The history of Google is a fascinating tale of innovation, entrepreneurship, and technological evolution. Here’s an overview of the key milestones: ### 1. Founding and Early Development (1996-1998) - **1995**: Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two PhD students at Stanford University, begin collaborating on a project called "Backrub," which is an early search engine that ranks pages based on the number of backlinks.
YouTube, the popular video-sharing platform, has a rich history that traces back to its creation in the early 2000s. Here’s a brief overview of its development: ### Founding (2005) - **Creation**: YouTube was founded in February 2005 by three former PayPal employees—Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim. The platform was launched to provide a simple way for users to upload, share, and view videos.
The 2018 Google walkouts were a series of protests held by Google employees in November 2018. The walkouts were organized in response to the company's handling of sexual harassment allegations and the treatment of employees who reported such misconduct. The protests stemmed from a New York Times report that detailed how Google had reportedly paid millions of dollars in severance packages to executives accused of sexual harassment, effectively allowing them to leave the company without facing any significant consequences.
"Don't be evil" is a corporate motto that was famously associated with Google. It was introduced as part of the company's mission statement, meant to underscore the importance of ethical behavior and making decisions that would not harm users or society at large. The phrase implied a commitment to integrity and responsible business practices. Over the years, it became a point of reference for discussions about corporate ethics in the tech industry and was often cited in critiques of companies that engaged in questionable practices.
Here's a timeline highlighting key milestones in the development and evolution of Google Search: ### 1996-1997: Beginnings - **1996**: Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Ph.D. students at Stanford University, begin developing a search engine called "Backrub" that analyzes the web's "back links" to determine a site's importance.
Articles by others on the same topic
The 1997 Wayback Machine archives are just priceless: web.archive.org/web/19971210065425/http://backrub.stanford.edu/backrub.html. I'm so glad that website exists and started so early. It is just another university research project demo website like any other. Priceless.
Craig Silverstein was the first employee hired, in 1998: www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/12/10/the-friendship-that-made-google-huge
In August 1998 they had an their first investment of $100,000 from Andy Bechtolsheim, Sun Microsystems co-founder. Some sources say September 1998. This was an event of legend, the dude dropped by, tested the website for a few minutes, said I like it, and dropped a 100$ check with no paperwork. Google wasn't even incorporated, they had to incorporate to cash the check. They were apparently introduced by one of the teachers, TODO which. Some sources say he had to rush off to another meeting afterwards:
Tried to sell it for 1 million in early 1999... OMG the way the world is. It would be good to learn more about that story, and when they noticed it was fuckup.
One of Google's most interesting stories is how their startup garage owner became an important figure inside Google, and how Sergei married her sister. These were the best garage tenants ever!
Bibliography:
- Video "Anne Wojcicki interview by Talks at Google (2018)" has a few mentions, e.g. youtu.be/pDoALM0q1LA?t=173
- www.theverge.com/2019/12/4/20994361/google-alphabet-larry-page-sergey-brin-sundar-pichai-co-founders-ceo-timeline The rise, disappearance, and retirement of Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Good timeline!