Google is an American multinational technology company that was founded in 1998 by Sergey Brin and Larry Page as a research project at Stanford University to find files on the internet. It has since grown to become one of the worlds most valuable brands due to its market dominance, data collection, and technological advantages in the field of artificial intelligence. Googles mission statement is "to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful".
Google is primarily known for its search engine, which uses a proprietary algorithm to retrieve and order search results to provide the most relevant information to users. However, Google also offers a wide range of other internet services and products, including email, online document creation, software for mobile phones and tablet computers, and hardware in the form of mobile phones. Some of the most popular Google services include:
- Google Calendar: A way to organize your schedule, synchronize, and share events with your friends.
- Google Chrome: The most popular desktop internet browser.
- Google Classroom: A Google service that allows students and teachers to participate in a digital class.
- Google Cloud: A service for businesses to store data, run applications in the cloud, and backup and disaster recovery.
- Google CSE (custom search engine): A service that lets you create a custom Google search engine.
- Google Groups: Googles bulletin board with millions of users and postings.
- Google Home: A voice-activated virtual digital assistant that assists users with questions.
- Google Images: A Google search for finding images instead of text.
- Google Account: A safe, central place to store personal information like credit cards, passwords, and contacts.
Googles name comes from the word "googol," which is a mathematical term for the number 1 followed by 100 zeros. The founders chose this name because it reflects their goal of building very large-scale search engines. The verb "google" has since become part of everyday language and was added to the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary in 2006, meaning "to use the Google search engine to obtain information on the internet".
