Google logo has changed dramatically over the years. The following are the OFFICIAL Google logos in descending order.

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You can see for yourself what Google's logos looked like with the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. For example: google.stanford.edu and www.google.com

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Image:googlelogo_current.gif|Current Logo

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Image:googlelogo_6.jpg|Year 1998

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Image:googlelogo_5.jpg|Year ?

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Image:googlelogo_4.jpg|Year ?

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Image:googlelogo_3.gif|Year ?

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Image:googlelogo_2.gif|Year ?

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Image:googlelogo_1.gif|Year ?

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Image:googlelogo_backrub.jpg|BackRub Logo

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Google is also known for its innovative holiday logos, see their logo archive. A website has been created that relives these imaginative logos by displaying them randomly on every page-load: Holiday Google.

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Etymology

The name 'Google' is a play on the word 'Googol', which was coined by Milton Sirotta, nine-year-old nephew of U.S. mathematician Edward Kasner in 1938, to refer to the number represented by 1 followed by one hundred zeros.

Related Topics:
Googol - Milton Sirotta - U.S. - Mathematician - Edward Kasner - 1938

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Google's use of the term reflects the company's mission to organize the immense amount of information available on the Web. As a further play on this, Google's headquarters are referred to as "the Googleplex" - a googolplex being 1 followed by a googol of zeros, and the HQ being a complex of buildings (and cf multiplex, cineplex, etc).

Related Topics:
Googolplex - Complex - Multiplex

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The name has also been interpreted as a merging of the words 'Go ogle', though this is widely accepted to be coincidental. To "throw a googly" means to ask a difficult or unanswerable question in British slang, a googly being a tricky ball in the game of cricket. Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary (1972) allows the verb "to google" from this.

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"Google" is also the surname of the title character from a popular comic strip, Barney Google, that was first published in 1919. He was known for having "Goo-Goo-Googley Eyes." The word "google" was also used in the 1927 Little Rascals silent film "Dog Heaven" to refer to having a drink of water. In that sense it was likely a modification of "gurgle."

Related Topics:
Barney Google - Gurgle

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Financing and IPO

The first funding for Google as a company was secured in the form of a $100,000 check from Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, made out to a corporation which didn't yet exist. After a frantic few weeks, this was topped up to give an initial investment of almost $1 million. Around six months later, a much larger round of funding was announced, with the major investors being rival venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital.

Related Topics:
Andy Bechtolsheim - Sun Microsystems - Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers - Sequoia Capital

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In October 2003, while discussing a possible IPO (Initial Public Offering of shares), Microsoft approached the company about a possible partnership or merger; no such deal ever materialized. In January 2004, Google announced the hiring of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group to arrange an IPO. That IPO (one of the most anticipated in history) was projected to raise as much as $4 billion. According to a banker involved in the transaction, the deal would yield an estimated $12 billion market capitalization for Google.

Related Topics:
2003 - IPO - Microsoft - Merger - 2004 - Morgan Stanley - Goldman Sachs Group - Market capitalization

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On April 29, 2004, Google made an S-1 form SEC filing for an IPO to raise as much as USD $2,718,281,828 (with a touch of mathematical humor as e = 2.718281828...). April 29th was the 120th day of 2004, and according to section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, "a company must file financial and other information with the SEC 120 days after the close of the year in which the company reaches $10 million in assets and/or 500 shareholders, including people with stock options." http://management.itmanagersjournal.com/article.pl?sid=04/05/21/1934249&tid=103&tid=4 Google has stated in its Annual filing for 2004 that every one of its 3,021 employees, "except temporary employees and contractors, are also equityholders, with significant collective employee ownership", so Google would have needed to make its financials public by filing them with the SEC regardless of whether or not they intended to make a public offering. As Google stated in the filing, their "growth has reduced some of the advantages of private ownership. By law, certain private companies must report as if they were public companies. The deadline imposed by this requirement accelerated our decision." The SEC filing revealed that Google turned a profit every year since 2001 and earned a profit of $105.6 million on revenues of $961.8 million during 2003.

Related Topics:
April 29 - 2004 - S-1 form - SEC filing - IPO - USD - Mathematical humor - Securities Exchange Act of 1934 - 2001 - 2003

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In May 2004, Google officially cut Goldman Sachs from the IPO, leaving Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston as the joint underwriters. They chose the unconventional way of allocating the initial offering through an auction (specifically, a "Dutch auction"), so that "anyone" would be able to participate in the offering. The smallest required account balances at most authorized online brokers that are allowed to participate in an IPO, however, are around $100,000. In the run-up to the IPO the company was forced to slash the price and size of the offering, but the process didn't run into any technical difficulties or result in any significant legal challenges. The initial offering of shares was sold for $85 a piece. The public valued it at $100.34 at the close of the first day of trading which saw 22,351,900 shares change hands.

Related Topics:
2004 - Goldman Sachs - Morgan Stanley - Credit Suisse First Boston - Dutch auction

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After some initial stumbles, Google's initial public offering took place on August 19, 2004. 19,605,052 shares were offered at a price of $85 per share. Of that, 14,142,135 (another mathematical reference as √2 = 1.4142135...) were floated by Google and 5,462,917 by selling stockholders. The sale raised $1.67 billion, of which approximately $1.2 billion went to Google. The vast majority of Google's 271 million shares remained under Google's control. The IPO gave Google a market capitalization of more than $23 billion. Many of Google's employees became instant paper millionaires. Yahoo!, a competitor of Google, also benefited from the IPO because it owns 2.7 million shares of Google. The company was listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol GOOG.

Related Topics:
August 19 - 2004 - Shares - √2 - Market capitalization - Yahoo! - NASDAQ - Ticker

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On August 18 2005 (one year after the initial IPO), Google announced that it would sell 14,159,265 (a mathematical joke, see pi) more shares of its stock to raise money. The move would double Google's cash stockpile to $7 billion. Google said it would use the money for "acquisitions of complementary businesses, technologies or other assets". http://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=169400356

Related Topics:
August 18 - 2005 - Pi

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Before Google initiated its initial public offering, Larry Page & Sergey Brin faced legal action for giving Playboy an interview about themselves and Google. The SEC (Security & Exchange Commission) forbids giving out information pertaining to a company's specifications before an IPO is launched.

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Today

Since the IPO, Google's stock market capitalization has risen greatly and the stock price has tripled. On August 19, 2004 the number of shares outstanding was 172.85 million while the "free float" was 19.60 million (which makes 89% held by insiders). In January 2005 the shares outstanding was up 100 million to 273.42 million, 53% of that was held by insiders which made the float 127.70 million (up 110 million shares from the first trading day). The two founders are said to hold almost 30% of the outstanding shares. The actual voting power of the insiders is much higher, however, as Google has a dual class stock structure in which each Class B share gets ten votes compared to each Class A share getting one. Page says in the prospectus that Google has "a dual class structure that is biased toward stability and independence and that requires investors to bet on the team, especially Sergey and me." The company has not reported any treasury stock holdings as of the Q3 2004 report.

Related Topics:
August 19 - 2004 - Shares outstanding - Free float - Insider - Prospectus - Treasury stock

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On June 1, 2005, Google shares gained nearly 4 percent after Credit Suisse First Boston raised its price target on the stock to $350. On the same day, rumors circulated in the financial community that Google would soon be included in the S&P 500. (Source: {{Web reference | title=Google Shares Rise on New Price Target | work=L.A.Times | URL=http://www.latimes.com/business/investing/wire/sns-ap-google-price-target,1,2312669.story?coll=sns-ap-investing-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true | date=June 1 | year=2005}}) When companies are first listed on the S&P 500 they typically experience a bump in share price. On June 7, 2005, Google was valued at nearly $52 billion, making it one of the world's biggest media company by stock market value.

Related Topics:
June 1 - 2005 - S&P 500 - June 7

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With Google's increased size comes more competition from large mainstream technology companies. One such example is the rivalry between Microsoft and Google http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1706872,00.asp. The two companies are increasingly offering overlapping services, such as webmail (Gmail vs. Hotmail), search (both online and local desktop searching), and other applications (for example, Microsoft's Virtual Earth competes with Google Earth). Some have even suggested that in addition to an Internet Explorer replacement Google is designing its own Linux based operating system called Google OS to directly compete with Microsoft Windows. Rumors of a google browser are fueled by the fact that Google is the owner of the domain name "gbrowser.com". This corporate feud is most directly expressed in hiring offers and defections. Many Microsoft employees who worked on Internet Explorer have left to work for Google. Microsoft has been touting its MSN Search engine to counter Google's competitive position. This feud boiled over into the courts when Kai-Fu Lee, a former vice-president of Microsoft, quit Microsoft to work for Google. Microsoft sued to stop his move by citing Lee's non-compete contract (he had access to much sensitive information regarding Microsoft's plans in China). http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID=2005-09-02T215817Z_01_MCC278865_RTRIDST_0_NET-MICROSOFT-GOOGLE-DC.XML The case is still in the courts.

Related Topics:
Gmail - Hotmail - Virtual Earth - Google Earth - Internet Explorer - Operating system - Microsoft Windows - Domain name - MSN Search

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While Google is the #1 search engine, the company struggles to keep up with rivals such as the well known Yahoo. Although Google and Yahoo differ greatly in the services they offer, Google is trying to redefine itself from an internet search company to an internet media company, similar to Yahoo. Google is trying to become a jack of all trades for the internet. They are foraying into other businesses which other companies have recently dominated. On June 21st 2005 Google announced it has plans to release a pay service and a classified ads service, to rival companies like Ebay http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/20/business/google.php.

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