According to a recent CBS 60 Minutes interview, Google as a company is now the top search engine company in the world, and is worth more than both “Chevrolet and Ford combined”. Quite an accomplishment, considering the company began as a bit of a science project for two college students, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. The Birth of Google Google started in the basement of Stanford University where the two men met and came up with a way to better channel the tidal forces of the Internet into useable data. They developed a series of Algorithms that were designed to filter the information in a web page search and rank it in order of relevance. After they had developed their test web page and named it Google, they installed into the University computers there and asked some friends to use it and see how it worked for them. By word of mouth alone, (Google only advertises through it’s own site and clearly marks its advertising so people will not be confused by it) they soon ran out of computer pace and were forced to relocate their project. That “relocation” happened when the two men moved out of Stanford University and into their world-wide headquarters (an old garage) so they could build and maintain their own computers. When the “Dot Com Crash” happened in the nineties, Google not only survived, but they prospered. According to 60 minutes, that’s when they went out and hired some of the brightest minds in computer development of the day at a time when “Dot Coms” were falling apart and people were desperate for work. Do No Evil The Google Company motto of “Do No Evil” is present in every facet of Google business today. By this, they mean that they will always strive to be upfront and honest with their users about everything thing that they are doing. No trick marketing, no flashy gimmicks. Just truth in advertising. Google ads are always placed in the same spot so you can find them. They are never mixed into searches, because that would play into the mindset that Google could be “bought off” in order to achieve favourable rankings. Instead, when a Google search is typed in, all of the relevant web sites are listed according to the Google ranking system. Beside them, listed to the right, are a ranked set of advertising according to the relevance of the search. For example, should one type in “Flower Delivery” in Google, they would receive a large list of web pages and articles regarding Flower delivery. To the right, in a box that is clearly defined as web advertising, Google would list the top 10 best places to get Flower Delivery according to company specs and another internal advertising ranking system. This type of advertising, one person at a time, has proven to be highly successful for Google, and a highly profitable venture that literally is only limited by the size of the internet and by companies willing to invest in their program. So far it’s worked brilliantly; Brin and Page are worth over $6 Billion each. The Future of Google Is there a number bigger than Google?
According to some industry analysts however, this could be the problem with the company. If there is an Achilles’ heel in the massive Internet company, it is the fear that they may be growing too big for their britches. Expanding and growing at the rate they are could be like stacking a house of cards: one false step and everything could come crashing down around them. In an effort to attract only the biggest and brightest, Google hiring staff uses aptitude tests to attract possible employees. If you can crack their puzzles, you could be one of the lucky few who make it in. These tests have even been reprinted in technical and computer magazines in order to attract people. According to 60 Minutes, one recent interviewee was called back for fourteen interviews before being hired. The position: Public Relations. Google has entered a cold war of sorts with Microsoft, one of its chief rivals. Since Microsoft competes with everyone on the Internet, it was only a matter of time until these two juggernauts started pawing the ground and blowing smoke at each other. While Microsoft admits that Google has completely won the battle for search engine supremacy, they drew a line in the sand when Google announced plans to develop a similar program for ranking files on a computer desktop – something that the flagship of Microsoft software, their Windows programs, already accomplish to no small degree of success. There also rumblings that the two could be going to war over software development for cell phones and PDA hand held devices, a place in which Google has had their eye for some time and a market where Microsoft has been curiously weak. For the folks at Google, it’s all very simple. Information is the new economy of the Internet, and they intend to stay the premier purveyor of information in the world. Some of their plans include developing the software that will instantly translate the language of any web page into any other language at the user’s preference (such as work with Babelfish and other translation software designs). Only time will tell for sure if a number larger than a “Google” exists somewhere. For more information, visit Google.com. Related Items
About The Author
Bill Schnarr is a single parent and freelance writer who
works from his home in Calgary, Alberta. As well as having dozens of
online and print publishing credits, you can also look for him
in the upcoming "Chicken Soup for the Single Parents Soul" due
out in February 2005. Related Articles
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Who knows. What
is known is that everyday the Google company (located at “The
Googleplex” in silicon Valley) gets bigger. They hire about 25
new people every day, and they receive thousands of resumes a
week that come from all over the globe. They are definitely
growing.
