
Happy Birthday Google, you’re finally an adult!
The 27th of September marked the 18th Birthday of technology giant Google. At only 18 years old, Google is the world’s favourite search engine and one of the most recognisable and popular companies around today.
Nowadays, it seems hard to imagine a world where Google isn’t readily available to answer any questions or queries we may have. However, 18 years ago Google was only an idea in the heads of Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who studied at Stanford University in California.
It began with the clear vision of being a search engine for people to be able to find websites and information, much as it is today. In 1998, the internet was still in its youth and people were only just beginning to access it for personal use. Google’s mission statement from the outset was ‘to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.’
Google has since been estimated to run more than one million servers in data centres around the world and that figure is increasing every day. It processes over one billion search requests and about 24 petabytes of user-generated data daily. Google is often listed as one of, if not the number one most visited websites in the world. A landmark moment was reached for the company in 2011 when Google surpassed one billion unique visitors in the month of May. It was the first time a website had ever achieved those kinds of numbers.
Google has expanded its focus from its domination of the search engine world to spawning other extremely popular websites such as YouTube and Blogger. 18 years on, however, the popularity of the original Google model shows no signs of slowing down. Additionally, with the infinitely popular Google Chrome browser going from strength to strength, and the company launching its own instant messaging platform Google Allo this year – it seems the company is one that is constantly willing to evolve. This ability to adapt itself to an ever-changing market will likely help Google avoid ever losing its place as one of the most important internet companies around today.
Here’s wishing Google a happy birthday and another 18 years of success!