Google Journey

In 1998, the primary Google Webpage, was accessible at google.stanford.edu and the Beta version not yet live. The logo was planned by Sergey Brin and Google mimicked the Yahoo Exclamation mark. An outlook to the primary Google page rather looked substandard. 


Google is celebrating its 13th birthday this year. Initially named BackRub in 1996, Google peeped out of its shell when Yahoo! or AOL was widely used. Eventually, its name replacement was inspired by a play called googol, meaning "followed by a hundred zeroes". The name itself signifies their main endeavor to endow with outsized quantities of information for populace, and this is what they are known for today. 

During the early days of its commencement, the search engine was run by Stanford University's website and its realm name was google.stanford.edu. On 15th September, 1997, the domain name Google.com was registered. After receiving its first $100,000 funding from Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, the new name was finally integrated on 4th September, 1998.

And this is how history was created. The word "Google It" was soon to become a common verb in households. 

2000 was a year of achievement for Google. It reached the 1 billion mark, turning itself the largest available search engine. Google turned default browser. A self service ad program, AdWord, was introduced, that lets users buy keywords that appear alongside search results. 

In year 2001, Google came up with image search options. It was immediately after 9/ 11 attacks and for the first time Google showed news and supported links on the front-page. Google mounted at a stable rate and was enthusiastic on trying something more than searching.  

In 2003, Google shifted to Mountain View, CA which housed their infamous Googleplex. The ad program AdSense was launched. They also acquired PyraLabs. 

In 2004, they launched the invitation only, Beta-version of Gmail on April Fool's Day. It also acquired Keyhole, the developer of Earth Viewer, which brought us the 3D view of the earth. Google also had its Doodles referring to holidays, festivals and important events.

Year 2006 was yet another year of achievements. You Tube acquired $1.65 billion in stock. Trends, Gchat for Gmail Users and Google Checkout were launched. 

In 2007, the company acquired Grand Central, which later evolved into Google Voice. They also launched their mobile platform Android.

A platform for real-time web communication, Google Wave was launched in 2009. A Mac-based photo editing application, Picasa, was also launched. 


In 2010 Google manifested its first investment in renewable-energy project. Gmail-based Google Buzz was launched, which failed at social networking. Google Apps. Marketplace was their take on the Apple iTune Store. They also started the Google TV, a service that came from Google's team with Sony, Intel and Logitech. The TV service did not gain much grip. The company also acquired Slide for $200 million.

The latest Google+ made news in 2011. It shook the whole social network scene. This is till date the most successful attempt from Google. Motorala Mobility was also bagged for $12.5 billion, but the reasons to acquire it are still unclear. Photovine App was launched, but the slide was dissolved as well as the apps except for one.