Google is undoubtedly one of the most valued corporations of all time. Google does incredible work in technology, web search, the mobile OS, software development, web analytics, stopping web spam, PC and smartphone hardware, etc. Established in 1997 in a mere garage in Menlo Park, California, Google quickly grew to be a household name with its simple and friendly search interface and strenuous foray into modern technologies. In this article, learn about 10 fascinating things you probably never knew about Google.
1. Backrub
Google’s original name was “Backrub” when it was created in 1997 as a subdomain of the Stanford University website (backrub.stanford.edu). Afterward, co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page sought other catchier names for their company.
2. Googol
“Google” wasn’t the original name that co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin envisaged for their company. The word “Googol” that they had selected as their company’s name referred to a very big number, 10 to the power of 100 (1 followed by 100 zeros). But Stanford graduate student Sean Anderson, who was then helping Page name the company, misspelled Googol as “Google,” and that became the catchy official name of the company.
3. Yahoo! had two opportunities to buy Google
Yahoo!, the prime competitor of Google in its search and email game, had a chance to buy Google in its initial days. In 1998, one year into the creation of Google, Sergey and Larry offered to sell Google to Yahoo! for a mere price of $1 million. Yahoo! turned it down. It again had an opportunity to buy Google in 2002; Yahoo! quoted a price of $3 billion but Google was willing to sell for $5 billion, and Yahoo! again turned it down. Now Google is worth over 500 billion dollars.
4. Google, the word
You wouldn’t be wrong if you say “I google for information.” Dictionaries such as Merriam-Webster, Oxford, Cambridge, Collins, etc., recognize “google” as a regular English word which means “to use Google to obtain information on the World Wide Web.”
5. Acquisitions
Google has acquired over 200 companies so far. Some of the less known acquisitions of Google include Waze, Nest Labs, DeepMind, Kaggle, Firebase, etc. The largest acquisition so far was Motorola Mobility, which was bought for $12.5 billion.
6. Employee relationships
Google values its employees greatly. If a US Google employee passes away, his surviving nominee will receive 50% of his salary for the next ten years. Google also sponsors the complete meals and snacks for all its employees. Google has one of the finest employee relationships in the world and conducts social experiments continually to improve it further.
7. Google home page language
Go to Google home page and click on “Settings” at the bottom. From here, click “Search Settings” and then “Languages.” Click on “Show more” and you will see a large number of language options. In addition to the regular languages, Google also provides some unusual language options, including Klingon, Pirate, and Hacker.
8. Goats at Google
Google has a green initiative and uses goats to graze on the lawns in Googleplex rather than using a lawnmower. The initiative that started in 2009 has Google renting about 200 goats from a local rancher to graze and fertilize the lawns in its headquarters.
9. Google’s amazing subsidiaries
Over the years Google created several companies under itself to operate as independent companies with their own management. Some of them include Calico, the California life company, a company that aims to find a cure for old age diseases; Verily, the life sciences division of Google; X, semi-secretive research foundation created by Google; and Waymo, the creator of Google’s self-driving cars.
10. Orkut, Google’s social network
Many people don’t know that Google had launched its own social network a few days before Facebook. It was named Orkut after the creator and Google employee Orkut Büyükkökten. Orkut failed to the mainstream popularity of Facebook and had substantial user base only in India and Brazil, where Google faced legal issues also related to the content shared on Orkut. Due to its steady decline in popularity against other social networks, Google decided to close Orkut in 2014.
Google, as any technology company, has a long and decorated history. It’s a highly futuristic corporation with investments in a large number of technology areas. It’s this futuristic approach and ability to create wonderful products that make Google the successful behemoth it is.
