Google

Google Inc.
Type	Public (NASDAQ: GOOG), (LSE: GGEA)
Founded	Menlo Park, California (September 27, 1998)
Headquarters	{{{location}}}
Key people	Eric E. Schmidt, CEO/Director Sergey Brin, Technology President Larry E. Page, Products President George Reyes, CFO
Industry	Internet
Products	See list of Google products
Revenue	$7.14 Billion USD (2006)
Net income	$1.47 Billion USD (2005)
Employees	9,378 (September 30, 2006)[1]
Website	www.google.com

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG and LSE: GGEA) is an American public corporation, specializing in Internet search and online advertising. The company had 9,378 full-time employees as of September 30, 2006, and is based in Mountain View, California. Google's mission statement is "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."^[2]

Google was co-founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and was first incorporated as a privately held company on September 7 1998. Eric Schmidt has been Google's chief executive officer since Larry Page stepped down.

The name "Google" originated from a misspelling of "googol,"^[3][4] which refers to 10¹⁰⁰ (the number represented by a 1 followed by one-hundred zeros). The verb "google" was added to the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary in 2006, meaning "to use the Google search engine to obtain information on the Internet."^[5][6]

History

Google began as a research project in January, 1996 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two Ph.D. students at Stanford University, California.^[7] They hypothesized that a search engine that analyzed the relationships between websites would produce better results than existing techniques (existing search engines at the time essentially ranked results according to how many times the search term appeared on a page).^[8] It was originally nicknamed "BackRub" because the system checked backlinks to estimate a site's importance.^[9] A small search engine called RankDex was already exploring a similar strategy.^[10]

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 University website with the domain google.stanford.edu. The domain google.com was registered on September 14, 1997, and the company was incorporated as Google Inc. on September 7, 1998 at a friend's garage in Menlo Park, California. The total initial investment raised for the new company eventually amounted to almost US$1.1 million, including a $100,000 check by Andy Bechtolsheim, one of the founders of Sun Microsystems.^[11]

In March, 1999, the company moved into offices at 165 University Avenue in Palo Alto, home to several other noted Silicon Valley technology startups. After quickly outgrowing two other sites, the company settled into their current home in a complex of buildings in Mountain View at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, also in 1999. The complex has since become known as the Googleplex (a play on the word googolplex, a 1 followed by a googol of zeros). Silicon Graphics leased the buildings to Google.

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 imitated AltaVista's, but incorporated Google's unique search capabilities. In 2000, Google began selling advertisements associated with search keywords. 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. Keywords were sold based on a combination of price bid and clickthroughs, with bidding starting at $.05 per click. This model of selling keyword advertising was pioneered by Goto.com (later renamed Overture Services, before being acquired by Yahoo! and rebranded as Yahoo! Search Marketing).^[12] While many of its dot-com rivals failed in the new Internet marketplace, Google quietly rose in stature while generating revenue.

describing part of Google's ranking mechanism (PageRank) was granted on September 4 2001. The patent was officially assigned to Stanford University and lists Lawrence Page as the inventor.

Growth

Main article: History of Google (Growth)

According to the Nielsen cabinet, Google is the most used search engine on the web with a 54% market share, ahead of Yahoo! (23%) and Windows Live Search (13%). However, independent estimates from popular sites^{[citation needed]} indicate that more than 80% of search referrals come from Google, with Yahoo! a distant second and Windows Live Search occupying barely 5%. The Google search engine receives about a billion search requests per day.

While the company's primary market is in the web content arena, Google has begun to experiment with other markets, such as radio and print publications. On January 17, 2006, Google announced that it had purchased the radio advertising company dMarc, which provides an automated system that allows companies to advertise on the radio.^[13] This will allow Google to combine two niche advertising media -- the Internet and radio -- with Google's ability to laser-focus on the tastes of consumers. Google has also begun an experiment in selling advertisements from its advertisers in offline newspapers and magazines, with select advertisements in the Chicago Sun-Times.^[14] They have been filling unsold space in the newspaper that would have normally been used for in-house advertisements.

Google was added to the S&P 500 index on March 30, 2006. Google replaced Burlington Resources, a major oil producer based in Houston which was acquired by ConocoPhillips.

Acquisitions and partnerships

Main article: History of Google (Acquisitions and partnerships)

Since 2001, Google has acquired several small start-up companies, often consisting of innovative teams and products. One of the earlier companies that Google bought was Pyra Labs. They were the creators of Blogger, a weblog publishing platform, first launched in 1999. This acquisition led to many premium features becoming free. Pyra Labs was originally formed by Evan Williams, yet he left Google in 2004. In early 2006, Google acquired Upstartle, a company responsible for the online word processor, Writely. The technology in this product was used by Google to eventually create Google Docs & Spreadsheets. In late 2006, Google bought online video site YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock.^[15] Shortly after, on October 31, 2006, Google announced that it had also acquired JotSpot, a developer of wiki technology for collaborative Web sites.^[16]

Google has also worked with large companies to improve production and services, including a long-term research partnership with NASA in a variety of areas, and a partnership with Sun Microsystems to help share and distribute each other's technologies. Recently, Google entered into partnerships with Time Warner's America Online, to enhance each other's video search services, and with News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media to provide search and advertising on the popular social networking site, MySpace.

Criticism and controversy

Main article: History of Google (Criticism and controversy)

As it has grown, Google has found itself the focus of various controversies related to its business practices and services. For example, Google Book Search's effort to digitize millions of books and make the full text searchable has led to copyright disputes with the Authors Guild. Google's cooperation with the governments of China, and to a lesser extent France and Germany (regarding Holocaust denial) to filter search results in accordance to regional laws and regulations has led to claims of censorship. Google's persistent cookie and other information collection practices have led to concerns over user privacy. A number of governments have raised concerns about the security risks posed by geographic details provided by Google Earth's satellite imaging.^[17] Moreover, Google advertisers have filed several lawsuits against the company in 2006, claiming that up to 14-20% of the clicks on the bills were in fact fraudulent or invalid.^[18]

Products

Google has created services and tools for the general public and business environment alike, including Web applications, advertising networks and search appliances.

Applications

Google is well-known for its web search service, which is a major factor of the company's success. It indexes billions of Web pages, so that users can search for the information they desire, through the use of keywords and operators. Google has also employed the Web Search technology into other search services, including Image Search, Google News, the price comparison site Froogle, the interactive Usenet archive Google Groups, Google Maps and more.

In 2004, Google launched its own free web-based email service, known as Gmail. Gmail features improved spam filtering technology, combined with the capability to use Google search technology on individual email messages. The service generates revenue by displaying advertisements from the AdWords service that are tailored to the content of the email messages displayed on screen.

In early 2006, the company launched Google Video, which not only allows users to search and view freely available videos, but also offers users and media publishers to publish their content, including television shows on CBS, NBA basketball games, and music videos.

Google has also developed several desktop applications, including Google Earth, an interactive mapping program powered by satellite imagery.

Many other products are available through Google Labs, which is a collection of incomplete applications, that are still being tested for use by the general public.

Advertising

Google's revenue comes primarily from its advertising programmes. Google AdWords allows Web advertisers to display adverts in Google's search results and the Google Content Network, through either a cost-per-click or cost-per-view scheme. Retrospectively, with Google AdSense Website owners can display adverts on their own site, and earn money every time it is clicked.

Search appliances

Google has created two kinds of physical search tools, including Google Mini and Google Search Appliance, which are for small/medium businesses and large corporations respectively. They can index internal documents, and provide search facilities for Intranet and Web applications.

Platform

Google's services are run on several server farms, each consisting of thousands of low-cost commodity computers running stripped-down versions of Linux. While the company does not provide detailed information about its hardware, a 2006 estimate consisted of over 450,000 servers, racked up in clusters located in data centers around the world.^[19]

Corporate affairs and culture

A license plate seen in the Googleplex parking lot

Google is particularly known for its relaxed corporate culture, reminiscent of the Dot-com boom. In January, 2007, it was cited by Fortune Magazine as the #1 (of 100) best company to work for.^[20] Google's corporate philosophy is based on many casual principles including, "You can make money without doing evil", "You can be serious without a suit" and, "Work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun." A complete list of corporate fundamentals is available on Google's website.^[21] Google's relaxed corporate culture can also be seen externally through their holiday variations of the Google logo.

Google's hiring policy is aggressively non-discriminatory and favors ability over experience. The result is a staff that reflects the global audience the search engine serves. However, the hiring process can be quite daunting and arduous for prospective candidates.

Originally, typical salaries at Google were considered to be quite low by industry standards. For example, some system administrators earned no more than $33,000 — $40,000 per year; at that time it was considered to be low for the Bay Area job market. Nevertheless, Google's excellent stock performance following the IPO has enabled these early employees to be competitively compensated by participation in the corporation's remarkable equity growth. In 2005, Google has implemented other employee incentives such as the Google Founders' Award, in addition to offering higher salaries to new employees. Google's workplace amenities, culture, global popularity, and strong brand recognition have also attracted potential applicants.

After the company's IPO in August 2004, it was reported that Founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, as well as CEO Eric Schmidt, have accepted a base salary of $1.00. They have all declined recent offers of bonuses and increases in compensation by Google's board of directors. In a 2006 report of the United States's richest people, Forbes reported that Sergey Brin was #12 with a net worth of $14.1 billion, and Larry Page was #13 with a net worth of $14.0 billion.^[22]

Googleplex

The Googleplex

As a further play on Google's name, its headquarters, located in California, are referred to as "the Googleplex" — a googolplex being 1 followed by a googol of zeros, and the HQ being a complex of buildings (cf. multiplex, cineplex, etc). The lobby is decorated with a piano, lava lamps, old server clusters, and a projection of search queries on the wall. The hallways are full of exercise balls and bicycles. Each employee has access to the corporate recreation center. Recreational amenities are scattered throughout the campus, and include a workout room with weights and rowing machines, locker rooms, washers and dryers, a massage room, assorted video games, Foosball, a baby grand piano, a pool table, and ping pong. In addition to the rec room, there are snack rooms stocked with various cereals, gummy bears, toffee, licorice, cashews, yogurt, carrots, fresh fruit, and dozens of different drinks including fresh juice, soda, and make your own cappuccino. In October, 2006, the company announced plans to install thousands of solar panels to provide up to 1.6 megawatts of electricity, enough to satisfy approximately 30% of the campus' energy needs.^[23] The system will be the largest solar power system constructed on a U.S. corporate campus and one of the largest on any corporate site in the world.^[23]

In 2006, Google moved into 311,000 square feet of office space in the second-largest building in New York City, at 111 Eighth Ave. in Manhattan.^[24] The office was specially designed and built for Google, and houses its largest advertising sales team, which has been instrumental in securing large partnerships, most recently deals with MySpace and AOL.^[24] In 2003, they added an engineering staff in New York City, which has been responsible for more than 100 engineering projects, including Google Maps, Google Spreadsheets, and others.^[24] It is estimated that the building costs Google $10 million per year to rent, and is similar in design and functionality to its Mountain View headquarters, including Foosball, air hockey, and ping-pong tables, as well as a video game area.^[24]

"Twenty percent" time

All Google engineers are encouraged to spend 20 percent (20%) of their work time on projects that interest them. Some of Google's newer services, such as Gmail, Google News and orkut, originated from these independent endeavors.^[25] In a talk at Stanford University, Marissa Mayer, Google's Vice President of Search Products and User Experience, stated that her analysis showed that half of new product launches originated from 20% time.^[26]

Easter eggs and April Fool's Day jokes

Google has a tradition of creating April Fool's Day jokes - such as Google MentalPlex, which allegedly featured the use of mental power to search the web. In 2002, they claimed that pigeons were the secret behind their growing search engine. In 2004, they featured Google Lunar (which claimed to feature jobs on the moon) and in 2005, a fictitious brain-boosting drink, termed Google Gulp was announced. In 2006 they came up with Google Romance.

Some thought the announcement of Gmail in 2004 around April Fool's Day (as well as the doubling of Gmail's storage space to two gigabytes in 2005) was a joke, though it turned out (in both cases) to be a genuine announcement. In 2005 a comedic graph depicting Google's goal of "infinity plus one" GB of storage was featured on the Gmail homepage.

Google's services contain a number of easter eggs; for instance, the Language Tools page offers the search interface in the Swedish Chef's "Bork bork bork", Pig Latin, Hacker, Elmer Fudd, and Klingon. [1] In addition, the search engine calculator provides The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything from Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. [2]

IPO and culture

Many people speculated that Google's IPO would inevitably lead to changes in the company's culture,^[27] because of shareholder pressure for employee benefit reductions and short-term advances, or because a large number of the company's employees would suddenly become millionaires on paper. In a report given to potential investors, co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page promised that the IPO would not change the company's culture.^[28] Later Mr. Page said, "We think a lot about how to maintain our culture and the fun elements."

However, many analysts are finding that as Google grows the company is becoming more "corporate". In 2005, articles in The New York Times and other sources began suggesting that Google had lost its anti-corporate, no evil philosophy.^[29][30]

See also

• Googlebot - Google's Web crawler
• Googlepedia
• Google and privacy issues
• Google China - Chinese subsidiary of Google Web search
• Google File System - Google's internal distributed file system
• Google Foundation - Charitable arm of Google
• Google logo
• Google search - Web search engine created by Google
• Google Watch
• TrustRank
• elgooG – a mirror version of Google

References

Further reading

• David Vise and Mark Malseed (2005-11-15). The Google Story. Delacorte Press. ISBN 0-553-80457-X.
• John Battelle (2005-09-08). The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture. Portfolio Hardcover. ISBN 1-59184-088-0.

External links

• Official Homepage
• Official Google Blog