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What is Google

Google

Google logoOriginally known as BackRub, Google is a search engine that started development in 1996 by Sergey Brin and Larry Page as a research project at Stanford University. Larry and Sergey decide the name of their search engine needs to change and decide upon Google, which is inspired from the term googol. They later register the google.com domain on September 15, 1997 and incorporated the name on September 4, 1998.
What helps Google stand out from its competition and help it grow is its PageRank technique that sorts search results. In the picture below is a capture of the site from The Internet Archive of what Google looked like in 1998.
Google in 1998

Other Google services

  • Blogger - View and create your own blog.
  • Froogle - Search for products based on prices, location, type, etc.
  • Gmail - Google's free online e-mail service with over 1gb of storage.
  • Google+ - Google social networking site.
  • Google AdSense - Google service that provides and pays website publishers or blog developers to advertise on their site.
  • Google AdWords - Service that enables users to pay to advertise on the Google search engine and other websites using Google AdSense.
  • Google Alerts - Create alert text messages sent to an e-mail address each day or as it happens of web searches, news searches, etc.
  • Google Analytics - A great site for users who run a website. Google Analytics allows anyone with their own domain to have Google post great reports of visitors on their website.
  • Google App Engine - A service that provides users the ability to create scalable web services that use Google's resources.
  • Google Base - Location where you can post information and make your information searchable on Google.
  • Google Books - Another fantastic service from Google that contains hundreds of thousands of books that can be searched.
  • Google Buzz - Discontinued Google social networking site. Latest Social networking site is Google+.
  • Google Calendar - A way to organize your schedule, synchronize, and share events with your friends.
  • Google Checkout - Service that provides users and sellers with an easy and secure method of paying each other.
  • Google Code - Allows users to view source code on websites.
  • Google Custom Search Engine (CSE) - Service that allows you to create your own custom Google Search engine.
  • Google Docs - A fantastic free solution from Google that allows you to open Microsoft Office documents as well as share them with other users with Internet access.
  • Google Drive - A cloud storage service from Google introduce April 24, 2012 that allows users to view, edit, and store their documents and files in the Google cloud.
  • Google Blog - A blog maintained by Google that helps give an insight into the company.
  • Google Deskbar and Google Desktop - Small software utility that adds a Google search to the Microsoft Windows Taskbar allowing users to search without even opening a browser.
  • Google Directory - Browse the Open Directory of web pages modified to list the directory listings by Google's PageRank technology.
  • Google Earth - A fantastic software program that allows a person to view almost everywhere on earth, get directions, find close shops and places of interest, and much more.
  • Google Features - A great listing from Google of some of its different available features as well as tricks on searching for different content on Google.
  • Google Fiber - A limited service available in some places in the United States that offers a Fiber connection to the Internet.
  • Google Fonts - A collection of thousands of fonts that can be used on your web page.
  • Google Groups - Google's bulletin board with millions of users and postings.
  • Google H4x0r - Display Google's search page and results in leet speak.
  • Google Home Page - Google's main page.
  • Google Images - Google search that allows you to search for images instead of text.
  • Google Klingon - Display Google's search page and results in Klingon.
  • Google Labs - A section of Google that once displayed upcoming features. This section was later discontinued.
  • Google Mail - Alternatively referred to as Gmail, is one of the most popular email hosts.
  • Google Maps - A great feature that enables users to search for directions from one location to another, search for local businesses, and more.
  • Google Moderator - Another great free tool  from Google that allows anyone to collect the best input from an audience of any size.
  • Google Moon - In celebration of the first Moon landing, Google created this page that has a map of our Moon as well as each of the moon landings.
  • Google Ngram Viewer - Great tool that allows you to search lots of books and other printed material for the frequency of words or phrases.
  • Google Now - Service primarily used by mobile users that gives the most relevant information that relates to you based of your searching and driving habits.
  • Google Personalized - Enables Google users to personalize the Google home page, having it display the latest news they want to view, their local weather, and more.
  • Google Pig Latin - Display Google's search page and results in Pig Latin.
  • Google Sets - Type in a few keywords that are similar to pull up a listing of more words that relate to the words you typed.
  • Google Sites - A service that enables users to create and share websites.
  • Google Scholar - Allows users to search for scholarly literature.
  • Google SketchUp - A great tool for users to create and share 3-D models.
  • Google Street View - Another great service that allows anyone to drive down the streets around the world.
  • Google News - Great news site automatically generated using the results of news sites queried by Google.
  • Google Patents- Allows users to search over 7 million patents.
  • Google SMS - Enables users to send text messages over their mobile using SMS to get quick answers such as driving directions, movie show times, local business listing, etc.
  • Google Talk - Instant Messenger program.
  • Google Toolbar - For Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer and Firefox users, this software add-on enables users using these browsers to have access to the Google search and other Google features any time the browser window is open.
  • Google Translator - Translate a foreign language web page or text into your language.
  • Google Trends - List of the 100 most active search queries and comparison of what people are searching for on Google.
  • Google URL Shortener - Service to shorten long URLs.
  • Google Video - Search for online videos hosted by Google as well as transcript text of videos and TV shows.
  • Google Voice - Use Google search over the phone using your voice.
  • Google Web Accelerator - For broadband users, this Microsoft Windows software utility can help speed up browsing times by utilizing Google's global computer network.
  • Google Webmaster tools - Another great service provided by Google that enables webmasters to view, maintain, and control how Google indexes their web page.
  • Google Zeitgeist - A listing of some of the top searches on Google.
  • Google.org - The philanthropic arm of Google.
  • iGoogle - Personalized Google page that enables you to add links, RSS feeds, games, and much more. To get to this from the Google main page click the iGoogle link in the top right corner.
  • Orkut - A social networking site that provides you a location to socialize with your friends and family, and meet new acquaintances from all around the world. Google announced the Orkut service will stop September 30, 2014.
  • Picasa - A great free Microsoft Windows software program to view images, manage images, and much more.
  • YouTube - Video service that allows users to freely upload videos and view others videos.

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