Google: The Company and Its Founders - Sharyland ISD

TABLE OF CONTENTSChapter 1 Humble Beginnings 6Chapter 2 Sergey Brin 14Chapter 3 Larry Page 22Chapter 4 An Idea Becomes Reality 30Chapter 5 Business Venture 40Chapter 6 Making a Profit 52Chapter 7 Google Grows Up 60Chapter 8 Expansion and Opposition 68Chapter 9 The Billionaire Philanthropists 78Chapter 10 The Importance of Google 86Timeline 96Essential Facts 100Glossary 102Additional Resources 104Source Notes 106Index 110About the Author 112

CHAPTER1The graduate school partnership of Sergey Brin, top,and Larry Page led to the creation of Google.HUMBLEBEGINNINGSIn 1997, two young Stanford University studentsknew they were onto something special. Thepair had been working on a project that lookedpromising. If successful, it could revolutionize howpeople searched for information on the Internet—6

HUMBLE BEGINNINGSand potentially bring huge changes to the Internetitself.Sergey Brin and Larry Page, graduate studentsin computer science, were brilliant young prodigieswho excelled at mathematics and engineering. Theirminds never seemed to rest. While studying for theirPhDs, they turned their interests toward creating afaster, easier, and better way of finding informationin cyberspace.In 1996, Brin and Page began working on aresearch project for the Stanford Digital LibraryProject (SDLP). The project involved developingtechnology for an integrated online library ofinformation. It was the catalyst for one of the mostimportant breakthroughs of the information age.THE “SEARCH”In the 1990s, the Internet was fairly new to thepublic. A world of possibilities had been opened, butfinding information on the Internet was difficult.A person had to know the exact uniform resourcelocator, or URL, of a Web page. Otherwise, therewas no guarantee he or she would find the locationwith a search. In August 1995, more than 18,000Web sites existed, and that number was growing7

GOOGLETHE WORLD WIDE WEBThe terms Internet and World Wide Webare often used interchangeably. However, thetwo are not the same thing. The Internet isthe global data communications system thatconnects computers. The World Wide Web isa collection of interlinked documents thatresides on the Internet. These documentsappear as Web sites. A user can view Webpages using a Web browser. There are severalbrowsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox,Google Chrome, and Safari.In 1989, British computer scientist TimBerners-Lee proposed a system that wouldallow computer users to connect informationof various kinds over a massive web.Berners-Lee was joined by Belgian computerscientist Robert Cailliau. The men proposedusing hypertext, along with the Internet, tocreate their weblike system. Hypertext is acomputer language that uses hyperlinks. Acomputer user needs only to click a hyperlinkto go to a new Web page.Berners-Lee developed the uniformresource locator (URL). A URL serves as a Website’s unique address on the World Wide Web.A user can find a certain Web site by knowingthe URL or performing a search. The first Website was created by Berners-Lee and describedthe World Wide Web project. It was put onlineon August 6, 1991.daily. By 2006, thatnumber would hit amilestone: 100 million.With an average ofmore than 9 millionnew Web sites createdyearly, sifting throughWeb content to finduseful informationwas a time-consumingchallenge. Brin andPage knew the Internetheld a vast amount ofdata. And they knewthe data was useless ifpeople could not findit easily.Early searchengines attemptedto help users locatesites based on a searchterm. A person simplyentered the word orwords describing whathe or she was trying tofind, such as dolphin8

HUMBLE BEGINNINGSor race cars. Search engines such as WebCrawler,Lycos, Infoseek, and Excite worked by scanning Websites for the search term entered. These early searchengines produced a list of Web sites based on howmany times the search term appeared on the Webpage. None of the existing search engines provided aresults list based on the quality ofthe Web site or the relevancy of theinformation. If a person conducteda search on dolphins, for example,he or she might get a list of severalWeb pages containing the worddolphin, but the results were notarranged in a helpful order. Simplybecause the word dolphin appearedmore times on a Web page didnot mean that page offered betterinformation than another. Theseresults, Brin and Page realized, wereinefficient.Page became interested inlinks on Web pages and how theymight offer a new approach tosearching. Links connect Websites. A visitor to one site is sentto another by simply clickingTHE FIRST WEBSEARCH ENGINEBy 1990, many colleges anduniversities were using theInternet to store researchpapers and technical specifications.Although these wereaccessible to the public, unlessa person knew the exact filename, it was virtually impossibleto find these documents.McGill University studentAlan Emtage created the firstInternet search engine in1990 to search these archives.Archie, as it was called, wasa rudimentary solution torummaging through archivedmaterial, only taking intoaccount documents’ titles, nottheir full text.9

GOOGLEa highlighted word or phrase.Typically, the creator of a siteprovides links he or she feels arevaluable to visitors to the site.“Throughout the 1990s, searchThe pages linking to a Webengines primarily retrievedpages according to how many site are called back links. A Webtimes given key words were site does not necessarily have linksfound on a site. These enginesdidn’t take advantage of theto its back-linked pages. Graduateinterconnected properties student Page believed links wereof the Internet other than similar to citations in publishedthat they could find sites andarchive their information. scholarly papers. When researchingThe new technology that the and writing, scientists cite, orInternet demanded did not yetreference, other published papersexist. Larry created it.” 2that support their ideas. Citations—Richard L. Brandt, InsideLarry and Sergey’s Brain serve as a way of giving credit toother researchers for their work.By citing another person’s work, aresearcher is saying that the otherwork is useful or important.Page explained, “Citations are important. Itturns out, people who win the Nobel Prize havecitations from 10,000 different papers.” Page wenton to explain that having many citations in scientificliterature, “means your work was important, becauseother people thought it was worth mentioning.” 1Page wondered if he could apply the same logic to10

HUMBLE BEGINNINGSInternet links. He applied this theory by suggestingthat Internet sites with the most links to them weremore important than sites with fewer links, as judgedby Internet users. He also believed a back link withmore back links to it carried more clout than onewith fewer. If Page could follow back links on theWeb, he could assign value to each Web site.A PARTNERSHIP BLOOMSEncouraged by Professor Terry Winograd, Pageturned his idea into a PhD thesis. By this time,fellow student and friend Sergey Brin had joinedPage on the project. They began working on theiridea in January 1996. Page told one of his advisershis research would require him to download theentire World Wide Web onto hisdesktop computer in order toanalyze the data. Many colleaguesthought Page’s idea was absurd.With Brin’s help, Pagecreated a search engine he calledBackRub to follow back linkson the Internet. The young menneeded an algorithm—a complexmathematical formula—to analyze“It wasn’t that [Brin and Page]sat down and said, ‘Let’s buildthe next great search engine.’They were trying to solve interestingproblems and stumbledupon some neat ideas.” 3—Rajeev Motwani,Stanford Universitycomputer science professor11

GOOGLEOTHER FAMOUSALGORITHMSPageRank, the algorithm thatled to Google, has become oneof the most famous algorithmsto date. Other algorithms havealso changed everyday life forpeople worldwide. Encryptionis an algorithmic process thatmakes text messages unreadableuntil they reach theirdestinations. Encryption alsoprotects medical, financial,and other private informationsent online.Another famous algorithmis the MP3 file, whichcondenses music, decreasing itfrom the size of the recordingin CD form while maintainingits quality. Music lovers cancondense their entire audiolibrary to the size of an MP3player.the back links. Brin created analgorithm with more than 500million variables. The men namedtheir algorithm PageRank, utilizingPage’s last name.Now, the pair needed to copyand index Web sites. This wouldrequire large numbers of computersworking around the clock. Thestudents were convinced they couldrecreate how people search forinformation online if they had theright equipment. If they could gettheir search engine up and runningfor use at Stanford, Brin and Pagecould prove its worth.They began scavenging forextra computers and runningPageRank. Soon, their projectwould outgrow their office atStanford. Although Brin andPage had faith in their work, theyprobably had no idea they were onthe verge of making history.12

HUMBLE BEGINNINGSPage studied links and back links to create a new methodfor Internet searching.13

CHAPTER2Sergey Brin immigrated to the United States from Russia when he was six.SERGEY BRINSergey Mikhailovich Brin was born onAugust 21, 1973, in Moscow, Russia, whenRussia was still a part of the Soviet Union.Young Sergey lived in a small, cramped apartmentwith his parents and grandmother. The only space14

SERGEY BRINSergey could play was in a small courtyard. The Brinfamily was Jewish and faced additional problemsbesides their living conditions.At the time, Jews in the SovietUnion experienced anti-Semitism,or discrimination and hatredTHE SOVIET UNIONtoward Jews. The governmentThe Soviet Union existed fromplaced restrictions on what Jews1922 until 1991. It includedcould study in school. Sergey’sthe areas that became Russia,Ukraine, and other easternfather, Michael, had dreamed ofEuropean and central Asianbecoming an astronomer. Butcountries. The Soviet Union wasCommunist Party leaders barredruled by its Communist Party.The ideology of communismJews from studying physics.called for the government toSince astronomy was a divisioncontrol the economy. The leaderscontrolled most aspects ofof physics, Michael Brin had tothe people’s lives, includingabandon his dreams of studyingbusinesses, schools and universities,and the media. Manythe stars.Nevertheless, Michaelpeople lived in poor, tightlypacked housing and facedattended Moscow State Universityshortages of basic goods. Peoplewere not allowed to speakand studied mathematics. Hegraduated with honors and wanted out against the government.Many people, including Jews,to continue his studies, butwere discouraged from practicingtheir religion.explained, “Nobody would evenconsider me for graduate schoolbecause I was Jewish. That wasnormal.” 1 He went to work as an15

GOOGLEeconomist and continued studying mathematicsby sneaking into evening university seminars. Hewrote several research papers, many of which werepublished, and began to work ona doctoral thesis. Mentors helpedhim find a university that wouldhear his thesis, and he received aPhD from a university in Kharkov,RISKING EVERYTHINGUkraine, giving him a small raise inWhen Sergey’s parents appliedfor an emigration permit in salary.1978, his father was fired Sergey’s mother, Eugenia,from his job. His mother wasalso attended Moscow Stateforced to quit hers. For manymonths, they struggled to University. She received a degreeget by on the money Michael from the School of Mechanicsmade translating English technicaldocuments into Russian.and Mathematics and worked inWhen their application was a laboratory at the Soviet Oil andfinally approved by the Soviet Gas Institute.government, the family had toSergey’s parents heldleave almost all of their possessionsbehind. They were respectable jobs, and they enjoyedsome of the last Jews to leave conditions that were better thanRussia before the governmentmany others had living in Moscowended emigration for a time.at the time. However, Michaelknew they would continue to sufferfrom anti-Semitism and his sonwould face the same educationalrestrictions he had.16

SERGEY BRINSergey received his first computer, a Commodore 64, when he was nine.A BETTER LIFE AWAITSAfter attending a mathematics conference in Warsaw,Poland, Michael returned home and told his wifeand his mother, “We cannot stay here any more.” 2While at the conference, he met mathematiciansfrom the United States, France, Germany, and GreatBritain. He learned a little about what life could belike outside the Soviet Union. He was convinced hisfamily could have a much better life in the West.In 1979, when Sergey was six years old, hisparents decided to immigrate to the United States.On October 25, the Brins landed in New York. Thefamily included Michael, Eugenia, young Sergey, and17

GOOGLEMichael’s mother. With the help of the local Jewishcommunity, the Brin family found a house to rentin Maryland, close to Washington DC, and Michaelfound work as a professor at the University ofMaryland. Sergey’s younger brother, Sam, was bornin Maryland in 1988.SERGEY THE STUDENTSergey attended the Miskan Torah Hebrew Schoolwith other Jewish children, but he disliked hisschool. He was a shy child who struggled to learnEnglish and had a heavy accent. He was bulliedby his classmates. After a few years, he begged hisparents to allow him to transfer to a different school.Sergey was then enrolled in Paint Branch MontessoriSchool in Adelphi, Maryland. The Montessorischool allowed children to learn by doing thingsthat interested them. Sergey spent most of his timedoing puzzles, maps, and mathematics games. Withthe freedom to choose his own activities, Sergey’screativity grew. “I could grow at my own pace,” heexplained. 3 The Montessori school’s methods taughtSergey he could learn through his curiosity for thingsthat struck his fancy. He also did not face bullying athis new school.18

SERGEY BRINSergey graduated from the University of Marylandat College Park at age 19.21

CHAPTER3Larry Page has had a lifelong interest in technology and computers.LARRY PAGEBorn on March 26, 1973, in East Lansing,Michigan, Lawrence Edward Page was thesecond son of Carl Victor Page and GloriaPage. Like his future partner Brin, Larry also hadparents who placed a high value on scholarship.22

LARRY PAGELarry’s father earned one of the first PhDs awardedin computer science and taught at MichiganState University. His mother taught computerprogramming classes at Michigan State as well. Larrywas raised to excel in the world of computers andtechnology.EARLY EXPOSUREIn a time when it was rare for families to have ahome computer, the Pages had remarkable exposureto computing technology. Larry described his family’scomputer situation:My dad was a computer science professor, so wehad computers really early. The first computerwe owned as a family was in 1978 [Larry wouldhave been five years old], the Exidy Sorcerer. Itwas popular in Europe but never in the US. Ithad 32K memory. My brother had to write theoperating system. 1Larry’s only brother, Carl Jr., was nineyears older than Larry. Carl Jr. played a key rolein teaching young Larry about computers andelectronics. Carl Jr. attended Michigan State andbrought home college-level electronics assignmentsthat Larry worked on as an elementary school23

GOOGLEFAMILY OFENTREPRENEURSLarry’s brother did more thanteach him to tinker with familyappliances. Carl Jr. wasthe first entrepreneur in thefamily. After graduating fromcollege, he cofounded ane-mail management companycalled eGroups. The companywas eventually sold to Yahoo!in 2000 for $432 million instock.student. Carl Jr. also taught hisyounger brother how to take thingsapart and reassemble them. Larrypracticed by taking apart many ofthe family’s household mechanicaldevices and putting them backtogether, fostering a deep interestin learning how things worked.When Larry got to college, heput his mechanical skills to usecreating an inkjet printer with Legobuilding blocks.Larry was an excellent studentand often impressed his teachers.He remembered being the first onein his elementary school to turnin a paper that was printed from acomputer instead of handwritten.Carl Jr. realized Larry’s aptitude,recalling, “One of the early thingsI remember Larry doing was typing[the book] Frog and Toad Togetherinto his computer, one word at atime, when he was six years old.” 2Larry’s father instilled inhis son a great talent for debate.24

LARRY PAGESunrayce was a solar-powered car race for collegestudents held every few years.The two enjoyed lively arguments revolving arounddiscussions of technology and going to rock concertstogether.COLLEGE DAYSLarry graduated from East Lansing High Schooland enrolled in the computer-engineering programat the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Larry’sextracurricular activities included membership in EtaKappa Nu, the national honor society for electricaland computer engineering students.Larry also became a member of the university’ssolar car team. The team built the 1993 Maize25

GOOGLELARRY’S INSPIRATIONAt the age of 12, Larry read a biographyof Nikola Tesla, a Serbian inventor consideredthe father of modern electrical engineering.Born in 1856, Tesla invented the alternatingcurrent (AC) electric power system and theradio. His ideas also laid the groundwork forremote control and radar. He immigrated tothe United States at the age of 28 and becameone of the greatest scientists and inventors ofthe late 1800s and early 1900s. Though hisdiscoveries rivaled those of Thomas Edison—his former employer—Tesla struggled withfinding practical applications for his inventions.And his eccentric behavior led many toview him as a mad scientist. Tesla died pennilessand alone in a New York City hotel.Larry was inspired by Tesla’s work andviewed his life story as a cautionary exampleof not being able to apply an invention practically.Larry noted:You don’t want to be Tesla. He wasone of the greatest inventors, but it’s asad, sad story. He couldn’t commercializeanything, he could barely fund his ownresearch. You’d want to be more like Edison.If you invent something, that doesn’tnecessarily help anybody. You’ve got toactually get it into the world; you’ve gotto produce, make money doing it so youcan fund it. 3& Blue, an earlydemonstration ofan energy-efficientautomobile. Thevehicle took firstplace in the nationalSunrayce 93 andeleventh place in the1993 World SolarChallenge. Alternatepower vehicles wouldinterest Larry for yearsto come.Larry graduatedwith honors from theUniversity of Michiganwith a bachelor’sdegree in engineeringand a concentration incomputer engineering.Although he had neverlived outside Michigan,Larry decided to attendgraduate school atStanford University inCalifornia. Larry was26

LARRY PAGEa bit nervous heading that far fromhome, noting, “At first it was prettyscary. I kept complaining to myfriends that I was going to get senthome on the bus. It didn’t quitehappen that way, however.” 4A FORTUITOUS MEETINGIn the spring of 1995, Larry headedto California to visit Stanford.His campus tour guide was SergeyBrin, a second-year student atthe university. The two began toargue about various issues andcontinued debating over the courseof two days. Each found the otheropinionated, cocky, and obnoxious,as well as a formidable intellectualopponent.Though Larry tended tobe quiet and shy and Sergey wasoutgoing, they found an instantconnection. As they argued, thetwo realized they shared manycommon interests, including an“I just sort of kept havingideas. We had a lot of magazineslying around our house.It was kind of messy. So youkind of read stuff all the time,and I would read Popular Scienceand things like that. I justgot interested in stuff, I guess,technology and how deviceswork. My brother taught mehow to take things apart, andI took apart everything inthe house. So I just becameinterested in it, for whateverreason, and so I had lots ofideas about what things couldbe built and how to build themand all these kinds of things. Ibuilt . . . an electric go-cart ata pretty early age.” 5—Larry Page27

GOOGLEobsession with computers and mathematics. Theywere also a bit wacky and loved to goof around.When Larry started classes in the fall, the two beganhanging out together. The friendship would lead to afortuitous partnership.28

LARRY PAGELarry attended graduate school at Stanford Universityin California, where he met Sergey.29

CHAPTER4Brin and Page’s dorm room at Stanford might havelooked similar to this 2002 re-creation.AN IDEA BECOMESREALITYWhen Brin and Page met at Stanford, Brinwas in his second year at the university. Hehad proven himself a math genius and hadaced the ten required exams for his doctoral programon the first try. Many students make three attempts30

AN IDEA BECOMES REALITYbefore passing the exams. This meant Brin did notactually have to take any classes—he simply had towrite a thesis in order to earn his PhD.CAMPUS LIFEBecause his studies were so easy for him, Brin wasable to devote time to his social life and otherpursuits, including gymnastics, swimming, skiing,rollerblading, and even learning the trapeze. Brin’sfather once asked him if was taking any advancedcourses, and his answer was, “Yes, advancedswimming.” 1Since he tested out of his required classes,Brin had the opportunity to explore his own pathsin computers, mathematics, and other academicsubjects. He worked with students and professorson projects as varied as molecular biology, copyrightviolation detection programs, and a personalizedmovie rating system. One of his advisers noted, “Hewas a brash young man. But he was smart. It justoozed out of him.” 2While the carefree Brin was enjoying his time atStanford, Page was determined to invent somethingthat would be useful and lucrative. Soon afterarriving at Stanford, he set out to realize his dream.31

GOOGLEHe began studying Internet links and convinced Brinto join him. Both men realized the value of a betterInternet search engine—one that would offer theuser a ranking system based on importance ratherthan randomness.BEG, BORROW, OR STEALOnce the two men worked out the science behindthe BackRub search engine and the PageRankalgorithm, they had the groundwork for testingtheir theory that a search engine based on back linkswould prove more efficient for online searches. Butthey had one hurdle to overcome. They needed a lotof computers to store and process the vast amount ofinformation on the Internet.Page and Brin scavenged for any computers theycould get their hands on. They occasionally visitedthe university’s loading docks in search of equipmentthat had not yet been picked up by its owners. “Wewould just borrow a few machines, figuring if theydidn’t pick it up right away, they didn’t need it sobadly,” Brin explained. 3As they gained processing power, the team wasable to use a type of program called a spider to scourthe Internet for Web sites. Next, they downloaded32

AN IDEA BECOMES REALITYBrin and Page had to scrounge for computers to run their programs.the Web sites onto their computers, where thesites could be analyzed for links. The process tooklonger than the two had first anticipated, and Pageestimated that launching a spider cost the computerscience department nearly $20,000.But Page and Brin were enthusiastic about theirproject, and faculty members and fellow studentsbegan to show interest in and excitement for the newendeavor. Some of their advisers granted the twoyoung men $10,000 to purchase equipment. Theywere also able to save money by constructing theirown computers from used parts.33

GOOGLEMAKING DOBefore long, their office was filled with computers.Lacking the physical space they needed to store theequipment, the teampiled tall stacks of PCsWEB CRAWLERSin Page’s dorm room.Internet search engines work throughthe use of specialized software that sendsThey discovered thatout a spider. The spider, or Web crawler, is their hodgepodgea computer program that checks Web sites, of misfit computersretrieving data that it brings back to thecomputer’s database. The data is fed into had an advantage.an indexer, which analyzes it based on programmedcriteria and builds an index of WebThey were easy torepair and allowed thesites. Typically, Web crawlers are scoutingconstantly to update their index. When a user search engine to runtypes in a search term, the search engine uses faster. Brin and Pagethe index to create a result list containingdiscovered that manyWeb pages and their URLs.The problem with this method was it did smaller computersnot provide a results list based on usefulness connected togetheror importance for the user. BackRub, however,worked better than oneutilized PageRank to bring order to searches.The algorithm, which included more than 500 large one.million variables and 2 billion terms, allowed Page andthe search engine to assign value and rankWeb pages according to the back links. The Brin were almostcalculations performed by the algorithm duringthe search are performed in a fraction of most of their timeinseparable. They spenta second, providing the user with a resultslist in about a half a second. This method of together, usually insearch was the first of its kind.their office, excitedly34

AN IDEA BECOMES REALITYdiscussing BackRub or bantering back and forthabout other topics. Other students started referringto the pair as one unit—LarryandSergey.THE ADVENT OF GOOGLEBy the fall of 1997, the twodecided they needed a catchiername for their BackRub searchengine. Brin and Page beganbrainstorming. It seemed that everyidea they came up with had alreadybeen used. They turned to officemate Sean Anderson for help. Afterdays of failing to settle on a newname, frustration set in. Andersonremembered:[Page] started getting desperate,and we had another brainstormingsession. I was sittingat the whiteboard and one ofthe last things I came up withwas, “How about Googleplex?You are trying to come up witha company that searches andindexes and allows people toTHE GATES 360 CREWIn January 1996, Stanford’sComputer Science Departmentmoved into a new buildingon campus: William GatesComputer Science Building.There, Brin and Page sharedoffice number 360 with fourother graduate students. Thestudents were brilliant andquirky. Lucas Periera was abundle of energy, and TamaraMunzner described herself as acomplete geek. Ben Zhu barelyspoke to the others. SeanAnderson filled the crowdedspace with plants and a selfwateringsystem he created,and he eventually started livingand sleeping in the office.Despite their peculiarities,they all got along well.35

GOOGLEorganize vast amounts of data. Googleplex is ahuge number.” He liked that. 4Page liked the idea for the new name andsuggested they shorten it to Google. The word googolis the number 1 followed by 100 zeroes. Andersonexplained:I typed in G-o-o-g-l-e and misspelled it onmy workstation, and that was available. Larryfound that acceptable, and he registered it laterthat evening and wrote it on the whiteboard:Google.com. It had a wild Internet ring to it, likeYahoo or Amazon. 5GOOGOLThe word googol was coined bynine-year-old Milton Sirotta in1938. Milton’s uncle, EdwardKasner, was a US mathematicianwho used the term inMathematics and the Imagination,a book he cowrote withJames Newman that was publishedin 1940.The next morning, one oftheir office mates pointed outthat they had misspelled googol.Misspelled or not, Google hadbeen born.SUCCESS AT STANFORDBrin and Page enlisted the help offaculty adviser Rajeev Motwaniin preparing the search engineas a prototype for internal use atStanford. Faculty and students were36

AN IDEA BECOMES REALITYable to use Google, which was then online at google.standford.edu. Users provided Brin and Page withfeedback about how well they felt the search engineworked. Users were excited to finally have a searchengine that produced results ranked by their value.The university helped Brinand Page seek a patent for theircreation. The young men setout to redesign the home page.PAGERANK PATENTEDFor BackRub, Page had simplyOn January 9, 1998, StanfordUniversity filed a patentphotocopied his hand and used theapplication for the PageRankimage as his logo. The team didprocess. US Patent 6,285,999not have money to hire a designer, was issued September 4, 2001.It listed Stanford Universityso Brin and Page did it themselves. as the holder of the patent,They opted for a plain whitegiving the institution thebackground with primary colorsrights to it—anyone elsewho wanted to use the algorithmwould have to obtainfor the word Google. Its simple,uncluttered look, free of flashy ads permission. Larry Page wasdesignated as the inventor.and busy graphics, was attractive toStanford still holds the rightsusers.to PageRank. In exchange forThe search engine proveduse of the patent, Google gaveStanford 1.8 million stockto be a much better tool thanshares, which it sold in 2005its counterparts at the time.for $336 million.Brin and Page were confidentin their program. They hadoutgrown their office and dorm37

GOOGLE“Not since Gutenberg inventedthe modern printing pressmore than 500 years ago,making books and scientifictomes affordable and widelyavailable to the masses, hasany new invention empoweredindividuals, and transformedaccess to information, as profoundlyas Google.” 6—David A. Vise,The Google Storyroom computer centers, andthe Stanford administrationwas growing frustrated with thebandwidth Google was using onthe university’s server. Brin andPage were ready to sell Google toa company or an investor. Theyhoped they would be able to turna tidy profit for their creation andthen continue graduate school.But things did not quite turn outthat way.38

AN IDEA BECOMES REALITYBrin and Page created the Google logo withsimple lettering and bold colors.39

CHAPTER5Brin and Page wanted to sell Google to the searchengine company AltaVista.BUSINESSVENTUREFrom the beginning, neither Brin nor Pageintended to make Google into a business. Theyboth viewed it as a scholarly research projectthat would propel them closer to their PhD degrees.Instead of becoming professors as their fathers had,40

BUSINESS VENTUREhowever, the two men followed in the footsteps ofmany other inventive Stanford students.The hype surrounding Google continued togrow at Stanford. Brin and Page were well on theirway to becoming another powerhouse in SiliconValley. But first, they had to find a way to expandGoogle beyond Stanford. Brin and Page believed ifthey sold Google to a preexisting search engine thatcould use the technology to improve searching, theywould make a nice profit and then continue withtheir studies.NO LUCK SELLINGIn 1997, Brin and Page contacted one of the creatorsof AltaVista, which was then considered the bestInternet search engine. They hoped AltaVista wouldbe interested in purchasing Google for $1 million.Paul Flaherty, a Stanford graduate and AltaVistaexecutive, listened to Brin and Page describe Google’ssuperiority. “I felt they really had something withtheir link-based approach to page ranking, whichwas AltaVista’s technical weakness at the time,” hesaid. 1 But in the end, AltaVista’s parent company,Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC), decided againstthe purchase.41

GOOGLEBrin and Page pitched their creation to Exciteand Yahoo! as well, but neither was interested. Buttheir meeting with Yahoo! cofounder David Filo wasnot completely fruitless. Filo suggested that if theybelieved they had a special product with Google,they should considertaking a break fromSILICON VALLEYtheir studies andStanford University is located in themiddle of Silicon Valley, the area south of launching the businessthe San Francisco Bay area. In the 1940s and themselves.1950s, Stanford’s dean of engineering, FrederickTerman, encouraged Stanford graduatesThey decidedto remain in the area and start companies. He not to make anyconvinced the university to develop hundreds major decisions andof acres of land to build offices and researchfocused on improvingfacilities, known as an industrial park. StanfordResearch Park was established, and it Google for its users atnurtured high-tech firms such as Hewlett- Stanford. They sentPackard, one of the world’s largest computertechnology companies. Aided by some of the out e-mail surveysmost brilliant minds in the industry, powerful asking users forcompanies in the fields of radio, television, feedback. The resultsmilitary electronics, and computers evolvedthere.prompted the duo toBy the 1970s, the area was bloomingwith semiconductor and computeradd a small summaryfor each search result,companies. Silicon is an essential ingredientin semiconductors. So many companies dealingwith semiconductors sprang up around usability and creatingimproving Google’sStanford University that the region becamemore loyal users.known as Silicon Valley.42

BUSINESS VENTUREDaily searches reached more than 10,000. Asdemand for Google grew, the team needed moreprocessing power and more memory. They continuedto acquire computers when they could and eventuallyreached the limits of three credit cards buying diskspace. They were running out of hope that someonewould want to buy Google. Brin and Page began torealize they would probably have to start their ownbusiness if they wanted Google to expand.AN ANGEL INVESTORStarting a business requires large amounts of money.Wealthy individuals who invest their own moneyin a start-up company are called angel investors. Inexchange for start-up funds, they are usually grantedan ownership portion in the company. If the start-updoes well, these investors often make a lot of money.Brin and Page turned to computer scienceprofessor David Cheriton for help finding investors.In August 1998, Cheriton introduced the men toAndy Bechtolsheim, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur.Bechtolsheim was the vice president of CiscoSystems, a technology company. He was interestedin what the students described to him. Bechtolsheimliked that Google solved a simple problem of finding43

GOOGLEinformation, and he admired the intellect and driveof the two young inventors. After briefly discussinghow Google could be profitable, Bechtolsheim wroteout a check on the spot to Google Inc. for $100,000.Brin and Page would not be able to cash the checkuntil they officially started theircompany. Cheriton agreed tomatch the investment.A SAD DEPARTUREAdviser Terry Winogradrecalled when Brin and Pageleft school to pursue Google.“I remember the day theycleaned out their offices,” hesaid, “I remember that daybecause they were very disappointed.They had this grimlook on their face[s] becausethey had to go to Stanfordwith empty boxes, and leavewith them full.” 3EARLY BEGINNINGS INA GARAGEGoogle was underway. Brin andPage had the funding they needed,and on September 7, 1998, Googleofficially became a corporation.The paperwork listed Page as thechief executive officer (CEO) andBrin as president. Their missionstatement read simply, “To makeit easier to find high-qualityinformation on the Web.” 2The two put their scholarlypursuits on hold. Their parentswere not pleased. Brin’s motherrecalled, “We were definitely upset.44

BUSINESS VENTUREGoogle’s first company headquarters was in this garagein Menlo Park, California.We thought everybody in their right mind ought toget a PhD.” 4No longer students, they had to leave Stanford.They needed new headquarters and a place to live.They rented a spare bedroom and a garage fromBrin’s girlfriend’s sister, Susan Wojcicki. Sincehome and work were now under the same roof,Brin and Page were nearly always together in oneplace. Google’s office was affordable and functional.45

GOOGLEBut within a few months, Brinand Page would outgrow thegarage space they rented for theircompany.LANDLADY, EMPLOYEE,AND FUTURESISTER-IN-LAWThe owner of Brin and Page’sgarage, Susan Wojcicki, providedthem with more thanspace in her home. In 1999,she was put to work as Google’sfirst marketing professional.Her early duties included creatingholiday logos for Googleand managing licensing forWeb search with the corporation’sfirst customers. Sheeventually became vice presidentof product management.Her husband, Dennis Troper,also serves as an operationalexecutive. In 2007, SusanWojcicki became Sergey Brin’ssister-in-law when he marriedher sister, Anne.THE GROWTH OF GOOGLEBy the end of 1998, Google wasfeatured in USA Today. Althoughthe company was new, PCMagazine listed it in its Top 100Web Sites and Search Enginesfor 1998, saying Google “hasan uncanny knack for returningextremely relevant results.” 5 Peoplewere beginning to take note ofGoogle and its novel approach toInternet searching.Google was gaining exposureand growing quickly. The Googleguys decided it was time toexpand. Shortly after securingthe investment money fromBechtolsheim, Brin and Page hiredCraig Silverstein, a fellow StanfordPhD student, as Google’s first46

GOOGLEUNLIKE OTHER SEARCHENGINES“It kind of seems surprisingin retrospect, but at the timeit was a bunch of little stepsand they all made a lot ofsense. That algorithm turnedinto a really successful searchengine at Stanford. A bunchof Stanford people used it. Isaw it at that point and wasreally enamored of it. . . . Iwas really impressed to seesomething that was so muchbetter than the state of theart. So it became a company, itstarted growing users by wordof mouth, and now we’re likethis.” 6—Craig Silverstein, Google’sfirst employeePerhaps one of the most importantkeys to the success of Googlewas that other commercial searchengines were not interested increating a better search tool. Highprofilesearch engines such asAltaVista, Excite, and Lycos wereowned by companies that mademoney through other avenues, suchas advertising. As search qualitydeteriorated on these sites, userslooked for alternatives. They foundGoogle.Other search enginecompanies were convinced a savvysearch engine was not important,but Brin and Page held fast to theirfirm belief that a fast, reliable, andaccurate search engine would proveits worth in the long run. The menput their money into additionalservers and allowed word of mouthand favorable media coverage to48

BUSINESS VENTUREdo their marketing for them. The results were fasterGoogle searches and happier users who shared thenews of Google with others. The base of the site’susers continued to grow even as the company spentno money on marketing.AGAINST ADVERTISINGOther search engines were willing to sell adbanners on their Web sites, but Brin and Page wereadamantly against it. They were proud of theirclean, uncluttered home page and did not wantto compromise the site’s purpose: to search, notto sell. While at Stanford, the men had written apaper, “The Anatomy of a Large-Scale HypertextualWeb Search Engine,” in which they described theirPageRank algorithm and their plans for turningit into a cutting-edge search engine. In it, theyexplained, “Advertising-funded search engines willinherently be biased toward the advertisers and awayfrom the needs of the consumers.” 7By the end of 1999, Google searches hadincreased to an average of 7 million per day. Withinsix months, that number swelled to 18 million.The press continued to praise Google, and the buzzcontinued to grow. The company was spending more49

GOOGLEthan $500,000 a month in operating costs, and thatfigure was climbing as Google continued to expandto meet user needs. Google allowed other companiesto use its search technology for a fee, but, evenwith this income, it would soon run out of money.It looked as though Brin and Page would need tochange their minds about selling advertising.50

BUSINESS VENTUREGoogle’s uncluttered home page made it different fromother search engines, including Yahoo!.51

CHAPTER6Google began including ads with its search resultscalled “Sponsored Links.”MAKING A PROFITWith millions of daily Google searches butvery slim profits, Brin and Page reluctantlyagreed to begin allowing advertising ontheir Web site. It was the only way they saw tobecome a profitable company. Clearly, users were not52

MAKING A PROFITabout to start paying for Google service. But as wastheir custom from the start, the partners wanted todo it their way. They had adopted the motto Don’tBe Evil, meaning that they wanted to do what theyfelt was best for Google users instead of allowingprofit to guide their actions. Brin and Page had tofigure out a way to go forward with advertising saleswithout compromising Google’s mantra.DOING IT THEIR WAYGoogle users had come to expectthe clean look of the Google Webpage. When Marissa Mayer, theirsecond employee, had changedthe Google results font for easierreading in December 1999, sheexperienced an outcry from users.With this previous experience, Brinand Page were not eager to changethe overall look of their home pageto include advertising—it would bea delicate matter.By May 2000, Google’sInternet searches topped 18 millionsearches a day, and in June, Google“DON’T BE EVIL”In July 2001, Google’s employeesmet to come up with some coreprinciples they believed representedGoogle. Some offeredmottos such as “Treat Everyonewith Respect” and “Be on Timefor Meetings.” Paul Buchheit, aGoogle engineer, blurted out,“All of these things can be coveredby just saying, ‘Don’t BeEvil.’” 1 The phrase stuck andhas become part of Google’sculture.53

GOOGLEOFFENSIVE SEARCH RESULTSThe founders of Google insist thatInternet search results lists remain free andavailable to anyone looking to search. However,observers have also argued that certaininformation should not be available to everyoneon the Web, such as instructions on howto make a bomb.Brin and Page, both of Jewish descent,were forced to question their policy of uncensoredsearch results when it was discoveredthat conducting a search with the word Jewreturned an anti-Semitic Web site called Jew-Watch toward the top of the results list.Jewish groups demanded the Web sitebe removed from the top of Google’s listings.Brin, who had moved from Russia withhis family as a child to escape anti-Semitism,refused to remove the site. He explained, “Icertainly am very offended by the site, butthe objectivity of our rankings is one of ourvery important principles.” 2Instead, Google compromised by displayingan “Offensive Search Results” warningat the top of search results pages with questionableWeb sites. The warning is a link thatbrings the user to an explanation of Google’spolicy on questionable results. “Our searchresults are generated completely objectivelyand are independent of the beliefs and preferencesof those who work at Google.” 3announced its indexhad reached1 billion URLs,making it the topInternet searchengine. Googlehad gathered anenormous audience forpotential advertisers.With US companiesspending billions ofdollars annually foradvertising on radios,billboards, buses, andin print, Google couldoffer them a newvenue for reachingconsumers.Through Google,advertisers could targetconsumers who werespecifically looking forthe product advertiserswere selling. Forexample, placing anadvertisement for a54

MAKING A PROFITcamera on a billboard did not promise that peopledriving by would be interested in purchasing a camera.However, if a person searched Google for informationabout cameras, that person was more likely to bethinking about buying a camera at the time. There wasno better time to place an advertisement for a camera,or camera equipment, right in front of the user.Brin and Page agreed they would not cluttertheir clean home page with ads. Instead, theywould permit advertising on the results page.Advertisements would display at the top of theresults list in a light blue box, separating them fromthe pure white background. This allowed themto offer a free, unbiased results list the user coulddifferentiate from paid advertisements. If the userwanted to know more, they could click on an ad’slink. Additionally, Google titled these “SponsoredLinks,” feeling it would lend more credibility tothe ads.The team was able to keep its search enginerunning smoothly, free of annoying pop-ups andgraphics. All Google ads looked the same: a headline,a link, and a short description of the Web site.Advertisers were able to purchase Google advertisingspace online. They bid on keywords, which triggeredtheir ads to appear above the results list when a user55

GOOGLEperformed a search. The companythat paid the most for a keywordADSENSE had top billing in the SponsoredIn 2003, Google developed Links box.AdSense, which allows Web The men behind thesites to display AdWordsadvertisements on their ownbrilliant PageRank system sawsites. Web site owners make an opportunity to apply themoney when a visitor clicks same logic to advertising. Brinon the advertisement, and theadvertiser is charged. Soon, and Page explained, “We look athowever, click fraud began to ads as commercial information,occur. This happens when aand that goes back to our coreperson or an automated programclicks on the ad just to mission of organizing the world’smake more money for the Web information.” 4 They soonsite owner. Google continuesto improve at identifyingdeveloped AdWords, a systemfraudulent clicks, but sometimesit is difficult to judge quality score based on how manyby which advertisements gain awhether a click is legitimate.users click them. The assumptionIndustry estimates of the rateof click fraud vary widely from was that advertisements with more2 percent to 20 percent of all clicks were valued more by Webclicks.users, just as Web pages had beenranked by PageRank. The qualityscores of these ads could grow untilthey showed up higher in the search results than theadvertisements with the highest keyword bid. Onceagain, Brin and Page were placing the power in thehands of the users.56

MAKING A PROFITThe Google guys had aprofitable business approach anda staff of more than 150 by theend of 2000. They allowed othersearch sites, such as Yahoo! andAmerica Online (AOL), to useGoogle technology for a fee. Theirsale of advertising space decreasedthe need to use investment moneyfor operating costs, and by 2001,their daily searches hit 100 million,or 1,000 every second. The wordgoogle had even become part ofeveryday speech for many Englishspeakers.But Google had yet to turn a profit, and theduo was being pressured by the company’s investorsto bring in a new CEO with business expertise tohelp make money from Google’s popularity andsuccess.SOME CENSORSHIP FORTHE GOOGLE GUYSWhile Brin and Page have beendiligent not to restrict searchresult lists in the name offreedom of information, therewas one aspect of Google theydid not mind censoring. Theydecided to not allow AdWordsads to be sold for cigarettes,tobacco, or guns.A NEW CEOIn August 2001, Eric Schmidt was hired as Google’snew CEO. Brin became president of technologyat the company, while Page was put in charge of57

GOOGLE\GÜ-G∂L\On June 15, 2006, the OxfordEnglish Dictionary addedgoogle as a verb, meaning, “Touse the Google search engineto find information on theInternet. To search for informationabout (a person orthing) using the Google searchengine.” 6 The following year,the American Dialect Societychose the word as the “mostuseful” word of 2002. 7products. The three would sharepower and decision makingin the company. Schmidt hadbeen chief technology officer atSun Microsystems and CEO ofNovell, two successful technologycompanies. Brin and Page wereimpressed with his businessskills and his demeanor, and theinvestors were relieved to have anexperienced—and successful—Silicon Valley executive runningthings. Schmidt noticed that theyoung men, both still under the ageof 30, were talented. He said:[They] had remarkably good judgment for suchyoung people. It’s intelligence, but also street smarts,insight. It’s very impressive. It took me twentyyears to develop the insights they had learned intwo or three. 5Within one month of becoming CEO, Schmidthelped Google make a profit for the first time. By theend of the year, Google’s 2001 revenues approachednearly $85 million. The graduate students’ schoolproject had become a profitable business.58

MAKING A PROFITEric Schmidt, top, became Google’s new CEO in 2001.59

CHAPTER7A user reading Google search results in Korean in 2006GOOGLEGROWS UPBrin and Page continued to improve theirsearch engine. In May 2000, Google cameout with search abilities in ten additionallanguages: French, German, Italian, Swedish,Finnish, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Norwegian,60

GOOGLE GROWS UPand Danish. Within four months, they addedChinese, Japanese, and Korean. By 2002, they served72 languages. People worldwide were googling.Developers at Google were hard at work, and byJuly 2001, Google users could explore more than 250million images with the GoogleImages search. The followingmonth, Brin and Page foundthemselves in Tokyo, Japan, for theopening of their first internationalWHIMSICAL GOOGLEoffice.The corporate climate atGoogle has always made roomBrin and Page signed afor fun-loving wit and whimsy.landmark deal with AOL in MayEach April 1, April Fools’ Day,2002. AOL would use Google’sthe Google home page makesfunny, fake claims. In the past,search technology and paid adthe company has claimed itslistings to reach its 34 millionsearches were powered bycustomers. The deal made Google pigeons and changed its namefrom Google to Topeka. In thea major player on the Internet,same vein, among the 130alongside Internet powerhouseslanguages now supported bysuch as Yahoo!, Amazon, and eBay.Google are Pig Latin, ElmerFudd, Bork, Bork, Bork! (spokenby the Muppets’ SwedishChef), and Star Trek’s Klingon.LIFE AT THE GOOGLEPLEXIn March 2004, the companymoved into an even biggerheadquarters building, staying in61

GOOGLEGOOGLEPLEXGoogle’s headquarters inMountain View, California,is called the Googleplex. Thename is a combination of thewords google and complex, butthere is also a mathematicaldefinition. The word googolplexrefers to the number 10to the power of googol (1 followedby 100 zeroes).Mountain View. The new corporatecampus came to be known asthe Googleplex. Workers at theGoogleplex enjoyed a laid-back,fun atmosphere that countered thestress of some of their projects.The company offered everythingfrom massages to pool tables andfree laundry to free food. Thehype surrounding Google allowedBrin and Page to hire enthusiasticemployees who were eager to bepart of a cutting-edge corporation.The perks were an attractivebonus, but people were expected toperform at Google. One employeenoted:Twelve hours a day, six daysa week was typical. It wasoptional, but there was pressureto do it. They fed you all thetime, so there was no reason toleave for food. Google was atwenty-four/seven lifestyle. Andthey were all such nice people. 162

GOOGLE GROWS UPGoogle employees work in a fun office environment.In addition, Brin and Page allowed softwareengineers to spend 20 percent of their time workingon projects that interested them. They felt thiswould spark more innovation and creativity. KrishnaBharat, a Google engineer, explained:The 20 percent time was invented for people tojust explore. People are productive when they are63

GOOGLEA DAY IN THE LIFEIn order to inspire the brilliant mindsworking for them, Brin and Page fosteredcreativity at the Googleplex. The entrepreneurswanted employees to be excited aboutcoming to work. The Google work culture hasbeen described as “part university campusand part kindergarten playground.” 3Instead of walled offices and cubicles,employees shared an open office space. Lavalamps, pool tables, and foosball games gavethe office a casual, entertaining atmosphereto make their jobs less stressful. Employeeswere free to take advantage of napping areas,yoga classes, and an on-site masseuse.And staff did not have to go far to findsomething to eat. A chef cooked free gourmetmeals for the employees, and refrigeratorsand snack bars were filled with free, healthfulfood options. Pets were even allowed inthe office, and the dress code simply statedemployees had to wear “something”—whichsometimes translated into pajamas, a bathrobe,and slippers. Googlers, as employeescame to be called, worked in a comfortableenvironment, free of the stuffy rules of thetypical corporate world. The perks expandedto include bicycles employees use to ride frombuilding to building, free laundry rooms, andSegway scooters.working on thingsthey see as importantor they have invented,or are working onsomething they arepassionate about. 2Although salarieswere relatively low,employees rarely talkedabout money. Mostwere there because theywere excited to be partof Google. Plus, mostknew enough aboutsuccessful start-ups inSilicon Valley to knowthat once the companystarted selling stockshares to the public,the employees wouldmake a lot of money.AUGUST 19, 2004On August 19, 2004,Google offered stock64

GOOGLE GROWS UPshares for public purchase for the first time. This iscalled an initial public offering, or IPO. Page was inNew York City at the stock exchange when tradingbegan, while Brin stayed at the Googleplex with thecompany’s employees. Google’s entire team was eagerto see if the company’s stock would sell—and forhow much.As trading commenced, Google stock wasoffered at $85 per share. By the end of the day, morethan 19 million shares had been sold, and the pricehad risen to almost $100. The following day, sharesreached $108.31 and kept climbing. Within threemonths, Google stock topped $200 per share. By thesummer of 2005, the price per share held at around$300. By October 2007, stock prices increased tomore than $600 per share, rising above stock pricesof rival computer technology powerhouses Microsoftand Yahoo!, as well as large companies includingWalmart and Coca-Cola. Those holding sharespurchased for $85 each were rewarded with a morethan 600 percent increase on their initial purchaseprice.Brin and Page became billionaires and raisedmore than $3 billion in cash for the company.The men were ranked at 43 on the Forbes 400 listof the wealthiest Americans in 2004, each worth65

GOOGLE$4 billion. The young men who had put theireducations on hold had become two of the wealthiestindividuals in the United States. And Google wasstill growing.66

GOOGLE GROWS UPGoogle’s stock exchange price kept climbing after the companystarted selling stock shares to the public.67

CHAPTER8Google expanded into larger headquarters in Palo Alto, California, in 2004.EXPANSION ANDOPPOSITIONIn 2004, Brin and Page, now 31-year-oldbillionaires, were still living modest lifestyles.Neither man particularly liked being in thespotlight. In an interview after the stock sale, Pagewas asked if he had gotten used to the fame. He said:68

EXPANSION AND OPPOSITIONI’m not really used to it. I justwant to invent things and getthem out into the world. I feelreally lucky that I have theability to affect things now.It’s a tremendous responsibilityto use that for good. . . . I feelmore pressure to do things thatmatter. I’m responsible to a lotof people now. 1GOOGLE: BIGGERAND BETTERBrin and Page were beingrecognized for Google’s impact onthe world. They continued openingoffices around the globe, includinglocations in Ireland, India, andAustralia. In addition to globalexpansion, Google was launchingexciting and innovative technology.In December 2003, Googlelaunched the first version of Google Book Search,which allowed online users to see excerpts ofscanned versions of books. Within a year, GoogleBOOKS IN ENGLISHWhen Google announcedGoogle Book Search in 2004,the president of France’snational library at thetime, Jean-Noël Jeanneney,expressed concern the projectmight damage the world’scultural heritage. Jeanneneysubsequently wrote about thisconcern in Google and the Mythof Universal Knowledge: A Viewfrom Europe. “We must wonderwhat books will be chosen,what criteria will determinethe list.” Noting most bookswould be English or Englishtranslations, he warned,“What is at stake is language,of course, and we can seehow the use of English (in itsAmerican form) threatens tobecome ever more prevalent atthe expense of other Europeanlanguages.” 269

GOOGLEYOUTUBEYouTube was designed bythree men who wanted aWeb site where users, includingthemselves, could sharevideos easily. YouTube’s betasite went online in early2005. The Web site officiallylaunched late that year andquickly became the Internet’slargest video sharing site. Thefree online service has becomehome to more than 100 millionamateur and professionalvideos, including home movies,television clips, movietrailers, music videos, andvideo blog entries.YouTube’s first videowas uploaded on April 23,2005, and featured one ofthe creators at a zoo. Googlepurchased YouTube for $1.65billion in 2006.was collaborating with the librariesof Harvard University, StanfordUniversity, the University ofMichigan, Oxford University, andthe New York Public Library. Theyscanned books that were no longerrestricted by copyright and offeredthem to users in what becameGoogle Library.In spring 2004, Brin and Pageannounced Gmail, Google’s versionof e-mail. Gmail offered users 500times greater storage space thanMicrosoft e-mail and 250 timesmore than Yahoo!, all for free.In February 2005, GoogleImages hit a landmark: 1.1 billionindexed images. That same month,Google Maps launched, offeringGoogle users an alternative toMapQuest for digital maps anddriving directions. Later that year,Google Earth went online, creatinga model of Earth that allowed usersto zoom in from space to see anypart of the globe in 3-D.70

EXPANSION AND OPPOSITIONEarly testers of Gmail received messages similar to this one.In October 2006, Google purchased the onlinevideo entertainment community YouTube for $1.65billion. The acquisition merged two of the mostrecognized online companies. In a press statement,Google promised:[The new team will] focus on providing abetter, more comprehensive experience for usersinterested in uploading, watching, and sharing71

GOOGLEGOOGLE MAPS ANDSTREET VIEWIn May 2007, Google launched StreetView for Google Maps. Street View gave usersa panoramic view of the street location theymapped on Google Maps. Users were able totravel along streets while zooming in and outfor better views of the area, giving them abetter sense of the location than a map alone.Cars equipped with cameras capturedimages in a 360-degree range. Google usedsnowmobiles and a custom pedal tricycle tocapture images in areas cars could not travel,such as narrow alleyways and ski slopes.In its beginning stages, only large USmetropolitan areas had Street View. By 2010,the feature offered views in all 50 states andseveral European countries, including France,Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, and theCzech Republic. Japan, South Africa, and Australiahad recently become available, withnew areas being added all the time.Privacy advocates have criticized the service.In many areas, private homes are clearlyvisible. In some instances, the zoom featureallows users to see inside people’s homes.In other still images, car license plates areclearly visible. Many argue Street View isan invasion of privacy and poses a securitythreat.videos, and will offernew opportunities forprofessional contentowners to distributetheir work to reach avast new audience. 3But as Googlecontinued to comeout with cuttingedgetechnology,not everyone wason the Googlebandwagon.LAWSUITSAmerican Blinds, aUS company thatsells window blinds,wallpaper, and otherinterior decoratingproducts, purchasedAdWords for the searchterm blinds, as well asthe company name.The company soon72

EXPANSION AND OPPOSITIONdiscovered competitors were able to outbid them forthe words American blinds. Customers who searchedfor that term would be brought to competitors’Web sites.A similar situation arose with large USautomobile insurer Geico. Both companies suedGoogle in 2004, filing lawsuits for trademarkinfringement. In the end, both lawsuits weredismissed. However, Google lost similar casesin Europe.THE QUESTION OF PRIVACYGmail has also come under fire by privacy advocates.The new e-mail system was making money byplacing ads next to e-mail messages. Googlecomputers scanned e-mails and placed ads withthem based on the contents of the messages. It didnot take long for privacy advocates and politiciansto attack Google’s new attempt at making profits.The Wall Street Journal’s technology columnist, WaltMossberg, reported:The problem here isn’t confusion between ads andeditorial content. It’s that Google is scanning yourprivate email to locate the keywords that generatethe ads. This seems like an invasion of privacy. 473

GOOGLEIn addition to the outcry about e-mail scanning,privacy advocates noted that Google had the abilityTHE CHINA DILEMMABrin and Page were criticizedfor allowing Google’s China siteto be censored. Shareholdersat annual meetings protestedthat Google should pull outof China for human rightsreasons. Brin was defensiveabout their decision, knowingother search engines hadbeen forced to do the samething. When forced to defendthe decision at a shareholdermeeting, Brin asked one protestorwhich search enginehe would switch to. Whenthe man named Yahoo!, Brinreplied, “Oh, you mean thecompany that just turned overinformation about one of itsusers to the Chinese governmentand got him arrested?” 5to catalog the Internet searchesusers were conducting. There wasa growing concern that Googlecould turn this information over toauthorities.Brin and Page were surprisedby the opposition to Gmail. Inthe end, they pointed out thattheir privacy practices were similarto those of other e-mail services,and they agreed to destroy closedaccounts or deleted e-mails asquickly as possible.THE BATTLE IN CHINAAs Google has grown anddeveloped, so has its impact onthe world. With offices in 36countries and 20 in the UnitedStates alone, Google has become aninternational success. But not everylocation has agreed with the searchengine’s policies.74

EXPANSION AND OPPOSITIONIn January 2006, GoogleChina—Google.cn—debuted. Ina controversial decision, Googlechose to comply with Internetcensorship laws in the country,which does not allow the samefreedoms of speech as the UnitedStates. Rather than receivinga results list, users searchingprohibited words were directed to apage explaining their search resultsdid not comply with current lawsand regulations.Brin and Page were criticizedfor allowing Google to censorsearch results in China. Manycritics argued this practice was inviolation of their own motto, Don’tBe Evil. Many believed Googleshould not block a population ofmore than 1 billion people fromreceiving complete information.But the partners faced a difficultdilemma—if they did not complywith Chinese law, the companymight be barred from the country.CROSS-CULTURALCENSORSHIPFrom culture to culture,what is deemed appropriatefor censorship varies. Childpornography is deemed inappropriatenearly worldwide.Some countries censor othertypes of violent or sexual content.Some US laws requireschools and libraries to blockcertain content from children.In the United States, freedomof speech allows peopleto create and access all but themost objectionable content.Other countries have differentlaws. For example, Germanyblocks some racist contentthat would be allowed underUS laws. Iran heavily censorsthe Internet, blocking sitesconsidered disrespectful to thecountry’s religion, Islam. Manycountries, including Iran andChina, block Internet communicationsthat speak againsttheir governments.75

GOOGLEIn January 2010, Google announced it wouldno longer censor search results in China. Throughoutthe spring, Google automatically redirected usersin China through its Hong Kong site, which wasnot censored. The Chinese government threatenedto ban Google from China. In June, the companycompromised by placing a link to Google HongKong on the Google China Web site but notautomatically redirecting users there. China acceptedthe compromise, but the root causes of the problemremained unresolved. As long as China wished tocensor Internet results and Google remained againstcensorship, tensions between the company and thecountry would continue.76

EXPANSION AND OPPOSITIONBeginning in June 2010, the Google China home page had a link tothe Hong Kong site to allow users to avoid censorship.77

CHAPTER9Page shakes hands with Bill Clinton, right, at an event for the formerpresident’s charitable organization, the Clinton Global Initiative.THE BILLIONAIREPHILANTHROPISTSEach year, Google continued to add to Brin’sand Page’s wealth. Each man’s stock shares wereworth billions of dollars. Even so, Brin’s motherstill hoped her son would return to Stanford to finishhis PhD. The Google duo was making huge amounts78

THE BILLIONAIRE PHILANTHROPISTSof money each month through thesale of stock shares—sometimes asmuch as $70 million—and agreedto draw a yearly salary of only $1.CEO Eric Schmidt was in the sameposition and agreed to the samesalary.Employees and investors werealso cashing in portions of theirstock and making millions. Somepurchased new homes for millionsof dollars, while others showed upat work in lavish sports cars. Thelong hours and modest salariesGooglers had endured were payingoff handsomely. Google was acompany of millionaires. Even theexecutive chef and on-site masseusemade millions.MINIMUM WAGESBrin and Page were not thefirst business leaders to optout of drawing large salaries.Steve Jobs, founder of AppleComputers, began taking a$1 yearly salary in 1998. CiscoSystems CEO John Chambersreduced his salary from$350,000 to $1 in 2001 whenhis company experienced pooreconomic performance. But assoon as Cisco began to recoverfinancially, his full salary wasreinstated.GOOGLE.ORG: SHARING THE WEALTHBrin and Page began plans for a philanthropicorganization in 2004, when Google went publicand offered its stock. This was the beginning ofGoogle.org. Page had ambitious dreams for79

GOOGLEGoogle.org, “We hope someday[Google.org] may eclipse GoogleTHE MASSEUSE RETIRES itself in terms of overall worldBonnie Brown, Google’s first impact by ambitiously applyingmasseuse, spent five yearsmassaging the backs of innovation and significantGoogle’s hardworking engineersand programmers. Herresources to the largest of theworld’s problems.” 1part-time position began witha weekly salary of $450. She The men pledged 1 percent ofalso received stock options. Google’s profits and 1 percent ofWhen she cashed them in,employee time to build “technologyBrown received millions ofdollars. She is now retired and products to address globalreceives weekly massages herself.She wrote a book aboutchallenges such as climate change,pandemic disease, and poverty.” 2her good fortune titled Giigle:How I Got Lucky Massaging Brin and Page added otherGoogle.philanthropic programs to theircorporation. Google also offersresources for promoting reading,conducts technology workshops for children,and gives scholarships annually to outstandingundergraduate and graduate female computer sciencestudents.WEDDING BELLSThroughout their rise from Stanford graduatestudents to billionaires, Brin and Page worked80

THE BILLIONAIRE PHILANTHROPISTSBrin and his wife, Anne, live in a quiet neighborhood in Palo Alto.hard to keep their personal lives as private aspossible. Neither was interested, or comfortable,in the spotlight of fame. Nevertheless, it wasdifficult for men of such wealth and influence tolive completely anonymous lives. When each manmarried, tabloids were abuzz with rumors of theupcoming weddings.Brin’s mother had always hoped her son wouldmarry “somebody exciting who could be reallyinteresting to him.” 3 In May 2007, she got her wish81

GOOGLEwhen Brin married Anne Wojcicki, sister of Brinand Page’s garage landlady, Susan Wojcicki. Thewedding’s location was kept strictly confidential—guests were toldTHE SKY IS THE LIMIT simply to have theirIn 2008, Page and Brin, along with their passports ready whenwives, watched at California’s Vandenberg Air they boarded Google’sForce Base as a satellite was launched intoprivate jet.space. The satellite, displaying the Googlelogo, was part of an initiative at National The wedding wasGeospatial-Intelligence Agency. Google was held in the Bahamas,entitled to exclusive commercial rights to alland the ceremony tookimages captured by the GeoEye-1 satellite.Orbiting the Earth 15 times a day at a distanceof 423 miles (681 km), the GeoEye-1 the ocean. Brin andplace on a sandbar incollected color images of the Earth and couldhis bride swam to thecapture 135,135 square miles (350,000 sq km)of images a day. This is an area larger than sandbar in bathingthe entire state of New Mexico. The GeoEye-1 suits. Other guestshelped provide images of the Earth’s surfacefor Google Earth.arrived by boat.In 2008, Brin placed a $5 million deposit Wojcicki grewwith Space Adventures, a company that up in Palo Alto. Herprovided space shuttle missions to the InternationalSpace Station for private citizens. father is the head ofHe planned to return to his native Russia in Stanford’s Department2011 where a Space Adventures rocket wouldof Physics. Her mothertransport him into space. Brin and Pagealso agreed to build a new corporate complexat NASA’s Ames Research Center, where Palo Alto High School.teaches journalism atthey would partner with NASA on researchWojcicki cofoundedprojects.the genetics and82

THE BILLIONAIRE PHILANTHROPISTSbiotechnology company 23andMe, whichallows consumers to explore their own geneticinformation.Later that year, Page also got married in thesame region. On December 8, 2007, Page marriedlongtime girlfriend Lucinda Southworth on NeckerIsland in the Caribbean. Page paid to fly in guestsfrom around the world. He rented the entire islandto keep the celebration private.Southworth, who holds a PhD in biomedicalinformatics from Stanford, worked as a medicalsocial worker in South Africa.THE FUTURE FOR BRIN AND PAGEIn December 2008, the Brins welcomed a baby boy,Benji. The following November, the Pages becameparents to a baby boy as well. Very little newscirculated about the Google heirs, as Brin and Pagehave been diligent about protecting their privacy.Google entered 2010 with stock shares sellingat more than $600 each. On Forbes’ 2010 list of theworld’s billionaires, Brin and Page shared the twentyfourthspot, each worth $17.5 billion. Only eightAmericans were wealthier than the Google guys,including Microsoft mogul Bill Gates.83

GOOGLEAWARDS AND HONORSPage was inducted into theNational Academy of Engineeringin February 2004,and both inventors were highlightedin ABC World NewsTonight’s “Persons of theWeek.” In November, the MarconiSociety, which recognizes“lasting scientific contributionsto human progress inthe field of communicationsscience and the Internet,”named the duo Marconi fellows.5 The society said of Brinand Page, “Their inventionof a unique search enginetechnology fundamentallychanged the way informationis retrieved, by organizingmuch of the world’s informationand making it universallyaccessible.” 6 And in 2005, bothmen were made fellows of theAmerican Academy of Artsand Sciences. Page was givenan honorary doctorate fromthe University of Michigan onMay 2, 2009.As new husbands and fathers,Sergey Brin and Larry Page hadadventures yet to come in theirpersonal lives. As the men lookedto the future professionally, theyseemed focused on making adifference in society. Says Brin:As we go forward, I hopewe’re going to continue to usetechnology to make really bigdifferences in how people liveand work. . . . Obviouslyeveryone wants to be successful,but I want to be looked backon as being very innovative,very trusted and ethical andultimately making a bigdifference in the world. 484

THE BILLIONAIRE PHILANTHROPISTSPage and his wife, Lucinda, keep their lives as private as possible.85

CHAPTER10THE IMPORTANCEOF GOOGLEOver time, certain trademarked brand nameshave become synonymous with the productsthemselves, such as yo-yo, Frisbee, Xerox,aspirin, and Kleenex. Just as someone might askfor a Band-Aid instead of a bandage, a person now86

THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOGLEcommonly speaks of “googling” a topic instead ofperforming an online search for it.Google has become part of everyday speechbecause it plays an important role in society. Notlong ago, people relied on countless resources forinformation. Library books provided innumerablefacts. Paper maps helped with making travel plansor determining the best routeto a destination. Newspapersoffered daily news. PhotographsGOOGLE TRANSLATORof entertainers, athletes, and other Google users have the optionof limiting search results tofamous personalities were availableWeb pages written in theirin magazines or newspapers.own language. However, theyTranslating a sentence into another also have the option of utilizinganother useful Googlelanguage required a dictionary ortool. Google Translate translatestext from one languageother language reference book.Finding a pizzeria required ato another by simply inputtingthe text—users can uploadtelephone book. Although all ofdocuments or copy and pastethese resources have remainedthe text from the original—available, the information hasand choosing the language thetext should be translated to.become accessible with a fewVolunteer translators work tokeystrokes on a computer using aensure the accuracy of translationof the 52 languagessingle source: Google.Google is currently capable ofAs Google grew and evolved, translating.it revolutionized day-to-day lifefor computer users around the87

GOOGLE“Technology has come a longway . . . and the face of theweb has changed. Recognizingthat search is a problemthat will never be solved, wecontinue to push the limitsof existing technology toprovide a fast, accurate, andeasy-to-use service that anyoneseeking information canaccess, whether they’re at adesk in Boston or on a phonein Bangkok. We’ve also takenthe lessons we’ve learned fromsearch to tackle even morechallenges.” 1 —Google CorporateInformation Web pageglobe. They have come to rely onit for information, news, quotes,images, weather, maps, and muchmore. It has made information incountless resources easily searchablefor its users. This easy access wasnot possible before the Internet,and it was still a complicated andunreliable process prior to Google’sorganization of Internet searchresults. All of these tasks wouldtake a considerable amount of timewithout Google.ADDICTED TO GOOGLE’SSPEEDBecause Google has altered the waymany people obtain information,there are some experts who argueit has changed the expectationsthe human brain has when seekinginformation. With a high-speed return of searchresults, users have grown used to immediate answersto search questions. Lengthy, in-depth reading ofresearch topics might not seem as necessary as it88

THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOGLEGoogle programs, including Google Earth, have changedthe way people look for information.once was. Users are able to click and browse throughseveral linked Web sites quickly and often flit fromone topic to the next.A recent five-year study of online researchhabits performed by University College Londonreported:People using the sites exhibited “a form ofskimming activity,” hopping from one source toanother and rarely returning to any source they’dalready visited. They typically read no more than89

GOOGLE“The faster we surf acrossthe Web—the more links weclick and pages we view—themore opportunities Googleand other companies gain tocollect information about usand to feed us advertisements.Most of the proprietors of thecommercial Internet have afinancial stake in collectingthe crumbs of data we leavebehind as we flit from link tolink—the more crumbs, thebetter. The last thing thesecompanies want is to encourageleisurely reading or slow,concentrated thought. It’sin their economic interest todrive us to distraction.” 3—Nicholas Carr, “Is GoogleMaking Us Stupid?”one or two pages of an articleor book before they would“bounce” out to another site.Sometimes they’d save a longarticle, but there’s no evidencethat they ever went back andactually read it. 2Nicholas Carr, a writer for theAtlantic, agreed that Google offersa wealth of online information, buthe worried that the instantaneoussearch results and common surfingpeople do online might result insome negative side effects. Heexplained his new difficulty withreading books, which he blamed onhis Internet use:Now my concentration oftenstarts to drift after two or threepages. . . . The deep readingthat used to come naturally hasbecome a struggle. I think Iknow what’s going on. For morethan a decade now, I’ve beenspending a lot of time online,90

THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOGLEsearching and surfing . . .My mind now expects to takein information the way theNet distributes it: in a swiftlymoving stream of particles.Once I was a scuba diver in thesea of words. Now I zip alongthe surface like a guy on aJet Ski. 4LIFE WITHOUT GOOGLEIn January 2008, Dr. TaraBrabazon, a professor of mediastudies at Brighton Universityin the United Kingdom,made news headlines whenshe banned her students fromusing Google and Wikipediafor research assignments. Sheexplained that students “don’tcome to university to learnhow to Google.” 5 Instead,Brabazon provided her studentswith a list of more than200 sources—mostly booksand journals. She argued thatstudents take everythingfound on the Internet as factand end up ignoring “so manywonderful books [that] arepublished every day, providingthe best research material inthe world.” 6Since people have becomeaccustomed to Google’s abilityto return lists of search results inonly seconds, some experts worrythat Internet users are losing theability to find and read in-depthinformation.This concern about howhumans find and read in-depthinformation points to Google’sinfluence. The search enginehas forever changed how societythinks and acts when seeking information. Somehave compared Page and Brin’s contribution tohumankind to the invention of the printing press,which allowed documents that once had to be copied91

GOOGLEGOOGLING TO DISTRACTION?PBS MediaShift editor Jennifer WoodardMaderazo admitted in an article that she canbarely remember how she performed researchbefore the advent of Google and Wikipedia.Gone are the days of going to the library oropening a set of household encyclopediabooks. She admits:I haven’t been to the library in about 10years. I use the Internet for absolutelyeverything related to research, and infact, I’d feel totally crippled without it.Google and Wikipedia have made meimpatient and spoiled for instant informationgratification, and the enjoymentof leisurely seeking has given way to anappetite for fast finding. 7Thanks to the Internet and such tools asGoogle and Wikipedia, online books, articles,and journals have replaced the need to walkinto a library and locate printed sources inmany cases. While a world with Google ismuch more convenient, some believe it is notan improvement, as Maderazo points out:What you gain in speed of delivery youoften lose in quality of information, notto mention the most intangible benefit ofthe way we used to get information: seekingit out slowly, wondering, theorizing,discovering, and feeling fulfilled in learning.I miss that. 8by hand to be quicklyreproduced anddistributed. Googleaffects and simplifiesthe lives of millionsof people worldwideevery day.GIVING UPCONTROLThe story of howtwo young prodigiesforged a friendshipand created thesearch engine knownaround the worldis remarkable.Throughout theirGoogle journey,Brin and Page insistedon following theirinstincts and doingthings their way. Theirwillful approachpaid off.92

THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOGLEIn November 2009, Forbes magazine namedBrin and Page the fifth most powerful people in theworld. The men held 59 percent of Google stock,allowing them to maintain the majority control ofstockholders’ voting power. However, in January2010, they announced a four-year plan wherebythey would sell 5 million stocks, bringing their sharedown to 48 percent. The two Google guys plannedto give up majority control of Google by 2014.WHAT LIES AHEAD?Although Google endured its share of struggles,sometimes lacking money and sometimes facinglegal battles, the company continued to expandand develop. The site delivers news, information,images, maps, videos, and e-mails to people aroundthe world every day. At the heart of Google are Brinand Page, two computer scientists who believed theycould craft a better method of organizing the world’sInternet data.The duo sees Google continuing to advance.“The ultimate search engine is something as smartas people—or smarter,” Page explained. “For us,working on search is a way to work on artificialintelligence.” 9 Brin agreed with his partner’s thinking93

GOOGLEwhen he told Newsweek in 2004, “Certainly if youhad all the world’s information directly attached toyour brain, or an artificial brain that was smarterthan your brain, you’d be better off.” 10While Brin and Page might not be thinkingGoogle will one day outperform the complexityof the human brain, they do agree that today’ssearch capabilities will seem very primitive in thefuture. Considering the immense growth Googleapplications have experienced in the last decade, thepossibilities for the next ten years seem endless. InSeptember 2010, the company introduced GoogleInstant, which produced suggestions and newsearch results with each letter the user types.This innovation promised to make searching fasterthan ever.Regardless of how the inventors continueto advance their search engine, one thing iscertain: Sergey Brin and Larry Page revolutionizedsociety’s quest for information with Google. Theircontribution to history will be remembered asone that offers a vast amount of sorted and easilysearchable knowledge at the world’s fingertips.94

THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOGLEBrin and Page look forward to future developments in Google technology.95

GOOGLETIMELINE1973 1973 1979Lawrence EdwardPage is born in EastLansing, Michigan,on March 26.SergeyMikhailovichBrin is born inMoscow, Russia,on August 21.The Brin familyarrives in New YorkCity from theSoviet Unionon October 25.1999 2000 2001In August, thecompany movesinto largerheadquarters inMountain View,California.By June, Googlesearches reach 18million per day andGoogle becomesthe world’s largestsearch engine.Stanford Universityis issued US Patent6,285,999 for thePageRank processon September 4.Larry Page is listedas the inventor.96

TIMELINE1995 1996 1998Brin and Page meetfor the first time atStanford Universityduring Page’scampus visit.Brin and Pagework together onBackRub, the thesisproject that wouldevolve into Google.Andy Bechtolsheiminvests in Google,giving Brin andPage a check for$100,000 in August.2001 2002 2004Eric Schmidt ishired as Google’schief executiveofficer in August.In May, AmericaOnline (AOL) agreesto use Google’ssearch program toreach its 34 millionAOL users.Google launchesits e-mail service,Gmail, in thespring.97

GOOGLETIMELINE2004 2004 2004Google moves toits new Googleplexcampus inMountain Viewin March.On August 19,Google offersstock for saleto the public forthe first time.In August,Brin and Pageannounce plansfor Google.org, aphilanthropic armof Google Inc.2007 2007 2008Brin marries AnneWojcicki in theBahamas in May.Page marriesLucindaSouthworth onNecker Islandin December.Brin and his wifewelcome a sonin December.98

TIMELINE2005 2006 2006Google Maps andGoogle Earthare released.Google.cn debuts inChina and becomesthe most rigorouslycensored Googlesearch engine.Google buysYouTube for $1.65billion in October.2009 2009 2010Page and his wifewelcome a sonin November.In November,Forbes namesBrin and Pagethe fifth mostpowerful peoplein the world.In January, Brinand Page announcea four-year planto sell off stockand decrease theirmajority shareof Google.99

GOOGLEESSENTIAL FACTSCREATORSSergey Brin, August 21, 1973Larry Page, March 26, 1973DATE LAUNCHED1998CHALLENGESGoogle had trouble making a profit before the company startedselling advertisements in 2000 and hired CEO Eric Schmidtin 2001. Google has faced lawsuits over its bidding process foradvertisement keywords. Google has also faced criticism overcensorship in China and privacy issues related to Gmail andGoogle Maps.100

ESSENTIAL FACTSSUCCESSESBrin and Page created a search engine that was superior to itscompetitors. The company Google successfully turned Brin andPage’s invention into a profit-making business. Google leadsinnovation in e-mail, maps, and many other online services.IMPACT ON SOCIETYWorldwide, millions of people use Google every day to search forinformation. Google has changed the way society expects to findand organize information. It has become so essential to moderncommunication that google is now a verb.QUOTE“Don’t be evil.”—Google corporate motto101

GOOGLEGLOSSARYalgorithmA complex mathematical equation.angel investorA person who invests his or her personal money in a start-upcompany.anti-SemitismHostility toward or hatred of Jewish people.citationA reference to a published work.cyberspaceThe Internet.encryptionA process of encoding text, making it unreadable to users forwhom it is not intended.entrepreneurA person who starts or manages a business.hyperlinkAn electronic connection that takes a computer user to a newWeb location by clicking.InternetA worldwide computer network.PhDDoctor of Philosophy, an advanced degree earned after amaster’s degree.102

GLOSSARYsemiconductorA material that electricity can flow through; used in the makingof computers.siliconA natural element used in the making of semiconductors.thesisA lengthy academic research paper written to attain anadvanced degree.URLThe specific address of a web page on the World Wide Web,such as www.google.com; stands for Uniform Resource Locator.Web crawlerA computer program, often used by search engines, that scansWeb pages, retrieves data, and returns it to a database.World Wide WebA collection of hyperlinked documents residing on the Internetthat appears as Web pages.103

GOOGLEADDITIONAL RESOURCESSELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHYBattelle, John. The Search: How Google and Its Rival Rewrote theRules of Business and Transformed Our Culture. New York:Penguin, 2005. Print.Brandt, Richard L. Inside Larry and Sergey’s Brain. New York:Penguin, 2009. Print.Lowe, Janet. Google Speaks: Secrets of the World’s Greatest BillionaireEntrepreneurs, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley,2009. Print.Vise, David A. The Google Story: Inside the Hottest Business Mediaand Technology Success of Our Time. New York: Random House,2005. Print.FURTHER READINGSKallen, Stuart A. Information Revolution. Detroit, MI: Lucent,2010. Print.Stewart, Gail B. Larry Page and Sergey Brin: The Google Guys.Detroit, MI: KidHaven, 2008. Print.Woodford, Chris. History of Invention: Communications andComputers. New York: Facts on File, 2004. Print.104

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESWEB LINKSTo learn more about Google, visit ABDO Publishing Companyonline at www.abdopublishing.com. Web sites about Googleare featured on our Book Links page. These links are routinelymonitored and updated to provide the most current informationavailable.PLACES TO VISITComputer History Museum1401 N Shoreline Boulevard, Mountain View, CA 94043650-810-1010www.computerhistory.orgLocated in Silicon Valley, the Computer History Museum featuresexhibits on the people who invented and developed computers andrelated technology. The museum also features online exhibits.National Museum of American History1400 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004202-633-1000http://americanhistory.si.eduThe National Museum of American History, a part of theSmithsonian Institute, features exhibits about the role of scienceand technology in US history and daily life.Original Google Headquarters232 Santa Margarita Ave., Menlo Park, CA 95025Although not open to the public, thousands of people travel to seethe garage where Google began.105

GOOGLESOURCE NOTESCHAPTER 1. HUMBLE BEGINNINGS1. David A. Vise. The Google Story: Inside the Hottest Business Mediaand Technology Success of Our Time. New York: Random House, 2005.Print. 37.2. Richard L. Brandt. Inside Larry and Sergey’s Brain. New York:Penguin, 2009. Print. 41.3. David A. Vise. The Google Story: Inside the Hottest Business Mediaand Technology Success of Our Time. New York: Random House, 2005.Print. 38.CHAPTER 2. SERGEY BRIN1. Mark Malseed. “The Story of Sergey Brin.” Moment. MomentMagazine, Feb. 2007. Web. 12 Jan. 2010.2. Ibid.3. Ibid.CHAPTER 3. LARRY PAGE1. Janet Lowe. Google Speaks: Secrets of the World’s Greatest BillionaireEntrepreneurs, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2009.Print. 22–23.2. David A. Vise. The Google Story: Inside the Hottest Business Mediaand Technology Success of Our Time. New York: Random House, 2005.Print. 24.3. Andy Serwer. “Larry Page.” Fortune. Cable News Network, 1 May2008. Web. 12 Jan. 2010.4. Janet Lowe. Google Speaks: Secrets of the World’s Greatest BillionaireEntrepreneurs, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2009.Print. 28–29.5. “Sergey Brin and Larry Page.” Academy of Achievement. AmericanAcademy of Achievement, 21 Mar. 2007. Web. 26 Dec. 2009.CHAPTER 4. AN IDEA BECOMES REALITY1. Mark Malseed. “The Story of Sergey Brin.” Moment. MomentMagazine, Feb. 2007. Web. 12 Jan. 2010.106

SOURCE NOTES2. Janet Lowe. Google Speaks: Secrets of the World’s Greatest BillionaireEntrepreneurs, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2009.Print. 16.3. David A. Vise. The Google Story: Inside the Hottest Business Mediaand Technology Success of Our Time. New York: Random House, 2005.Print. 40.4. Ibid. 39.5. Ibid. 39.6. Ibid. 1.CHAPTER 5. BUSINESS VENTURE1. David A. Vise. The Google Story: Inside the Hottest Business Mediaand Technology Success of Our Time. New York: Random House, 2005.Print. 41.2. Richard L. Brandt. Inside Larry and Sergey’s Brain. New York:Penguin, 2009. Print. 72.3. John Battelle. The Search: How Google and Its Rival Rewrote theRules of Business and Transformed Our Culture. New York: Penguin, 2005.Print. 90.4. Mark Malseed. “The Story of Sergey Brin.” Moment. MomentMagazine, Feb. 2007. Web. 12 Jan. 2010.5. “Google Milestones.” Google. Google, n.d. Web. 26 Dec. 2009.6. “Google’s First Employee.” BBC. BBC, 5 Sept. 2008. Web. 20 Jan.2010.7. Janet Lowe. Google Speaks: Secrets of the World’s Greatest BillionaireEntrepreneurs, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2009.Print. 93.CHAPTER 6. MAKING A PROFIT1. John Battelle. The Search: How Google and Its Rival Rewrote theRules of Business and Transformed Our Culture. New York: Penguin, 2005.Print. 138.2. Mark Malseed. “The Story of Sergey Brin.” Moment. MomentMagazine, Feb. 2007. Web. 12 Jan. 2010.3. Ibid.107

GOOGLESOURCE NOTES CONTINUED4. Janet Lowe. Google Speaks: Secrets of the World’s Greatest BillionaireEntrepreneurs, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2009.Print. 93.5. Richard L. Brandt. Inside Larry and Sergey’s Brain. New York:Penguin, 2009. Print. 84.6. “Google.” Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press,2010. Web. 12 Jan. 2010.7. “2002 Words of the Year.” American Dialect Society. AmericanDialect Society, 13 Jan 2003. Web. 9 July 2010.CHAPTER 7. GOOGLE GROWS UP1. Richard L. Brandt. Inside Larry and Sergey’s Brain. New York:Penguin, 2009. Print. 56.2. David A. Vise. The Google Story: Inside the Hottest Business Mediaand Technology Success of Our Time. New York: Random House, 2005.Print. 132.3. Richard L. Brandt. Inside Larry and Sergey’s Brain. New York:Penguin, 2009. Print. 55.CHAPTER 8. EXPANSION AND OPPOSITION1. John Battelle. The Search: How Google and Its Rival Rewrote theRules of Business and Transformed Our Culture. New York: Penguin, 2005.Print. 230.2. Jean-Noël Jeanneney. Google and the Myth of Universal Knowledge.Trans. Teresa Lavender Fagan. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press,2007. Print. 6–7.3. “Google to Acquire YouTube for $1.65 Billion in Stock.” GooglePress Center. Google, 9 Oct. 2006. Web. 9 July 2010.4. David A. Vise. The Google Story: Inside the Hottest Business Mediaand Technology Success of Our Time. New York: Random House, 2005.Print. 156.5. Richard L. Brandt. Inside Larry and Sergey’s Brain. New York:Penguin, 2009. Print. 141.108

SOURCE NOTESCHAPTER 9. THE BILLIONAIRE PHILANTHROPISTS1. Larry Page. “Founders IPO Letter 2004.” Google Investor Relations.Google, 2010. Web. 9 July 2010.2. “What is Google.org?” Google.org. Google, 2010. Web.9 July 2010.3. Mark Malseed. “The Story of Sergey Brin.” Moment. MomentMagazine, Feb. 2007. Web. 12 Jan. 2010.4. Peter Jennings. “Persons of the Week: Larry Page and Sergey Brin.”ABC News. ABC News Internet Ventures, 20 Feb. 2004. Web.28 Mar. 2010.5. “Google Milestones.” Google. Google, n.d. Web. 26 Dec. 2009.6. Marconi Society. “The Marconi Fellows.” The Marconi Society.The Marconi Society, 2010. Web. 9 July 2010.CHAPTER 10. THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOGLE1. “Our Philosophy.” Google. Google, 2010. Web. 9 July 2010.2. Nicholas Carr. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic.The Atlantic Monthly Group, July/August 2008. Web. 9 July 2010.3. Ibid.4. Ibid.5. Jennifer Woodard Maderazo. “How Google, Wikipedia HaveChanged Our Lives—For Better and Worse.” Mediashift. PublicBroadcasting Service, 25 Jan. 2008. Web. 9 July 2010.6. Chris Arnot. “Tara Brabazon: Bowling Google a Googly.” guardian.co.uk. Guardian News and Media Limited, 22 Jan. 2008. 9 July 2010.7. Jennifer Woodard Maderazo. “How Google, Wikipedia HaveChanged Our Lives—For Better and Worse.” Mediashift. PublicBroadcasting Service, 25 Jan. 2008. 9 July 2010.8. Ibid.9. Nicholas Carr. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic.The Atlantic Monthly Group, July/August 2008. Web. 9 July 2010.10. Steven Levy and Brad Stone. “All Eyes on Google.” InternationalEditions on MSNBC.com. msnbc.com. 12 April 2004. Web. 9 July 2010.109

GOOGLEINDEXAdSense, 56AdWords, 56, 57, 72–73algorithm, 11–12, 32, 34, 37, 48,49AltaVista, 41, 48America Online, 57, 61“Anatomy of a Large-ScaleHypertextual Web SearchEngine, The,” 49Anderson, Sean, 35–36anti-Semitism, 15–16, 54BackRub, 11, 32, 34, 35, 37Bechtolsheim, Andy, 43–44, 46Brin, Benji (Sergey’s son), 83Brin, Eugenia (Sergey’s mother),14–20, 44, 78, 81Brin, Michael (Sergey’s father),14–20, 31, 40Brin, Sam (Sergey’s brother), 18Brin, Sergeychildhood, 14–20graduate school, 6–7, 9, 11–12,20, 27–28, 30–38, 40–45marriage, 81–83wealth, 65–66, 68, 78–79,80–81, 83Cheriton, David, 43–44China, 74–76Excite, 9, 42, 48GeoEye-1 satellite, 82Gmail, 70, 73–74Googleadvertising, 48–50, 52–57, 61censorship, 54, 57, 75–76garage office, 45–46Googleplex, 61–64initial public offering, 64–66, 79investors, 38, 43–44, 46–47,57–58, 79languages, 60–61lawsuits, 72–73marketing, 49motto, 53, 75Mountain View office, 48name, 35–36Palo Alto office, 47privacy, 73–74profit, 44, 52–53, 57–58, 73,80stock prices, 65–66, 83Google Book Search, 69–70Google Earth, 70, 82Google Images, 61, 70110

INDEXGoogle Instant, 94Google Library, 70Google Maps, 70, 72Google Translate, 87Google.org, 79–80googol, 36, 62links, 8, 9–12, 32–33, 34, 41, 54,55–56, 76, 89, 90Lycos, 9, 48Mayer, Marissa, 53Microsoft, 65, 70, 83Motwani, Rajeev, 11, 36Page, Carl, Jr. (Larry’s brother),23–24, 27Page, Carl Victor (Larry’s father),22–23, 24–25Page, Gloria (Larry’s mother),22–23, 24Page, Larrychildhood, 22–26, 27graduate school, 6–7, 9–12,27–28, 30–38, 40–45marriage, 83wealth, 65–66, 68–69, 78–79,80–81, 83PageRank, 12, 32, 34, 37, 49, 56Schmidt, Eric, 57–58, 79Silicon Valley, 20, 41, 42, 43, 58,65Silverstein, Craig, 46, 48Southworth, Lucinda, 82, 83Soviet Union, 14–17spider, 32–33, 34Sponsored Links, 55–56Stanford University, 6–7, 11, 12,19, 20, 26–27, 30–31, 35–38,41–42, 44, 45, 46–47, 48, 70,78, 80, 82–83Street View, 72uniform resource locator, 7, 8, 34,54University of Maryland, 18, 20University of Michigan, 25–26,70, 84Web crawler. See spiderWinograd, Terry, 11, 44Wojcicki, Anne, 46, 82–83Wojcicki, Susan, 45, 46, 47, 82Yahoo!, 19, 24, 36, 42, 57, 61, 65,70, 74YouTube, 70, 71–72111

GOOGLEABOUT THE AUTHORSusan E. Hamen is a full-time editor who finds her most rewardingcareer experiences to be writing and editing children’s books. Shehas written educational books on various topics, including theWright brothers, the Lewis and Clark expedition, and Pearl Harbor.Hamen lives in Minnesota with her very supportive husband andtwo young, energetic children. She loves to spend her spare timereading, canning, sewing, or coaxing the family’s persnickety orangetabby cat to show her some affection. Susan dedicates this book toher husband, Ryan.PHOTO CREDITSBen Margot/AP Images, cover, 6, 59, 97 (bottom); Emilio Ereza/Photolibrary, 13; Douglas C. Pizac/AP Images, 14; NielsDKNielsDK/Photolibrary, 17; Richard T. Nowitz/Corbis, 21; KurtRogers/San Francisco Chronicle/Corbis, 22; Phil Meyers/APImages, 25; Christopher Rennie/Photolibrary, 29; Michael Grecco/Getty Images, 30, 97 (top); James Whittaker/iStockphoto, 33;Paul Sakuma/AP Images, 39, 40, 68, 86; Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Images, 45; Bloomberg/Getty Images, 51, 52, 85, 95, 96, 99(bottom); Lee Jin-man/AP Images, 60; Mark Lennihan/AP Images,63; Kathy Willens/AP Images, 67; Google Inc./AP Images, 71;Kyodo/AP Images, 77; Chris Hondros/Getty Images, 78; DonaldBowers/Stringer/Getty Images, 81, 98; Laurent Fievet/GettyImages, 89, 99 (top)112