Google ? A Bit of History

The first question most people have is, "What the heck is a "Google?" It is a play on the word "googol," which is the mathematical figure 1 followed by 100 zeros. Depending on the level of your love for math, this is either the greatest or lamest name for a search engine. Regardless, the clever kids at Google have turned it into a cultural standard.

The Beginning

Larry Page and Sergey Brin co-founded Google in January of 1996, then known as BackRub. The boys were in the early twenties and classic computer geeks. Sergey was born in Moscow, alum of the University of Michigan and visiting Stanford. Larry was assigned to be his guide. During this visit, they obviously hit it off or today nobody would give a hoot about linking strategies.

Although two men and the name "BackRub" may raise some questions, the name actually referred to a method for producing search engine rankings. Specifically, the BackRub search engine was designed to analyze the "back links" to a site. Although BackRub developed a following with those in the know, nothing much happened for a few years.

1998

As with most new businesses, the boys needed some serious cash. The brass at Yahoo was interested, but initially passed. Sun Microsystems, of all companies, provided an answer. Andy Bechtolsheim was one of the founders of Sun and, thus, had the necessary deep pockets. $100,000 later, the new search engine company was on the way to stardom.

A New Name

As legend has it, BackRub became Google for a rather humorous reason. Apparently, Bechtolsheim accidentally made the $100k check out to "Google, Inc." You can make your own guess as to which one of the boys said, "Hey, I have an idea for a new name." In September of 1998, Google opened a small office in Menlo Park, California. The rest, as they say, is history.

Today, Google is based in Mountain View, California. Google prefers email communication, but you can get a live voice by calling (650) 623-4000. If you really want to talk to them, refuse a charge from the company on the credit card you use for Adwords. They will contact you pretty quickly!

The company went public in 2004 [Symbol: GOOG] and has a stock value of around $250 per share. Larry and Sergey are sickeningly wealthy. One can assume that Andy Bechtolsheim is also doing all right.

The Future

In the last year or so, Google has certainly received its fair share of criticism. PageRank is almost useless in relation to ranking in search results. At the time of this writing, PageRank hasn't worked for three days, which means a change, shuffle, dance or whatever you want to call it is coming.

On the competition front, things are a bit murky. It seems a week doesn't go by without a patent lawsuit being filed against the company. MSN and Yahoo have started to raise the level of competition and more will be coming. Google's reliance on AOL as a traffic source is also a bit troubling given the continual loss of market share by the company that nearly brought Time Warner down. Gmail is dogged by patent issues, not to mention questions about violations of the privacy of users. All and all, things are not as rosy compared to a few years ago, but they can hardly be called bad.

Your guess is as good as mine when it comes to predicting if Google will become just another search engine. Personally, I think it will, but not because of any of the above. Instead, the evolution of the Internet suggests there will be a next "big thing." Who knows, maybe Google will get a Grub [Grub.org] in its Nutch [Nutch.org].

Halstatt Pires is with http://www.marketingtitan.com - an Internet marketing and advertising company comprised of a search engine optimization specialist providing meta tag optimization services and Internet marketing consultant providing internet marketing solutions through integrated design and programming services.

---

Top Ten Listing? Hmmmmmmmm

This is my question...I spend a fortune on SEO and... Read More

Quick Keyword Research that Works!!!

Keywords are terms or words related to particular topic. Keyword... Read More

How MSN and Yahoo Sells Your Traffic

Yes, it really happens. Now you might find it hard... Read More

Search Engines 101 - Search Engines Explained

What Are Search Engines?A search engine is a database system... Read More

Answers Count - Matching Keyword and Phrase Density

What's more important to your business success - the question... Read More

Playing By Googles Rules

As the undisputable leader in search engines, Google places a... Read More

The Best 7 Steps To Get A Top Google Ranking Guaranteed

Google returns more search results then any other search engine.... Read More

Marketing Articles: Getting A Better Search Engine Rank For All Of Your Pages!

In one of my articles, I discussed how to market... Read More

Building Link Popularity As Easy As 123

The most difficult area of SEO is building link popularity.... Read More

How to Increase Alexa Ranking of Your Website

Alexa toolbar also useful to Browse expired websites database. Many... Read More

Optimizing Your Website

Search Engine Optimization, optimizing your website for it to be... Read More

The Life Blood of Internet-Based Home Businesses...Search Engines

Anyone involved in an Internet-based home business will soon come... Read More

How To Get Your Web Site Banned ? or Search Engine Promotion, How Not to do it!

Search engines constantly strive to advance their technology and algorithms... Read More

Screwed: Is this an inevitability in the SEO World?

By about 2pm everyday, each of my team members has... Read More

Do Search Engines Like Your Web Site?

Between 75% and 98.8% of visitors to Web sites come... Read More

Is Reciprocal Link Exchange Dead?

The sun seems to be setting on the world of... Read More

Going To Market: Keywords and Backlinks, Part 1

As I waded into the 'Make Money Online' waters on... Read More

SEO Expert Guide - Page Optimization (part 5/10)

In parts 1 - 4 you learnt how to develop... Read More

How to Google; or How to be Easily Distracted

I set out with the intention of writing a self... Read More

What is Google Talk ?

The advent of Internet has affected lives of almost the... Read More

Search Engine Optimization: Get the Low-down

Been hearing the words Search Engine Optimization lately? I know... Read More

Do the Search Engines Know Your Website?

Are you considering a search engine promotion campaign to improve... Read More

Google - PR & Backlinks

Here are some observations that I have made recently:1. On... Read More

Google Sitemaps Just Got Better

Having a Google Sitemap just got better! Not only does... Read More

Keyword Ownership: What It Is And Where Its Headed

Have you ever got one of those silly emails that... Read More

Website Promotion: 10 Search Engine Optimization Blunders to Avoid

If you want to develop a successful search engine optimization... Read More

Does The Number Of Links On A Page Affect Ranking?

Lots of research has focused on inbound links to a... Read More

SEO Expert Guide - Proposition Development (part 2/10)

It is literally amazing how many people start their online... Read More

Submit Your WebSite: Add Your URL to Web Directories & Search Engines

Why get into Search engines and directories?Increase backlinks of your... Read More

Give the Folks at Google What They Want

Recent developments on the Google front have web marketers and... Read More

How to Get a Website Indexed Fast

Get Indexed FastWhat does getting indexed mean?The search engines keep... Read More

The Google Strategy

Webmasters across the Internet were totally floored by what happened... Read More

The Myth of Guaranteed #1 Ranking in Search Engine Marketing

You've seen the ads: Guaranteed #1 Ranking! There are no... Read More