Google 101 Facts

36-69 Random Facts about the Google Chocolate Factory

1-11 So how did it all start at Google?
70-75 Google’s Famous Offices

Many people wonder why the Google homepage is 

so sparse, when the actual technology is so advanced. The reason being that when Google was started its founders did not know enough HTML to design a fancy page, and they just wanted to create a quick interface they could use without any instruction. 

Over the years, the founders still prefer 

Over the years, the founders still prefer and insist to keep the home page simple and they insist that the words on the home page do not exceed 28 words.

The constant user surveys have proved that 

the “I am feeling Lucky” button is seldom used by its users, but still the users prefer to have it on the page.

Google’s traffic doubled when 

the “did you mean,“option was introduced. This feature was achieved through the introduction of advanced spell checkers and helped users find suggestions to their search requirements. 

Google homepage was initially launched with a 

Beta label, which was removed on 21st September 1999, and that was when Google became the father of the search engine technology.

In 2017 Google gets the most search requests for

Hurricane Irma, iPhone 8, iPhone X, Matt Lauer, Meghan Markle, 13 Reasons Why, Tom Petty, Fidget Spinner, Chester Bennington and India National Cricket Team. The list is similar to Google's top searches from 2016, which included Pokémon Go, iPhone 7, Donald Trump, Prince, Powerball, David Bowie, Deadpool, Olympics, Slither.io and Suicide Squad.

Many of Google’s products spend a long time in 

Beta phase. Google encourages its employees to spend at least 20% of their time developing an independent idea. Some of them are so interesting that Google takes them up officially resulting in so many beta products.

The word Google is now a...

formal English word, and was included in the Oxford English Dictionary in 2006. Now, you can listen to more and more people saying “google it" used as a synonym for general web searching.

The first Google Doodle was a 

vacation announcement. It was a stick man standing in the company logo and was an announcement that the founders were going to attend burning man in the year 1998. What started as a fun indulgence went on to become a creative obsession.

Google is based in Mountain View

Location: Google's headquarters are located in Mountain View, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley. Size: The campus encompasses several large buildings and spans over 2 million square feet. About the Camplus - Design: The headquarters are known for their unique and innovative design, featuring colorful, whimsical architectural elements and outdoor spaces. Amenities: The campus includes a variety of amenities for employees, including on-site restaurants, cafes, gyms, swimming pools, and more. Sustainability: Google has made a commitment to sustainability and has implemented a number of environmentally-friendly initiatives at its headquarters, including solar panels, electric vehicle charging stations, and recycling programs.Culture: Google has a strong company culture that is focused on collaboration, innovation, and fun. Employee Perks: Google offers a range of perks to its employees, including free food, transportation, and on-site childcare. Collaboration: The campus is designed to encourage collaboration and interaction among employees, with open work spaces, common areas, and meeting rooms. Technology: Google's headquarters are equipped with cutting-edge technology, including high-speed internet, virtual reality rooms, and more. Impact: Google's headquarters in Mountain View have had a significant impact on the local economy and have helped to cement the region's status as a global technology hub.

Google’s unofficial slogan was 

"Don't be evil" until it changed. Google tries hard to contribute to the good causes, be it humanitarian or environmental. However, in 2015, the company dropped the motto and replaced it with "Do the right thing." The change was made as part of a larger rebranding effort by Google, and was seen by many as a reflection of the company's evolution and growth over the years. It's worth noting that the "Don't be evil" motto had become something of a superflous inside and outside the company, as Google's size and influence made it increasingly difficult for the company to avoid accusations of unethical behavior. By dropping the motto, Google was able to signal that it was embracing a more nuanced approach to ethical decision-making, and was willing to consider the complexities of the issues it faced. As for the exact date that Google dropped the motto, it is unclear as the company made the change gradually over a period of time, rather than making a sudden announcement. However, the change was widely noted by media and industry observers in 2015.

Susan Wojcicki, one of the Vice Presidents of the company, has 

been named the “most important Googler you have never heard about”. It is a rare tag but a well deserved one.

Susan Wojcicki was on the 

16th position of the Forbes magazine’s list of “World’s 100 most powerful women” in the year 2011.

All the letters in the  

word Google have been copyrighted by Google. 

Back in 2012  - 620 million users 

visit www.google.com daily. Does that number stand for half the world’s population? Maybe not, but it definitely stands for almost all the people who use the Internet. in 2021 it is difficult to determine the exact number of daily users on Google, as the company does not release this information publicly. However, it is estimated that Google receives billions of searches every day, making it one of the most heavily used websites in the world. According to Statista, as of January 2021, Google had a global market share of over 92 percent of all search engine traffic. This highlights the immense popularity and usage of Google as a search engine and online platform.

Up to 97% of 

Google’s revenue comes from advertisements

In 2021, Google had more than

120,000 employed people worldwide. The company has a diverse workforce, with employees located in many countries across the world and working in a wide range of fields, including engineering, sales, marketing, research and development, and many others. Google is known for its innovative culture and attractive employee benefits, which has helped the company to attract and retain top talent from around the world.

Compare this in 2011 they had only 31,000 employees (25,000 full time, 6000, engineers, 9,000 research).  

Eric Schmidt was the only 

candidate (among the candidates being interviewed) who had been to the Burning Man, which got him an instant brownie point and he was hired as the chairman in the year 2001.

Google estimates that an ad on its homepage would cost around 

$10 million, but the page is still not for sale. The founders of the company want to keep the page as it started years ago.

Google estimates that the "I'm feeling lucky!" button has cost 

approximately $100 million dollars in lost ad revenue, but Google still keeps the button because the users like it.

The Google homepage can also be viewed in the language of 

Klingon (from Star Trek), in case the aliens attack the world and need Google to navigate through the situation. The Google make the Klingon homepage available at https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=xx-klingon

Google first tweeted

the binary form of ‘I am feeling lucky’ on Thursday, 26 February 2009.   

“I’m 01100110 01100101 01100101 01101100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101100 01110101 01100011 01101011 01111001 00001010″

If you convert all the 1′s and 0′s in a byte into ascii characters, the message is:

I’m F E E L I N G   L U C K Y.

The private planes of Sergey Brin and Larry page land on 

the strips of NASA HQ, where no other planes can land. Talk about royalty -  Googlers are having the best of it.

Google written backwards is elgooG, btu did you know you could

search backwards too at http://elgoog.im

During the Egypt crisis in the year 2011-2012, Google 

worked with Twitter to provide people without an Internet connection to send Tweets by dialing a phone number and leaving a message. This voicemail was automatically translated into messages on Twitter.

In the November of 2011, Google broadcasted the

Haj Pilgrimage Live on YouTube for the very first time (first time for HAJ as well as YouTube).

Google Earth reached 

1-billion downloads in 2011. 

Google is a voracious buyer of 

other technology companies. It now owns many companies now and some of the famous names are Picassa, Keyhole Inc., Android, Youtube and Motorola Mobility.  Key Aquistions 2012: Motorola Mobility - Google acquired this smartphone manufacturer for $12.5 billion. 2014: Nest Labs - Google acquired this smart home device maker for $3.2 billion. 2014: DeepMind - Google acquired this artificial intelligence company for an undisclosed sum 2015: Boston Dynamics - Google acquired this robotics company for an undisclosed sum. 2015: Songza - Google acquired this music streaming company for an undisclosed sum. 2016: Apigee - Google acquired this API management company for $625 million. 2016: Fabric (from Twitter) - Google acquired this mobile app development platform for an undisclosed sum. 2017: Kaggle - Google acquired this data science and machine learning community for an undisclosed sum. 2018: Looker - Google acquired this business intelligence company for $2.6 billion. 2020: Fitbit - Google acquired this wearable fitness device company for $2.1 billion.

Google’s toughest competitors are 

Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Mozilla. There are many more names to the list but these names can safely be attributed as the toughest competitors.

YouTube makes money through 

advertisements that are placed near the videos. It works like Google itself. It further earns money through sponsored competition on the website. Google paid $1.65 Billion to purchase Youtube on October 9, 2006, even though they had an in house product called Google Video.

Did you know that Google pays Mozilla Millions of dollars a year?

A heavy sum? Why? Google and Mozilla see themselves as partners, not competitors, to make the web better so Google's contribution provides nearly all of Mozilla's revenue.  As part of the deal Mozilla makes Google the default search provider in its Firefox web browser and some speculate the partnership also protects Google from antitrust complaints. 

There are some people who believe 

if you cannot find something on Google then it does not exist.

In April 2004, Google announced 

In April 2004, Google announced to open a research facility on the moon, called Googlunaplex.

1-11 So how did it all start at Google?
70-75 Google’s Famous Offices