Google is a play on the word googol, said to have been coined in the 1940s by Milton Sirotta, nine-year-old nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner (1878 – 1955). It is equivalent to 10 raised to the power of 100 or in other words - 1 followed by 100 zeros. The name Google reflects the company's mission to organize the immense, seemingly infinite amount of information available on the web.
The beginning
Google's founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, both graduates in computer science, met at Stanford University, California in 1995. Larry, then 24, was on a weekend visit from the University of Michigan and Sergey was 23, amongst a group of students showing him around. They apparently didn’t particularly hit it off, arguing strongly on several topics. However, they did find common ground in their approach to solving the colossal complex challenge of retrieving relevant information from an immense mass of data. Their mission became to organize the world's information in such a way as to make it universally accessible and useful.
By January 1996, Larry Page and Sergey Brin had begun collaboration on a search engine called BackRub and just a year later its reputation as the new search technology was already growing.
Finding a partner
During the first half of 1998, Larry and Sergey continued on perfecting their technology. Having little interest in starting their own company, they then began looking for potential partners to license what they now considered to be the best search technology available. Despite the technology boom, interest in Google, as it was known by then, was very limited. Friend and Yahoo founder David Filo encouraged Larry and Sergey to start a search engine company and develop the service themselves.
Go for it
Unable to raise interest and find a partner, Larry and Sergey made the decision to go it alone. But they badly needed cash to move out of the dorm and pay off credit card debts run up for development. They postponed their Ph.D. plans, formulated a business plan and went in search of an investor. A faculty member put them in touch with Andy Bechtolsheim, one of the founders of Sun Microsystems.
Following a Google demonstration, Andy immediately recognized its enormous potential. But being a busy man he had to leave in a hurry saying “I don’t have time to discuss details, why don’t I just write you a Cheque?” He made one out for $ 100,000 to Google Inc.
Made it!
This created a small problem. Google Inc. did not exist. The cheque couldn’t be turned into cash. So over the next couple of weeks, Larry and Sergey were busy with the task of setting up a company and finding other founders. Ultimately they raised almost $1 million.
On 7 September 1998, Google Inc. opened its doors in Menlo Park, California. Its first employee was Craig Silverstein, now Google's director of technology.
Google was already answering 10,000 search queries every day and in December 1998, PC Magazine named Google one of its Top 100 Web Sites and Search Engines. Google was moving up in the world. They’d made it!
Since then, the company has expanded enormously with over 1,900 employees worldwide, and a management team representing some of the most experienced technology professionals in the industry.
Today, Google is widely recognized as the world's best search engine.
Stock market launch
Following months of speculation, confusion and unforeseen problems, Google finally made its stock market debut in August 2004. Google had decided upon a launch using an innovative Dutch auction process - where investors who bid at or above the market-clearing price pay that price. At first, Google’s share auction seemed to run to plan confirming reports that most bids were around the suggested price range of $108-135 per share and valuing the world’s biggest Internet-search company at up to $36 billion. But then came the dramatic news that Google had cut the size of its initial public offering (IPO) by almost 50% and was telling investors to expect a price of $85-95. Google finally priced its shares at $85, valuing the entire group at just $23 billion. Shares rose a little above $100 on the first day of trading but the price was still well below the level hoped for by Google's bosses. Did the mishaps on the way to flotation cause the sharp drop in value? Or a general weakness in dotcom shares? Or was an auction the wrong method? Or was $135 a share simply overpriced? Google is the clear leader in online searches and its revenue is expected to soar but the question is raised – will its profits do likewise?
Google shares – one year on
When Google made its stock market debut, the share price was $85. This soon rocketed - to the surprise of many pessimists. But a restriction - known as a lockup - had been imposed before the launch, to prevent quick dumping of shares on to the market. After about three months, some employees and investors took the first opportunity to sell their shares, making a handsome profit and causing a slight dip in the share price. It stood at around $170.
However, just over one year after the launch, one share now costs well over $300, making Google worth about $85 billion. More than any other media company and even ahead of Time Warner! And some analysts are predicting a further substantial rise.
Google remains one of the fastest-growing companies and the most-used search engine in the world, earning the lion’s share of its income from online advertising.
Not just a search engine
Google also serves corporate clients, including advertisers, content publishers and site managers with cost-effective advertising and a wide range of revenue generating search services.
In addition to the straightforward search engine, Google also provides many other services. For example: Ask a Question – a service involving over 500 carefully screened researchers, University Search – giving detailed information on specific schools. Mail-order catalogue browser, Directories on various topics, Froogle shopping site, News search – updated news from 700 sources, Discussion forums and many more.
You can now virtually explore the world from the comfort of your own home. The computer age and Google Earth make it possible. Imagery and 3D data show the entire world - and it’s absolutely free for personal use!
Simply point and zoom to anywhere on the globe, download onto your PC and you’re off on your travels. Satellite images and local data are at your finger tips and zoom into view. You can zoom in on a specific address or search for a restaurant, hotel, school or hospital etc. Just type the address into the “Fly to” box and click on “search”. At the moment (2005), street addresses are limited to the U.S. UK and Canada. You can tilt and rotate to see 3D views of buildings and terrain, look up driving directions and even fly along a route.
You can also call up information on businesses: an address, how to get there and links to detailed information on a specific business.
Google Earth helps you:
· Plan a trip
· Get driving directions
· Measure distances
· Locate a house or apartment
· Locate a local business
· Explore the world
Fancy a quick virtual trip to New York? Or would you prefer London? Or maybe Paris?
Google Earth
No comments:
Post a Comment