Google Headquarters
Google has its main headquarters in California, spread across the massive campus known as the Googleplex. The Googleplex is renowned for its unique and innovative approach to employee wellbeing and stress relief. From high-tech energy pods using NASA science to help people achieve brief naps during the day, to slides connecting upper and lower floors, Google has created a workplace environment that is designed to stimulate creativity and reduce stress.
Google’s Dinosaur Statue
One of the most iconic features of the Googleplex is the massive T-rex dinosaur statue. This statue is a reminder to Google employees to ensure that the company does not go extinct like the dinosaurs. The dinosaur statue also inspired the popular Dino Run game which appears when there is no internet connection.
Google Employee Naming Convention
Google has a unique naming convention for its employees. Experienced workers are referred to as Googlers, new employees are Nooglers, former employees are Xooglers, and any pets are Doodlers. Despite its eccentricity, the naming convention is just one of the many perks of working at Google.
Google’s Perks
Google’s founders have gone to great lengths to ensure their employees are well taken care of. Googlers are provided with gourmet dishes from around the world, free of charge, and are never more than 200 feet away from a cafeteria. In addition, if a Google employee passes away, their partner is entitled to half of their wage for the next 10 years. Such out-of-the-box thinking has no doubt contributed to Google’s success.
Google’s Age and Revenue
Incredibly, Google is actually younger than Netflix, yet it has one of the highest revenues of all time. Google generates around two hundred thousand dollars of revenue per minute, a figure that is not to be scoffed at, even if it is not quite as much as Apple’s 300000. It is remarkable to consider that Google’s success is due to a chance encounter between Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
Google’s Early Days
When Google was first established, it was known as ‘Backrub’. This was because websites were ranked based on the number of backlinks they had. If a website had many backlinks, Google deemed it to be important and would rank it higher in search results.
Google’s Early Days
Google’s story began in 1996 when two Stanford University students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, developed a search engine called BackRub. The search engine was designed to analyze the links between webpages and rank them according to their relevance. They spent a year with this name before seeing the bigger picture they could create with this technology, after which BackRub became Google, named after the very real word, “googol”, a number one followed by a hundred zeros. It just signifies the idea that Google intended to become this almost limitless bank of information.
Google’s Storage
But it wasn’t always high tech offices and gourmet foods. The entirety of Google was first stored on 10 4 gigabyte hard drives arranged in, wait for it, a Lego casing. The Lego actually made it easy for them to attach more storage later. Compare that then, to the 20 petabytes of information that Google processes per day now – it’s a world apart, even though it’s only been 20 years. To try and conceptualize just how much information one petabyte carries, imagine a Ford drawer filing cabinet, you know the big ones, the ones that are kind of just as tall as a person. Pack that full of paper full to the brim with each page, packed with information, then combine a thousand of these filing cabinets together to create one super filing cabinet and then get twenty thousand of those – that’s just one petabyte.
Android’s Origins
Okay, what about Google’s smartphone operating system Android? Why is a mobile phone OS named after a robot? Well, Andy Rubin, who is one of the founders, was given the nickname Android at his previous job, just because of how much he loved robotics. He then took the name with him to Google and it became the name of the mobile phone OS.
Google’s Impact
Google has become a part of everyday life for many people and its influence can be seen in almost every aspect of the modern world. From its search engine, to its email service, to its mobile operating system, Google has become a household name. It has changed the way we access information, communicate with one another, and even how we shop. Google has become an integral part of our lives and it’s hard to imagine a world without it.
The Logo
The logo of Google is an interesting one. It was designed by Ashley and her inspiration came from a bathroom sign. The iconic green color was chosen to signify growth, as it is associated with plants.
Microsoft and Android
Microsoft’s Windows Mobile software may have failed to gain traction, but that doesn’t mean they have completely failed in the smartphone space. In fact, they make a lot of money from Android, with royalties ranging from five to fifteen dollars per smartphone sold. This is because Microsoft owns patents that Android allegedly infringes on, but instead of taking them to court, both parties are better off if Microsoft just tells Android to pay them royalties for it.
Patents
Google has patented a number of interesting inventions. One of them is an electronic tattoo, which is a tiny working printed circuit board made to power an internal microphone that can be placed inside your body to make communication with your smart devices clearer. They have also patented a smart walking stick with embedded cameras and a GPS system, which was created to capture Google Maps Street View in remote locations. Every time the stick touches the ground, the camera on top takes a photo and the GPS module associates it with specific coordinates.
Google’s Hand Heart Gesture
Google has made a concerted effort to patent the hand heart gesture, which has nothing to do with expressing feelings for someone. Instead, it was related to the Google Glass project, which was an attempt to see the world through augmented reality. The gesture was intended to be used to tell the glasses to take a photo of whatever the user was looking at.
Advertising Revenue
Google makes a significant portion of its revenue from advertising. To maximize this income, the company needs to ensure that the ads they are sending are well-matched to the consumers viewing them. If the viewer likes the ad, it is a win-win situation; the viewer discovers a new product they may find useful, and the company selling it potentially gains a new sale.
Gathering Information
In order to best match ads with customers, Google wants to know as much information about them as possible. To this end, they have applied for a patent to equip smartphones with sensors that can detect environmental conditions, such as light and temperature, in order to further personalize ads based on this data. For example, if the user is sitting in the hot sun, they may receive a personalized ad for a local ice cream van.
Gaze Tracking System
Google has also patented a gaze tracking system which can detect whether people are actually looking at adverts. It can detect where the user’s pupils are facing and even the dilation of them, which would signal how much of an emotional response the ad has elicited.
Our Reliance on Google
The reliance of many people on Google is somewhat concerning. The company has access to a vast amount of data about its users, which it can use to target them with personalized ads and other services. This has led to some people questioning the ethics of the company and its use of data.
Google’s Global Impact
On August 16th 2013, the world was shocked when Google went down for a mere five minutes, resulting in a 40 percent decrease in global internet traffic. This event highlighted the sheer power and influence of the tech giant, and serves as a reminder of the importance of Google in our lives.
Google Maps Error
In 2010, a Google Maps error caused a diplomatic incident between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The map incorrectly showed that a piece of land belonged to Nicaragua, when in fact it was part of Costa Rica. Unaware of the mistake, Nicaraguan troops invaded the area and planted their flags.
DeepMind and Neural Turing Machines
In 2014, Google acquired DeepMind, a company that is working on a revolutionary technology called the Neural Turing Machine. This computer is designed to mimic the human brain, combining pattern recognition with the computational power of a computer.
Google Easter Eggs
Google is renowned for its sense of fun and its products and services are full of Easter eggs. For example, searching for “Google in 1998” will show you how the site looked back in the day. If you search for “vanoss” and click on the Infinity Gauntlet, your search results will fade away one by one until only 50 remain. Clicking again will restore them. Alternatively, searching for “Atari Breakout” will allow you to play the game in your browser.
Google’s Unusual Domain Name
Google owns the domain name, Google sucks.com, which is quite an unusual move for a company. It is believed that the domain was purchased to prevent any negative publicity from being associated with the company.
Ignoring Dots in Gmail Addresses
Google also ignores the dots in Gmail addresses. This means that if an email is sent to two different addresses with the same username but different dots, it will still arrive at the same place.
Google Maps
Google Maps has become an increasingly impressive tool. It can be used to virtually visit a range of places, from the base camp of Mount Everest to the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. Google also likes to have a bit of fun with this application, as evidenced by the fact that if you ask for directions in certain parts of Scotland, the Loch Ness monster is listed as a travel option.
Quirky and Jerky Approach
Google’s quirky and jerky approach to many things has both positive and negative consequences. On April 1st 2004, Google announced Gmail, which offered users a free gigabyte of online storage compared to the two megabytes that Hotmail did at the time. However, because Google had been running April Fools pranks on this day every year, many people thought Gmail was a joke. On April 1st 2007, Google sent an email out to employees that a Python had escaped and was loose in the facility. This was not a joke, and it was one of many fails for the company.
Project Tango
In 2014, Google sensed the potential of augmented reality and attempted to build a system for phones to use it. This project, dubbed Project Tango, was ahead of its time and required manufacturers to equip their phones with an excessive number of sensors for a benefit that, at the time, was limited to a novelty. Eventually, the project was discontinued and replaced with AR Core, which is now used by many Android phones.
Google Helpouts
Google Helpouts was an online service that allowed users to connect with experts and pay them for their time. It was similar to Fiverr, where people could log on and find help with any problem they were facing. Unfortunately, this service was discontinued in 2015.
Environmental Impact
Google is committed to minimizing its environmental impact and has achieved a 100% renewable energy usage for its offices and data centers. Additionally, Google has opted to rent two hundred goats to mow the lawns of its Googleplex headquarters, instead of using traditional machinery. To further reduce its carbon footprint, Google encourages its employees to ride bikes around the campus, as none of the bikes are locked to anything.
Google also has a secret lab called Google X, where they work on projects like self-driving cars and Google glass. They also have a policy of 20% time, where employees are encouraged to spend one day a week working on whatever they want. , they have a policy of no meetings before 11 am, so employees can have a more relaxed start to the day.
Google’s Logo
Google has undergone a series of logo changes since its launch. The first iteration was quite high-end looking, but they quickly swapped it out for a more modern approach. The logo consists of mostly primary colors – red, green and blue – with the addition of yellow to show that Google doesn’t just follow the rules, it changes them. Additionally, the “E” in the logo is slightly rotated, further demonstrating Google’s unconventional approach.
Google’s Motto
Google’s motto has changed over the years, from “Don’t be evil” to “Do the right thing”. This change was likely made to ensure a safer move for the company.
Google’s Garage
When Google was just starting out, its two founders rented a garage from a woman to work in. This woman turned out to be Susan Wojcicki, who eventually became the CEO of YouTube.
Google X
Google X is a secret lab where the company works on projects such as self-driving cars and Google Glass.
Google’s Policies
Google has a policy of 20% time, where employees are encouraged to spend one day a week working on whatever they want. Additionally, the company has a policy of no meetings before 11 am, allowing employees to have a more relaxed start to the day.
Calico
Google helps to fund Calico, a biotech company created to fight death itself. This is a testament to the company’s commitment to innovation and pushing the boundaries of what is possible.
That’s pretty awesome.
Alphabet Inc.
Google is owned by Alphabet Inc., a company that was founded in 2015. The interesting thing about Alphabet is that when they discovered that alphabet.com was already taken, they decided to go for a URL of abc.xyz. This demonstrates the company’s innovative spirit and creative approach to problem-solving.
Scanning Every Book in Existence
Google has had a lifelong mission to scan every book in existence. The idea is to preserve fading paper into an everlasting online record of everything ever written. However, they encountered a problem when they attempted to do this on a large scale. They began to receive complaints from authors and publishers who felt that Google was infringing on their copyright. Although Google believed that their scanning was harmless and considered fair use for educational purposes, the writers disagreed. As a result, 25 million books were never destroyed, but rather banned from Google’s records.
Google’s Offer to Yahoo
In one of the most remarkable business decisions of all time, Google offered to sell their company to Yahoo for just 1 million dollars. Yahoo declined the offer, and now Google is worth about 300 thousand times that amount. This is a testament to the power of innovation and the potential of the internet.
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