| Revision as of 17:56, 25 September 2007 view sourceAlexf (talk | contribs)Administrators192,727 editsm rvv. Stop adding nonsense.← Previous edit | Revision as of 19:04, 25 September 2007 view source 207.235.156.61 (talk) ←Replaced page with 'Mr. Rogers was heer!?! PWN foolz yah really PWND!!! BTW I HATE LIFE and if this page is changed 3 (yes 3!!!) more pages will be scrwed up just like this friggen ga...'Next edit → | ||
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| Mr. Rogers was heer!?! PWN foolz yah really PWND!!! BTW I HATE LIFE and if this page is changed 3 (yes 3!!!) more pages will be scrwed up just like this friggen gay page!!! Check out these pages that are WAY better than . for all you fat people!!!!! for all you ugly people!!!! for all my fans!!!!! Go me!~!!!~!~!~ | |||
| {{2otheruses|the corporation|the search engine|Google search}} | |||
| {{distinguish|googol|Barney Google}} | |||
| {{Infobox_Company | |||
| | company_name = Google Inc. | |||
| | company_logo = ] <!-- FAIR USE of Google.png: see image description page at http://en.wikipedia.org/Image:Google.png for rationale --> | |||
| | company_type = ] ({{nasdaq|GOOG}}), ({{lse|GGEA}}) | |||
| | foundation = <!--Creation: {{flagicon|California}}], ] (January 1996</br>Incorporation:-->{{flagicon|California}}] (] ]<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2004-04-29-google-timeline_x.htm |title=The Rise of Google |journal=] |date=], ] |accessdate=2007-08-01</ref>) | |||
| | location_city = ] | |||
| | location_country = USA | |||
| | key_people = ], CEO/Director<br />], Co-Founder, Technology President<br />], Co-Founder, Products President <br />], CFO | |||
| | industry = ], ] | |||
| | products = See ] | |||
| | revenue = {{profit}}10.604 Billion ] (2006)<ref name="financialtables">{{cite web |url=http://investor.google.com/fin_data.html |title=Financial Tables |publisher=Google Investor Relations |accessdate=2007-02-23}}</ref> | |||
| | net_income = {{profit}}3.077 Billion ] (2006)<ref name="financialtables"/> | |||
| | num_employees = 13,748 (] ]) | |||
| | company_slogan = ] | |||
| | homepage = }} | |||
| '''Google Inc.''' ({{nasdaq|GOOG}} and {{lse|GGEA}}) is an ] ], specializing in ] and ]. The company is based in ], and has 13,748 full-time employees (as of ] ]).<ref>"." July 19, 2007. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> Google's mission statement is, "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."<ref>"." ''Google.'' Retrieved on ], ].</ref> Google's corporate philosophy includes statements such as "Don't be evil", and "Work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun", illustrating a somewhat relaxed corporate culture. | |||
| Google was co-founded by ] and ] while they were students at ] and the company was first incorporated as a ] on ], ]. Google's ] took place on ], ], raising ]1.67 billion, making it worth $23 billion. Through a series of new product developments, acquisitions and partnerships, the company has expanded its initial search and advertising business into other areas, including web-based ], online mapping, office productivity, and video sharing, among others. | |||
| ==History== | |||
| ] | |||
| {{main|History of Google}} | |||
| Google began as a research project in January 1996 by ] and ], two ] students at ], ].<ref name="milestones">"." ''Google.'' Retrieved on ], ].</ref> They hypothesized that a search engine that analyzed the relationships between websites would produce better results than existing techniques, which ranked results according to the number of times the search term appeared on a page.<ref>Page, Lawrence; Brin, Sergey; Motwani, Rajeev; Winograd, Terry. "." ], ].</ref> Their search engine was originally nicknamed, "BackRub" because the system checked ] to estimate a site's importance.<ref>Battelle, John. "." ''].'' August, 2005.</ref> A small search engine called Rankdex was already exploring a similar strategy.<ref>Li, Yanhong. "." ''Internet Computing, IEEE.'' '''2 (4),''' July-August, 1998, 24-29.</ref> | |||
| Convinced that the pages with the most links to them from other highly relevant web pages must be the most relevant pages associated with the search, Page and Brin tested their thesis as part of their studies, and laid the foundation for their search engine. Originally the search engine used the ] website with the domain ''google.stanford.edu''. The domain ''google.com'' was registered on ], ],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://whois.dnsstuff.com/tools/whois.ch?ip=google.com | title=WHOIS - google.com | accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref> and the company was incorporated as ''Google Inc.'' on ], ] at a friend's garage in ]. The total initial investment raised for the new company eventually amounted to almost $1.1 million, including a $100,000 check by ], one of the founders of ].<ref>Google. "." Retrieved on ], ].</ref> | |||
| In March 1998, the company moved into offices in ], home to several other noted ] technology startups.<ref name="165univave">Fried, Ian. "." ''].'' October 4, 2002. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> After quickly outgrowing two other sites, the company leased a complex of buildings in ] at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway from ] (SGI) in 2003.<ref name="sgibldg">Olsen, Stefanie. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> The company has remained at this location ever since, and the complex has since become known as the ] (a play on the word ], a 1 followed by a googol zeros). In 2006, Google bought the property from SGI for $319 million.<ref name="googleplexpurchase">Staff Writer. "." ''Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal.'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> | |||
| The Google search engine attracted a loyal following among the growing number of Internet users, who liked its simple design and usability.<ref name="simpledesign">Thompson, Bill. "" ''].'' ] ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> In 2000, Google began selling ] associated with search ].<ref name="milestones"/> The ads were text-based to maintain an uncluttered page design and to maximize page loading speed.<ref name="milestones"/> Keywords were sold based on a combination of price bid and clickthroughs, with bidding starting at $.05 per click.<ref name="milestones"/> This model of selling keyword advertising was pioneered by ] (later renamed Overture Services, before being acquired by ] and rebranded as ]).<ref name="goto strong">Sullivan, Danny. "." ''The Search Engine Report.'' ] ].</ref><ref name="cnet p4p">Pelline, Jeff. "." ''].'' ], ].</ref><ref name="glaser">Glaser, Ken. "Who Will GoTo.com?" .'' ], ].</ref> While many of its ] rivals failed in the new Internet marketplace, Google quietly rose in stature while generating revenue.<ref name="milestones"/> | |||
| The name "Google" originated from a misspelling of "],"<ref>Koller, David. " ''].'' January, 2004.</ref><ref>Hanley, Rachael. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> which refers to 10<sup>100</sup> (the number represented by a 1 followed by one-hundred zeros). Having found its way increasingly into everyday language, the verb, "]", was added to the '']'' and the '']'' in 2006, meaning, "to use the Google search engine to obtain information on the Internet."<ref>Harris, Scott D. "{{Deadlink|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/14985574.htm|date=July 2007|date=August 2007}}." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ] ].</ref><ref>Bylund, Anders. "{{Deadlink|url=http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13720643/|date=August 2007|date=August 2007}}." ''] via ].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> | |||
| A ] describing part of Google's ranking mechanism (]) was granted on ], ].<ref name="patent">Page, Lawrence. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ] ].</ref> The patent was officially assigned to Stanford University and lists Lawrence Page as the inventor. | |||
| ===Financing and initial public offering=== | |||
| The first funding for Google as a company was secured in the form of a ]100,000 contribution from ], co-founder of ], given to a corporation which did not yet exist.<ref name="Bechtolsheim">Kopytoff, Verne; Fost, Dan. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> Around six months later, a much larger round of funding was announced, with the major investors being rival venture capital firms ] and ].<ref name="Bechtolsheim"/> | |||
| Google's initial public offering took place on ], ]. 19,605,052 ] were offered at a price of $85 per share.<ref name="IPO">Elgin, Ben. "" ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> Of that, 14,142,135 (another mathematical reference as ] ≈ 1.4142135) were floated by Google and 5,462,917 by selling stockholders. The sale raised $1.67 billion, and gave Google a ] of more than $23 billion.<ref name="washpost">Webb, Cynthia L. "." ''].'' August 19, 2004. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> The vast majority of Google's 271 million shares remained under Google's control. Many of Google's employees became instant paper millionaires. ], a competitor of Google, also benefited from the IPO because it owned 8.4 million shares of Google as of August 9, 2004, ten days before the IPO.<ref name="yahooshares">Kuchinskas, Susan. "." ''.'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> | |||
| Google's post-IPO stock performance has been very good as well, with shares surging to $500 by 2007, due to strong sales and earnings in the advertising market, as well as the release of new features like the ] and personalized home page.<ref name="bowlingforgoogle">La Monica, Paul R. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ] ].</ref> The surge in stock price is fueled primarily by individual investors, as opposed to large institutional investors and ]s.<ref name="bowlingforgoogle"/> | |||
| The company is listed on the ] stock exchange under the ] symbol '''GOOG'''. | |||
| ===Growth=== | |||
| While the company's primary market is in the web content arena, Google has begun to experiment with other markets, such as ] and print publications. On ], ], Google announced that it had purchased the radio advertising company dMarc, which provides an automated system that allows companies to advertise on the radio.<ref>Levingston, Steven. "." ''].'' ], ].</ref> This will allow Google to combine two niche advertising media—the Internet and radio—with Google's ability to laser-focus on the tastes of consumers. Google has also begun an experiment in selling advertisements from its advertisers in offline newspapers and magazines, with select advertisements in the ].<ref>Gonsalves, Antone. "." ''Information Week.'' " ], ].</ref> They have been filling unsold space in the newspaper that would have normally been used for in-house advertisements. | |||
| Google was added to the ] on ], ]. Google replaced ], a major oil producer based in ] which was acquired by ]. | |||
| ===Acquisitions=== | |||
| {{seealso|List of Google acquisitions}} | |||
| Since 2001, Google has acquired several small start-up companies, often consisting of innovative teams and products. One of the earlier companies that Google bought was ]. They were the creators of ], a weblog publishing platform, first launched in 1999. This acquisition led to many premium features becoming free. Pyra Labs was originally formed by ], yet he left Google in 2004. In early 2006, Google acquired Upstartle, a company responsible for the online word processor, Writely. The technology in this product was used by Google to eventually create ]. | |||
| In February 2006, software company Adaptive Path sold Measure Map, a ] statistics application, to Google. Registration to the service has since been temporarily disabled. The last update regarding the future of Measure Map was made on ], ] and outlined any of the service's known issues.<ref>"." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ] ].</ref> | |||
| In late 2006, Google bought online video site ] for $1.65 billion in stock.<ref>La Monica, Paul R. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ] ].</ref> Shortly after, on ], ], Google announced that it had also acquired ], a developer of wiki technology for collaborative Web sites.<ref>. ], ].</ref> | |||
| On ], ], Google reached an agreement to acquire ]. Google agreed to buy the company for $3.1 billion.<ref name="DoubleClicknyt"> Louise Stort and Miguel Helft. "." '']''. ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> | |||
| On ], ], Google announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire enterprise messaging security and compliance company ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/postini_20070709.html|title=Google to acquire Postini|publisher=Google (Press release)|accessdate=2007-07-18|date=July 9, 2007}}</ref> | |||
| ===Partnerships=== | |||
| In 2005, Google entered into partnerships with other companies and government agencies to improve production and services. Google announced a partnership with ] to build up {{convert|1000000|sqft|sqm|-3}} of offices and work on research projects involving large-scale data management, ], ], and the entrepreneurial space industry.<ref name="nasaames">Mills, Elinor. "" ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> Google also entered into a partnership with ] in October to help share and distribute each other's technologies.<ref name="googlesun">Kessler, Michelle; Acohido, Byron. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> The company entered into a partnership with ] ],<ref name="googleaol">Mills, Elinor. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> to enhance each other's video search services. | |||
| In 2006, Google and ]'s Fox Interactive Media entered into a $900 million agreement to provide search and advertising on the popular social networking site, ].<ref name="googlemyspace">Staff Writer. "." ''Business Wire.'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> | |||
| ==Products== | |||
| {{main|List of Google products}} | |||
| Google has created services and tools for the general public and business environment alike; including Web applications, advertising networks and solutions for businesses. | |||
| ===Advertising=== | |||
| Most of Google's revenue is derived from advertising programs. For the 2006 fiscal year, the company reported $10.492 billion in total advertising revenues and only $112 million in licensing and other revenues.<ref name="10-K">{{Cite web|url=http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288776/000119312507044494/d10k.htm|title=Form 10-K -- Annual Report|accessdate=2007-07-14|publisher=SEC|work=EDGAR}}</ref> Google ] allows Web advertisers to display advertisements in Google's search results and the Google Content Network, through either a cost-per-click or cost-per-view scheme. Google ] website owners can also display adverts on their own site, and earn money every time ads are clicked. | |||
| ===Applications=== | |||
| Google is well-known for its ] service, which is a major factor of the company's success. As of December 2006, Google is the most used ] on the web with a 50.8% market share, ahead of ] (23.6%) and ] (8.4%).<ref name="searchmarketshare">Bausch, Suzy. "{{Deadlink|url=http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=206586|date=August 2007|date=August 2007}}." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> Google indexes billions of Web pages, so that users can search for the information they desire, through the use of ] and ]. Google has also employed the Web Search technology into other search services, including Image Search, ], the price comparison site ], the interactive ] archive ], ] and more. | |||
| In 2004, Google launched its own free web-based email service, known as ].<ref name="gmail2004">Staff Writer. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> Gmail features ] and the capability to use Google technology to search email. The service generates revenue by displaying advertisements from the ] service that are tailored to the content of the email messages displayed on screen. | |||
| In early 2006, the company launched ], which not only allows users to search and view freely available videos but also offers users and media publishers the ability to publish their content, including television shows on ], ] basketball games, and music videos.<ref name="video2006">Tyler, Nathan. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> In August 2007, Google announced that it would shut down its video rental and sale program and offer refunds and ] credits to consumers who had purchased videos to own. | |||
| Google has also developed several desktop applications, including ], an interactive mapping program powered by satellite and aerial imagery that covers the vast majority of the planet. Google Earth is generally considered to be remarkably accurate and extremely detailed. Many major cities have such detailed images that one can zoom in close enough to see vehicles and pedestrians clearly. Consequently, there have been some concerns about national security implications. Specifically, some countries and militaries contend the software can be used to pinpoint with near-precision accuracy the physical location of critical infrastructure, commercial and residential buildings, bases, government agencies, and so on. However, the satellite images are not necessarily frequently updated, and all of them are available at no charge through other products and even government sources (] and the ], for example.) Some counter this argument by stating that Google Earth makes it easier to access and research the images. | |||
| Many other products are available through Google Labs, which is a collection of incomplete applications that are still being tested for use by the general public. | |||
| Google has promoted their products in various ways. In ], ''Google Space'' was set-up in ], showcasing several products, including Gmail, Google Earth and Picasa.<ref name="googlespace">"." ''].'' Retrieved on ], ].</ref><ref name="heathrow">Donoghue, Andrew. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> Also, a similar page was launched for American college students, under the name ''College Life, Powered by Google.''<ref name="collegelife">"." Retrieved on ], ].</ref> | |||
| In 2007, some reports surfaced that Google was planning the release of its own mobile phone, possibly a competitor to ]'s ].<ref name="orlowski">Orlowski, Andrew. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref><ref name="smith">Smith, David. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ] ].</ref><ref name="ricker">Ricker, Thomas. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> The project may be a collaboration between Google and ], ], ], or another manufacturer. However, very little is known about the project and most of the information available is speculation. | |||
| ===Enterprise products=== | |||
| In 2007, Google launched ], a software suite for businesses that provides ], ], ], ], as well as a ] program.<ref name="graham">Graham, Jefferson. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> This product is targeted primarily at the business user, and intended to compete directly versus ]'s ] suite, with a price of approximately USD50 per user per year compared to USD500 per user for Microsoft Office.<ref name="graham"/> A large implementation of Google Apps with 38,000 users is at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.<ref name="rickwood">Rickwood, Lee. "." ''.'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> | |||
| ==Platform== | |||
| {{main|Google platform}} | |||
| Google's services are run on several ]s, each consisting of thousands of low-cost commodity computers running stripped-down versions of ]. While the company does not provide detailed information about its hardware, a 2006 estimate consisted of over 450,000 servers, racked up in clusters located in data centers around the world.<ref name="howgoogleworks">Carr, David F. "." ''.'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> | |||
| ==Corporate affairs and culture== | |||
| ] seen in the Googleplex parking lot.]] | |||
| Google is particularly known for its relaxed corporate culture, reminiscent of the ]. In January 2007, it was cited by '']'' as the #1 (of 100) best company to work for.<ref name="best_company">"." ''] (link published by ]).'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> Google's corporate philosophy is based on many casual principles including, "You can make money without doing evil", "You can be serious without a suit," and "Work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun." A complete list of corporate fundamentals is available on Google's website.<ref>"." ''Google.'' Retrieved on ], ].</ref> Google's relaxed corporate culture can also be seen externally through their holiday variations of the ]. | |||
| Google has been criticized for having salaries below industry standards. For example, some ]s earn no more than $35,000 per year – considered to be quite low for the ] job market.<ref name="salaries">Penenberg, Adam L. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> However, Google's stock performance following its ] has enabled many early employees to be competitively compensated by participation in the corporation's remarkable equity growth.<ref name="shinalj">Shinal, John. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ] ].</ref> Google implemented other employee incentives in 2005, such as the ], in addition to offering higher salaries to new employees. Google's workplace amenities, culture, global popularity, and strong brand recognition have also attracted potential applicants. | |||
| After the company's ] in August 2004, it was reported that founders ] and ], and CEO ], requested that their base salary be cut to $1.00.<ref name="topsalaries">La Monica, Paul R. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> Subsequent offers by the company to increase their salaries have been turned down, primarily because, "their primary compensation continues to come from returns on their ownership stakes in Google. As significant stockholders, their personal wealth is tied directly to sustained stock price appreciation and performance, which provides direct alignment with stockholder interests."<ref name="topsalaries"/> Prior to 2004, Schmidt was making $250,000 per year, and Page and Brin each earned a salary of $150,000.<ref name="topsalaries"/> | |||
| They have all declined recent offers of bonuses and increases in compensation by Google's board of directors. In a 2007 report of the United States' richest people, ] reported that ] and ] were tied for #5 with a net worth of $18.5 billion each.<ref>"." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> | |||
| ===Googleplex=== | |||
| ] | |||
| {{main|Googleplex}} | |||
| As a play on Google's name, its headquarters, in Mountain View, California, is referred to as "the ]" — a ] being 1 followed by a googol of zeros, and the HQ being a ] of buildings (cf. ], cineplex, etc). The lobby is decorated with a ], ], old server clusters, and a projection of search queries on the wall. The hallways are full of exercise balls and ]s. Each employee has access to the corporate recreation center. Recreational amenities are scattered throughout the campus and include a workout room with weights and rowing machines, locker rooms, washers and dryers, a massage room, assorted ]s, ], a ], a pool table, and ]. In addition to the ], there are snack rooms stocked with various ]s, ]s, ], ], ]s, ], ]s, fresh fruit, and dozens of different drinks including fresh ], ], and make your own ].{{Fact|date=August 2007}} | |||
| ] | |||
| In 2006, Google moved into {{convert|311000|sqft|sqm|-2}} of office space in ], at 111 ] in Manhattan.<ref name="manhattan">Reardon, Marguerite. "." ''.'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> The office was specially designed and built for Google and houses its largest advertising sales team, which has been instrumental in securing large partnerships, most recently deals with ] and ].<ref name="manhattan"/> In 2003, they added an engineering staff in New York City, which has been responsible for more than 100 engineering projects, including ], ]s, and others.<ref name="manhattan"/> It is estimated that the building costs Google $10 million per year to rent and is similar in design and functionality to its ] headquarters, including Foosball, air hockey, and ping-pong tables, as well as a video game area.<ref name="manhattan"/> | |||
| Google is also making steps to ensure that their operations are environmentally sound. In October 2006, the company announced plans to install thousands of ]s to provide up to 1.6 ]s of ], enough to satisfy approximately 30% of the campus' energy needs.<ref name="solar">Richmond, Riva. "." ''.'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> The system will be the largest solar power system constructed on a ] corporate campus and one of the largest on any corporate site in the world.<ref name="solar"/> In June 2007, Google announced that they plan to become ] by 2008, which includes investing in energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, and purchasing carbon offsets, such as investing in projects like capturing and burning ] from animal waste at Mexican and Brazilian farms.<ref>Staff Writer. "." '' Environmental Leader.'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> | |||
| ==="Twenty percent" time=== | |||
| All Google engineers are encouraged to spend 20% of their work time (one day per week) on projects that interest them. Some of Google's newer services, such as ], ], ], and ] originated from these independent endeavors.<ref>"." ''Google.'' Retrieved on ], ].</ref> In a talk at ], ], Google's Vice President of Search Products and User Experience, stated that her analysis showed that half of the new product launches originated from the 20% time.<ref>Mayer, Marissa. "." (video link; an is also available in ] format). ''/].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> | |||
| ===Easter eggs and April Fool's Day jokes=== | |||
| {{main|Google's hoaxes}} | |||
| Google has a tradition of creating ] jokes — such as ], which allegedly featured the use of mental power to search the web.<ref name="mentalplex">"." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> In 2002, they claimed that ] were the ] behind their growing ].<ref name="pigeonrank">"." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> In 2004, they featured ] (which claimed to feature jobs on the ]),<ref name="copernicus">"." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> and in 2005, a ] brain-boosting drink, termed ] was announced.<ref name="gulp">"." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> In 2006, they came up with ], a hypothetical ] service.<ref name="romance">Fox, Lynn. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> In 2007, Google announced two joke products. The first was a free wireless Internet service called ] (Toilet Internet Service Provider) <ref name="TiSP">"." ''Google.'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> in which one obtained a connection by flushing one end of a ] cable down their toilet and waiting only an hour for a "Plumbing Hardware Dispatcher (PHD)" to connect it to the Internet.<ref name="TiSP"/> Additionally, Google's ] page displayed an announcement for ], which allows users of their free email service to have email messages printed and shipped to a snail mail address.<ref name="gmail_paper">"." ''Google.'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> | |||
| Some thought the announcement of Gmail in 2004 around April Fool's Day (as well as the doubling of Gmail's storage space to two gigabytes in 2005) was a joke, although both of these turned out to be genuine announcements. In 2005, a comedic graph depicting Google's goal of "infinity plus one" GB of storage was featured on the Gmail homepage. | |||
| Google's services contain a number of ]; for instance, the Language Tools page offers the search interface in the ]'s "Bork bork bork," ], ”Hacker” (Actually ]), ], and ].<ref>"." ''].'' Retrieved on ], ].</ref> <!--When asked how to get from a location in the U.S. to a location in Europe (or vice versa), Google Maps will provide directions that include an instruction to "Swim across the Atlantic Ocean." <ref name="atlantic">"." ''Google.'' Retrieved on ], ].</ref>--> In addition, the search engine calculator provides the ] from ]' '']''.<ref>"." ''].'' Retrieved on ], ].</ref> As Google's search box can be used as a unit converter (as well as a calculator), some non-standard units are built in, such as the ]. Google also routinely modifies its logo in accordance with various holidays or special events throughout the year, such as ], ], or various ]s of notable individuals.<ref name="google_holiday">"." ''Google''. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> | |||
| ===IPO and culture=== | |||
| Many people speculated that Google's ] would inevitably lead to changes in the company's culture,<ref>]. "" ''].'' ], ].</ref> because of shareholder pressure for employee benefit reductions and short-term advances, or because a large number of the company's employees would suddenly become millionaires on paper. In a report given to potential investors, co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page promised that the IPO would not change the company's culture.<ref>Baertlein, Lisa. "." ''CIOL IT Unlimited.'' ], ].</ref> Later Mr. Page said, "We think a lot about how to maintain our culture and the fun elements. We spent a lot of time getting our offices right. We think it's important to have a high density of people. People are packed together everywhere. We all share offices. We like this set of buildings because it's more like a densely packed university campus than a typical suburban office park."<ref name="davidvise">Vise, David A. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> | |||
| However, many analysts are finding that as Google grows, the company is becoming more "corporate". In 2005, articles in '']'' and other sources began suggesting that Google had lost its anti-corporate, no evil philosophy<ref>Rivlin, Gary. "." ''].'' ], ].</ref><ref>Gibson, Owen; Wray, Richard. "." ''].'' ],].</ref>.<ref>Ranka, Mohit. "."''].'' ],].</ref> | |||
| In an effort to maintain the company's unique culture, Google has designated a Chief Culture Officer in 2006, who also serves as the Director of Human Resources. The purpose of the Chief Culture Officer is to develop and maintain the culture and work on ways to keep true to the core values that the company was founded on in the beginning — a flat organization, a lack of hierarchy, a collaborative environment.<ref name="CCO">Mills, Elinor. "." ''].'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> | |||
| ==Google.org== | |||
| In 2004, Google formed its not-for-profit philanthropic wing ], giving it a starting fund of $1 billion. The express mission of the organization is to help with the issues of ] (see also ]), global public health, and ]. Among its first projects is to develop a viable ] ] that can attain 100 ].<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/technology/14google.html</ref> The current director is Dr. ].<ref></ref> | |||
| ==Environmental record== | |||
| Google has announced commitments to various initiatives to reduce its environmental impact, including the use of solar panels , and other carbon-reducing actions. | |||
| They have also joined the to exchange information with energy managers at other leading corporations. | |||
| ==Criticism== | |||
| <!-- This section is for providing a SUMMARY of the contents of the ] --> | |||
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| <!-- this section and instead, add it to the criticism section. Thank you! --> | |||
| {{main|Criticism of Google}} | |||
| As it has grown, Google has found itself the focus of several controversies related to its business practices and services. For example, ]'s effort to digitize millions of books and make the full text searchable has led to ] disputes with the ]. Another copyright concern is about Google's ] in the UK and several other countries. Now, in those parts of the world, it is known as Google Mail. Google's cooperation with the governments of ], and to a lesser extent ] and ] (regarding ]) to filter search results in accordance to regional laws and regulations has led to claims of ]. Google's persistent ] and other information collection practices have led to concerns over user ]. A number of ]n state governments have raised concerns about the security risks posed by geographic details provided by ]'s satellite imaging.<ref name="satimgs">Sharma, Dinesh C. "." ''.'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> Google has also been criticized by advertisers regarding its inability to combat ], when a person or automated script is used to generate a charge on an advertisement without really having an interest in the product. Industry reports in 2006 claim that approximately 14 to 20 percent of clicks were in fact fraudulent or invalid.<ref>Mills, Elinor. "." ''.'' ], ]. Retrieved on ], ].</ref> In September 2007, the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) has brought a two-pronged case against Trading Post and Google - including subsidiaries Google Australia and Google Ireland - for potentially misleading consumers by selling its rankings to commercial companies rather than sorting them by relevance. <ref>{{cite news | |||
| | url = http://www.andhranews.net/Intl/2007/September/10/Google-legal-15013.asp | |||
| | title = Google in legal dock over selling its top rankings to commercial partners and | |||
| }}</ref> | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| * ], a verb | |||
| * ] - Google's Web crawler | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] - Chinese subsidiary of Google Web search | |||
| * ] - Google's internal distributed file system | |||
| * ] - Charitable arm of Google | |||
| * ] - Google's server and system hardware architecture with geographic references | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ==References== | |||
| <!-- This article uses ]. Please use this format in the article text when inserting references. Any external link inserted directly into this section will be swiftly deleted. --> | |||
| {{reflist|2}} | |||
| ==Further reading== | |||
| * {{cite book|title=The Google Story|author=David Vise and Mark Malseed|publisher=Delacorte Press|date=]|id=ISBN 0-553-80457-X}} | |||
| * {{cite book|title=The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture|author=]|publisher=Portfolio Hardcover|date=]|id=ISBN 1-59184-088-0}} | |||
| ==External links== | |||
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| {{sisterlinks|Google}} | |||
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| {{Google Inc.}} | |||
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Revision as of 19:04, 25 September 2007
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