What is Google?
Google is an Internet search engine that utilizes a proprietary algorithm to organize and retrieve information on the web. It is the world’s most-used search engine, processing billions of searches per day. As one of the most influential companies in the world, Google’s dominance has led to criticism and concern about its ability to control the flow of online information. Google’s stated mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. The company’s name, which is a play on the googol number (a number that contains lots of o’s), reflects this goal. Google has expanded from its search engine roots to offer a wide array of other services, including hardware, cloud computing, advertising technologies and software.
Sergey Brin and Larry Page created Google as a research project while they were Ph.D. students at Stanford University in California. They began developing a search algorithm in 1996 that prioritized web pages based on how many other web pages linked to them, rather than their content or keywords. This was an innovative approach at the time, and it allowed Google to quickly gain market share from other search engines.
In 1998, Page and Brin launched Google Search publicly. They incorporated the company that same year. The Google headquarters is in Mountain View, California. As the company grew, it relocated several times.
Google’s success has made it one of the most valuable technology companies in the world, and its founders have become billionaires. The company also has numerous subsidiaries. Some of the most well-known include:
The company’s flagship product is its search engine, which handles more than 70% of worldwide online search requests. It also offers a wide range of other services, such as online mapping, video streaming, email, social networking, and business tools. In addition, the company is a major supplier of computer servers and has significant holdings in other areas such as internet infrastructure, satellite communications, and mobile operating systems. It also owns a large fleet of self-driving cars and is developing an artificial intelligence system to assist with medical diagnoses. Other companies owned by Google include health company Calico, tech industry private equity firm CapitalG, robotics firm Intrinsic and “moonshot” technology developer X Development. Google’s search engine and other services are a vital part of the Internet. Its dominance has led to the use of its name as a verb, with the phrase “to google” meaning to conduct an Internet search. The company’s name has also been used as a generic trademark for products that incorporate its technology. This includes Google Chrome, Android, and the open source operating system Fuchsia. Other notable examples include Google Wallet, Google Home, and Google Fiber. Google Chrome is a web browser developed by Google, and is the most widely-used in the world. Google Wallet is an electronic payment service, and Google Home is an assistant that can perform many tasks. Google Fiber is a fast broadband connection service.
