What is Google?

Google is the world’s most popular search engine. It processes billions of queries every day and displays results from over 3 billion Web pages. Google’s success and popularity have made it one of the most valuable technology companies in the world. Its products and services include Google Search, AdWords, Gmail, Android, YouTube, Maps and Calendar. The company also produces a range of physical devices such as Pixel smartphones, Chromecast in-home streaming media players and the Nest smart home device.

Google’s search system uses a complex algorithm that assigns priority to Web pages based on a number of factors. It combines elements of PageRank, the citation system used to rank academic papers, with other secret criteria. Over the years, Google has added new criteria and adjusted old ones. The precise details are kept secret, but it is believed to comprise more than 250 different indicators.

The company was founded by Stanford University graduates Sergey Brin and Larry Page. They grew the business using discounts on computer parts, personal loans and credit cards. It was incorporated on 4 September 1998, with the company name Google Inc. Page and Brin used a Stanford professor’s front porch as their headquarters until they were able to secure a space in Silicon Valley.

By the end of 1999, Google had over 50 employees. The company launched AdWords, an online advertising service that allows businesses to bid for placement of their ads on SERPs, in return for a set cost-per-click (CPC). Google also offers Google Images and Google Books as part of its search capabilities. In 2001, it introduced a spell-checking feature showing “Did you mean?” corrections to spelling mistakes in search queries.

In 2004, Google became a publicly traded company. Its IPO made it the largest Internet company to be listed on the NASDAQ stock market and created seven billionaires, and 900 millionaires from its early investors. The same year, Google acquired the mobile software firm Motorola Mobility.

Today, Google has 11 data centres around the world. Each contains several hundred thousand servers, each consisting of a multiprocessor personal computer and hard drives mounted in specially constructed racks. The computers are interlinked and run Google’s proprietary software: GFS, Bigtable and MapReduce.

The company’s search system is able to process huge volumes of data at high speed, returning the most relevant results quickly. This is because the algorithms are based on a model of how people think and interact with information, rather than simply matching strings of words. It is also a constantly evolving system, with Google’s research and development staff working on improvements to the algorithm. It is believed that Google Search currently handles about 3.5 billion queries per day. Unlike Bing and Yahoo, it is a universal search engine that does not have a country or language bias. This allows it to serve search results that are as accurate and relevant as possible in any region. The company’s website lists its mission as “to organize the world’s information and make it accessible and useful”. The site also provides an overview of Google’s many other products and services, such as Google Earth and Google Maps.