Founded in 1998, Google runs the world’s most popular Internet search engine. For hundreds of millions of Web users, an online session starts at the Google search box. It’s a position that has given Google an outsize influence over anyone doing business on the Internet and that has allowed the company to build a hugely profitable and fast-growing online advertising system.
But Google’s ambition far exceeds the confines of Internet search and advertising. The company has an expansive interpretation of its already far-reaching corporate mission: to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. For that, Google has built a powerful network of data centers around the globe in hopes of, among other things, connecting users instantly with high-resolution satellite pictures of every corner of the earth and sky; making the entire text of books, in and out of print, available online; and becoming the leading distributor of online video through YouTube, which it acquired in 2006.
At the same time, Google has taken its advertising system offline, as it tries to capture portions of large ad markets in television, radio and newspapers. It is investing heavily in mobile phone technology to replicate its online success in the wireless world. And it has built an array of online software programs, including e-mail, word processing and spreadsheets that it hopes will become the building blocks of a new computing paradigm — one that, unlike the Microsoft-dominated PC world, will have Google at its center.
Google’s unbounded ambition, as well as what many critics say is a cavalier approach to copyrights, has put it at odds with a growing list of companies in industries ranging from Hollywood to book publishing and from telecommunications to e-commerce. And the company’s appetite for collecting vast amounts of data about its users and their online habits has prompted increasing fears that Google could become a threat to consumer privacy.
Google is known for the quirky corporate culture created by its billionaire co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, which includes a chaotic, campuslike atmosphere at its offices, where workers are pampered with free, chef-prepared food and other amenities. Part of that culture includes a principle that some critics believe will become harder for Google to uphold as it grows in size. That principle: Don’t be evil.-- Miguel Helft, Sept. 14, 2007
Highlights From the Archives
Preparing to Sell E-Books, Google Takes on Amazon
Google plans to help publishers sell digital versions of new books direct to consumers, for use on phones or e-book readers.
June 1, 2009technologyNewsGoogle’s Plan for Out-of-Print Books Is Challenged
A legal settlement giving Google online rights to out-of-print orphan books is being challenged in court.
April 4, 2009technologyNewsGoogle Told to Turn Over User Data of YouTube
The order raised concerns that the online video viewing habits of tens of millions of people could be exposed.
July 4, 2008technologyNews
For Google, Advertising and Phones Go Together
Google, which seeks to extend its dominance of online advertising to the mobile Internet, is expected to unveil the fruit of its secret mobile phone project later this year.
October 8, 2007businessNews
Google and Microsoft Look to Change Health Care
Two candidates for Web supremacy are working up their plans to improve the nation’s health care.
August 14, 2007technologyNewsARTICLES ABOUT GOOGLE INC.
Rajeev Motwani, Guide in the Creation of Google, Dies at 47
Professor Motwani taught computer science at Stanford and was a mentor to many Silicon Valley start-ups.
June 11, 2009U.S. Presses Antitrust Inquiry Into Google Book Settlement
The Justice Department has requested information from Google and groups representing publishers and authors, among others.
June 10, 2009Rajeev Motwani, a Professor Behind Google, Dies at 47
Professor Motwani taught computer science at Stanford and was a mentor to many Silicon Valley start-ups.
June 9, 2009Think Small: Design a Tiny Shelter Online
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Google will announce a global, online design competition for virtual 3-D shelters.
June 8, 2009Unwritten Code Rules Silicon Valley Hiring
Some employment and antitrust lawyers claim that there is an unwritten agreement among the major technology companies not to poach employees from one other.
June 4, 2009Bloodied by Google, Microsoft Tries Again on Search
Microsoft is releasing Bing, a new version of its search engine, to replace the confusing Live Search.
May 29, 2009How Tweet It Is
For a few, Twitter is a place to scream and let the world know that they are fed up. Really, really fed up.
May 27, 2009Put on Your Best Clothes Before Going Out: Google’s Camera Car May Cross Your Path
A panoramic camera that helps create a virtual streetscape for Google Maps is cruising the five boroughs to gather updated images.
May 23, 2009Google Book-Scanning Pact to Give Libraries Input on Price
The agreement would give some libraries a degree of oversight over the prices that Google could charge for its vast digital library.
May 21, 2009Google Threatened With Sanctions Over Photo Mapping Service in Germany
The Street View feature offered in Google Maps runs afoul of Germany’s strict privacy laws.
May 20, 2009SEARCH 1265 ARTICLES ABOUT GOOGLE INC.:
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