Everybody knows Google, right? It is the most widely used search engine in the world. Even though it is only in his twenties ( it started in 1998), it seems that it has been around all its life.
Google’s history begins in 1995, when two Stanford University students, Larry Page and Sergei Brin, came together to create a search engine, which they first called” BackRub”. They had no idea where it would all end up…
It’s hard to estimate how many people use Google every day, but the figure is certainly in the billions. That’s why Google can be considered one of the most popular sites in the world. But, although millions of users use it almost every day, there are many peculiar aspects about this popular search engine that most of its users are unaware of. Do you want to discover some Google facts? You’re in the right place.
Its name comes from the word Googol
Yep, that is right!. You need to know that Googol is a very high number, then this makes perfect sense.
The creators of Google, Page and Brin, chose this name to represent the enormous amount of information that the search engine was going to process. Although at the time, they didn’t know how far they would go….
The colours of the letters of the logo are not chosen randomly
Its colours (yellow, red, blue and green) come from the Lego pieces. Why? When the founders of Google were testing their search engine in 1996, they used the pieces of the popular construction game to create part of the server casing that was in charge of it. Today, it can be seen at the Stanford Computer Museum in the United States.
Another interesting thing of these Google facts: there are many ways to get to Google
In addition to typing “google.com”, you can do this through “gogle.com” or “gooogle.com”, among many other combinations. Its founders were so forward-thinking that they took into account even the typographical errors that Internet users might make when searching for their website. Yep, the founders were that clever….
Their page was too simple for the era
At a time when the web pages were very dramatic and the loading speed was very limited, it was usually necessary to wait a long time before a web page was fully loaded. That’s why, when accessing Google, the page was so simple, it loaded so fast, many users thought it hadn’t loaded correctly. To avoid this and to let visitors know that “that was it”, copyright information was added at the bottom of the page.
The first doodle. (Another great one of these Google Facts)
It was a simple performance of “Burning Man”, the symbol of a well-known rock festival held annually in Black Rock (USA). The purpose of this was to announce the day Page and Brin attended this festival in 1998.
The company was close to being sold
At the end of the 20th century, Google was very close to being sold to some of the major Internet companies of that time. Its price? A million dollars. Today, its market value is a lot bigger than that.
The “I’m feeling lucky” button is very expensive for Google
If you use Google frequently, you might know about this button located just below its search box. It takes you directly to the first result obtained without showing you the remaining results, which means that no advertising is shown to users.
It is estimated that this button is used by approximately 1% of their Google users, so some people have made some calculations to find out the company’s financial losses. Considering the profits that Google usually generates…. the losses are estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars annually. However, this button is not expected to be removed in the short term as, according to the company itself, it is part of the company’s image and philosophy.
Google has “a few” servers
Although only the company knows the exact number, it is estimated that these exceed one million, and that they represent around 2% of those that exist worldwide. Not bad for a company that started out building them with Lego parts….
Google is really important on the Internet
In 2013, Google’s services (including Youtube, Gmail, etc.) were down a few minutes. Global Internet traffic decreased by 40% during the time of the downturn.
Millions of people would like to work at Google
Its main work centre, “Googleplex“, located in Mountain View, California (USA) is probably the most well-known in the world. Inside, its employees find many facilities, such as a constant presence of free and ecological food, and all kinds of places dedicated to rest and leisure.
Its algorithms are among the most influential in the world
Its algorithms, which determine the search results and the order each page gets within them, have an enormous influence and can even determine the fate of some companies. It is estimated that these change about 500 times a year, and no one knows exactly what the criteria are.
There is a version of Google in Klingon
So, if any visitor of the alien race of Star Trek needs to search something, they will have no problem searching in their own language.
As you’ve seen, there are many Google facts that you probably didn’t know about. And now, why don’t you take a moment to discover Pandora FMS?
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Pandora FMS’s editorial team is made up of a group of writers and IT professionals with one thing in common: their passion for computer system monitoring. Pandora FMS’s editorial team is made up of a group of writers and IT professionals with one thing in common: their passion for computer system monitoring.
