70 Mind-Blowing Facts About Google

Uncovering the Power and Innovation Behind the World’s Most Popular Search Engine. Google is more than just a search engine – it’s a tech giant that has revolutionized the way we access information, communicate, and interact with the world around us. From the iconic Google logo to the company’s innovative products and services, Google has become a household name. Here are some fascinating facts about Google:

1. Google’s original mission statement, as stated by founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, was indeed “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” This mission statement has guided the company’s growth and development since its inception, and continues to inform the company’s vision and values.
2. Google’s corporate headquarters, also known as the Googleplex, is located in Mountain View, California. The campus is spread out over several buildings and features a variety of amenities for employees, including free food, gyms, and recreational facilities. The Googleplex is also home to the company’s research and development labs, where new products and technologies are developed and tested.
3. Google acquired YouTube, the popular video sharing platform, in 2006 for $1.65 billion in stock. At the time, YouTube was a relatively new and rapidly growing website, and the acquisition gave Google access to a massive audience and a powerful platform for video content distribution. Since the acquisition, YouTube has continued to grow and evolve, becoming one of the world’s most popular and influential websites.
4. Google was founded in September 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two Ph.D. students at Stanford University. The company began as a research project to develop a more efficient and effective search engine, and it quickly grew into a company with a global presence and a wide range of products and services. Today, Google is one of the world’s largest and most influential technology companies.
5. The name “Google” is a play on the word “googol,” which is the number 1 followed by 100 zeros.
6. According to the book “In The Plex” by Steven Levy, Google’s first servers were built using a variety of inexpensive components, including hard drives salvaged from old PCs, custom-built disk enclosures, and standard Intel microprocessors. The company also used off-the-shelf server racks and networking equipment. However, there is no evidence to suggest that Legos were used in the construction of these servers.
   That being said, Google has a long history of using Legos as a tool for creative problem-solving and team-building, and the company has been known to incorporate the colorful plastic bricks into its corporate culture and office decor.
7. While Google did have an early office in Palo Alto, California, it was not the company’s first official headquarters. Google’s first headquarters was actually located in a rented garage in Menlo Park, California, where Larry Page and Sergey Brin began developing the Google search engine.
8. The first Google doodle was indeed a tribute to the Burning Man festival in 1998. The doodle was designed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin to let users know that they were out of the office attending the Burning Man festival in Nevada.
9. Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, was Google’s first major investor, contributing $100,000 to the company in 1998.
10. Google’s initial public offering (IPO) in 2004 raised $1.67 billion, making it one of the largest tech IPOs in history at the time.
11. Google’s first search index, launched in 1998, contained around 26 million pages, while today the company’s search index contains over 130 trillion individual web pages.
12. Google’s search algorithm is called PageRank, named after co-founder Larry Page.
13. While Google’s original logo was indeed created using the Catull font, the current logo does not use the Product Sans font. Instead, Google has developed its own custom font family, called “Google Sans,” which is used across many of the company’s products and services.
14. Google has acquired many popular websites and services over the years, including:
    • YouTube: a video-sharing website
    • Android: a mobile operating system
    • Google Maps: a web mapping service
    • Google Drive: cloud storage and file sharing services
    • Google Photos: photo sharing and storage services
    • Google Translate: a language translation service
    • Google Chrome: a web browser
    • Waze: a GPS navigation software
    • Nest: a smart home company
    • Fitbit: a wearable technology company

    Google has also developed many popular services in-house, such as Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Calendar, and many more.

15. In 2010, Google briefly stopped censoring its search results in China, which led to the company’s search engine being blocked in the country for several weeks.
16. Google’s self-driving car project was originally launched in 2009, and it has since evolved into a separate company called Waymo. Waymo operates a fleet of autonomous vehicles that have logged millions of miles on public roads.
17. In 2020, Google’s parent company Alphabet reported a revenue of $181.7 billion.
18. While Google does not disclose the exact number of servers it operates, industry analysts estimate that the company has over a million servers spread across data centers around the world.
19. The phrase “to Google something” has become so ubiquitous that it has been added to many dictionaries as a verb.
20. Pyra Labs, the company that created the popular blogging platform Blogger, was Google’s first acquisition in 2003.
21. Google’s headquarters, the Googleplex, features a lawn that is mowed by about 200 goats from a company called California Grazing.
22. Google’s “20% time” program allows employees to spend one day per week, or 20% of their work time, on projects that interest them and that could benefit the company.
23. While Google is one of the most visited websites in the world, it is not the most visited. As of March 2023, the most visited website is currently YouTube, which is also owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet. According to Alexa rankings, Google is the second most-visited website in the world.
24. Google’s logo features the colors blue, red, yellow, and green in the letters to represent the company’s fun and playful culture.
25. Google has a company culture that encourages creativity, innovation, and risk-taking. The company’s famous motto is “Don’t be evil.”
26. While Google has been named the best company to work for in the United States multiple times by Fortune magazine, it is not necessarily the best company to work for in the world. However, Google is certainly considered one of the most desirable employers in the world.
27. Google’s search engine handles over 3.6 billion searches per day.
28. Google Maps provides real-time traffic information for more than 200 countries and territories.
29. Google is the world’s largest online advertising company, generating the majority of its revenue from advertising.
30. DeepMind, which is owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, developed an artificial intelligence program called AlphaGo that defeated the world champion at the game of Go in 2016.
31. Google’s cloud computing platform is called Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and it provides a wide range of cloud services, including computing, storage, networking, and machine learning.
32. Project Loon is an ambitious project by Google’s parent company Alphabet that aims to provide internet access to remote areas of the world using high-altitude balloons.
33. Gmail was launched in 2004 and has grown to become one of the most popular email services in the world, with over 1.8 billion active users.
34. Google’s Chrome web browser is the most popular browser in the world, with over 65% of the global market share.
35. Android is the most widely used mobile operating system in the world, with over 72% of the global market share.
36. Google’s Street View feature provides panoramic views of streets around the world, allowing users to virtually explore new places and get a sense of what it’s like to be there.
37. Google for Nonprofits is a program that provides free tools and resources to nonprofit organizations, including Google Ad Grants, which provides free advertising on Google’s search engine.
38. Google is the world’s largest search engine, with over 92% of the global market share as of 2021.
39. Google’s headquarters, also known as the Googleplex, is known for its unique architecture and features, but it does not have a Google Doodle-shaped swimming pool. However, it does have a number of other amenities for employees, including a gym, swimming pool, and volleyball court.
40. Google has a global presence, with offices and data centers located all around the world. Some of the countries where Google has offices include the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, China, India, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, France, and many more. The company’s headquarters, also known as the Googleplex, is located in Mountain View, California.
41. The “I’m Feeling Lucky” button was a feature on the Google search page that allowed users to skip the search results page and go directly to the first search result for their query. The button was added to the Google homepage in 1999 and was designed to be a fun and whimsical feature. However, it was eventually removed from the main search page and can now be accessed by hovering over the “Google Search” button and clicking “I’m Feeling Lucky.”
42. Google has a program called “Google Fiber” that provides high-speed internet and TV services.
43. Google has a team called “Google X” that works on moonshot projects, such as self-driving cars and delivery drones.
44. Google has a virtual assistant called Google Assistant, which is available on smartphones, smart speakers, and other devices.
45. Google’s Chrome web browser was first released in 2008.
46. Google’s “Google Doodle” is a special version of the logo that is used to celebrate holidays, events, and notable people.
47. Google has a program called “Google Grants” that provides free advertising to nonprofit organizations.
48. Google’s “Google Play” store is the largest app store in the world, with over 3 million apps available.
49. Google has a program called “Google Earth” that provides satellite imagery and aerial photography of the entire planet.
50. Google has a program called “Google Translate” that can translate text and speech between over 100 languages.
51. Google has a program called “Google AdSense” that allows website owners to earn money by displaying ads on their site.
52. Google’s first data center was built in 1999 in a rented garage in California.
53. Google has a program called “Google Classroom” that provides a platform for teachers to create and manage online classes.
54. Google has a program called “Google Scholar” that allows users to search for scholarly articles and papers.
55. Google’s “Google Books” program has digitized millions of books from libraries around the world.
56. Google’s “Google News” program aggregates news articles from sources around the world.
57. Google has a program called “Google Drive” that provides cloud storage for files and documents.
58. Google’s “Google Keep” is a note-taking app that syncs across devices.
59. Google has a program called “Google Forms” that allows users to create surveys and quizzes.
60. Google has a program called “Google Analytics” that provides website owners with data and insights about their site’s traffic.
61. Google’s “Google Trends” program allows users to see the popularity of search terms over time.
62. Google has a program called “Google Alerts” that sends email notifications when new content is published about a specific topic.
63. Google’s “Google Assistant” can answer questions, provide directions, and perform tasks through voice commands.
64. Google’s “Google Home” is a smart speaker that integrates with Google Assistant.
65. Google has a program called “Google Fonts” that provides free fonts for websites and other design projects.
66. Google’s “Google Fi” is a mobile phone service that uses Wi-Fi and cellular networks.
67. Google’s “Google Meet” is a video conferencing platform.
68. Google has a program called “Google Health” that provides personalized health information and advice.
69. Google’s “Google My Business” program allows businesses to manage their online presence on Google Maps and Search.
70. Google has a program called “Google AdWords” that allows businesses to create and manage online advertising campaigns.