Google

=== Early years ===
[[File:Google page brin.jpg|thumb|[[Larry Page]] and [[Sergey Brin]] in 2003|alt=|left]]
Google began in January 1996 as a research project by [[Larry Page]] and [[Sergey Brin]] while they were both PhD students at [[Stanford University]] in [[California]].<ref name="howwestarted">{{Cite web |title=How we started and where we are today – Google |url=https://about.google/our-story/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200422134018/https://about.google/our-story/ |archive-date=April 22, 2020 |access-date=April 24, 2021 |website=about.google |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Coronabook">{{Cite book |last=Brezina |first=Corona |title=Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Eric Schmidt, and Google |publisher=Rosen Publishing Group |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-4488-6911-4 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=18 |lccn=2011039480}}</ref><ref name="milestones">{{Cite web |title=Our history in depth |url=https://www.google.com/about/company/history/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401005940/http://www.google.com/about/company/history/ |archive-date=April 1, 2012 |access-date=July 15, 2017 |website=Google Company}}</ref> The project initially involved an unofficial "third founder", [[Scott Hassan]], the original lead programmer who wrote much of the code for the original [[Google Search]] engine, but he left before Google was officially founded as a company;<ref name="vanityfair">{{Cite web |last=Fisher |first=Adam |date=July 10, 2018 |title=Brin, Page, and Mayer on the Accidental Birth of the Company that Changed Everything |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/07/valley-of-genius-excerpt-google |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704184309/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/07/valley-of-genius-excerpt-google |archive-date=July 4, 2019 |access-date=August 23, 2019 |website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=McHugh |first=Josh |date=January 1, 2003 |title=Google vs. Evil |url=https://www.wired.com/2003/01/google-10/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602064540/https://www.wired.com/2003/01/google-10/ |archive-date=June 2, 2019 |access-date=August 24, 2019 |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]}}</ref> Hassan went on to pursue a career in [[robotics]] and founded the company [[Willow Garage]] in 2006.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 5, 2014 |title=Willow Garage Founder Scott Hassan Aims To Build A Startup Village |work=[[IEEE Spectrum]] |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/at-work/start-ups/willow-garage-founder-scott-hassan-aims-to-build-a-startup-village |url-status=live |access-date=September 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824075356/https://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/at-work/start-ups/willow-garage-founder-scott-hassan-aims-to-build-a-startup-village |archive-date=August 24, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=D'Onfro |first=Jillian |date=February 13, 2016 |title=How a billionaire who wrote Google's original code created a robot revolution |work=[[Business Insider]] |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/a-look-back-at-willow-garage-2016-2 |url-status=live |access-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824075346/https://www.businessinsider.com/a-look-back-at-willow-garage-2016-2 |archive-date=August 24, 2019}}</ref>

While conventional search engines ranked results by counting how many times the search terms appeared on the page, they theorized about a better system that analyzed the relationships among websites.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Page |first1=Lawrence |author-link=Larry Page |last2=Brin |first2=Sergey |author-link2=Sergey Brin |last3=Motwani |first3=Rajeev |last4=Winograd |first4=Terry |date=November 11, 1999 |title=The PageRank Citation Ranking: Bringing Order to the Web |url=http://ilpubs.stanford.edu:8090/422/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091118014915/http://ilpubs.stanford.edu:8090/422/ |archive-date=November 18, 2009 |website=Stanford University}}</ref> They called this algorithm [[PageRank]]; it determined a website's [[Relevance (information retrieval)|relevance]] by the number of pages, and the importance of those pages that linked back to the original site.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Helpful products. For everyone. |url=https://about.google/products/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210175913/http://www.google.com/corporate/tech.html |archive-date=February 10, 2010 |website=Google, Inc.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Page |first=Larry |author-link=Larry Page |date=August 18, 1997 |title=PageRank: Bringing Order to the Web |url=http://ilpubs.stanford.edu:8090/422/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020506051802/http://www-diglib.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/WP/get/SIDL-WP-1997-0072?1 |archive-date=May 6, 2002 |access-date=November 27, 2010 |website=Stanford Digital Library Project}}</ref> Page told his ideas to Hassan, who began writing the code to implement Page's ideas.<ref name="vanityfair" />

Page and Brin originally nicknamed the new search engine "[[Google Search|BackRub]]", because the system checked backlinks to estimate the importance of a site.<ref name="howwestarted" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Battelle |first=John |date=August 2005 |title=The Birth of Google |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.08/battelle.html |url-status=live |access-date=October 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107160749/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.08/battelle.html?tw=wn_tophead_4 |archive-date=November 7, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Backrub search engine at Stanford University |url=http://huron.stanford.edu |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961224105215/http://huron.stanford.edu/ |archive-date=December 24, 1996 |access-date=March 12, 2011}}</ref> Hassan as well as Alan Steremberg were cited by Page and Brin as being critical to the development of Google. [[Rajeev Motwani]] and [[Terry Winograd]] later co-authored with Page and Brin the first paper about the project, describing PageRank and the initial prototype of the Google search engine, published in 1998. [[Héctor García-Molina]] and [[Jeffrey Ullman]] were also cited as contributors to the project.<ref name="originalpaper" /> PageRank was influenced by a similar page-ranking and site-scoring algorithm earlier used for [[Baidu#History|RankDex]], developed by [[Robin Li]] in 1996, with Larry Page's PageRank patent including a citation to Li's earlier RankDex patent; Li later went on to create the Chinese search engine [[Baidu]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=About: RankDex |url=http://www.rankdex.com/about.html |access-date=September 29, 2010 |archive-date=January 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120002301/http://www.rankdex.com/about.html |url-status=dead }}, ''[[RankDex]]''</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Method for node ranking in a linked database |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US6285999 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015185034/http://www.google.com/patents/US6285999 |archive-date=October 15, 2015 |access-date=October 19, 2015 |publisher=Google Patents}}</ref>

Eventually, they changed the name to ''Google''; the name of the search engine was a misspelling of the word ''[[googol]]'',<ref name="howwestarted" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Koller |first=David |date=January 2004 |title=Origin of the name "Google" |url=http://graphics.stanford.edu/~dk/google_name_origin.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627081942/http://graphics.stanford.edu/~dk/google_name_origin.html |archive-date=June 27, 2012 |website=Stanford University}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hanley |first=Rachael |date=February 12, 2003 |title=From Googol to Google |work=The Stanford Daily |publisher=Stanford University |url=http://www.stanforddaily.com/2003/02/12/from-googol-to-google |access-date=February 15, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327141327/http://www.stanforddaily.com/2003/02/12/from-googol-to-google |archive-date=March 27, 2010}}</ref> a very [[large number]] written '''10<sup>100</sup>''' (1 followed by 100 zeros), picked to signify that the search engine was intended to provide large quantities of information.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Google! Beta website |url=https://www.google.com/company.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990221202430/https://www.google.com/company.html |archive-date=February 21, 1999 |access-date=October 12, 2010 |website=Google, Inc.}}</ref>

[[File:Google1998.png|thumb|upright=1.15|Google's original homepage had a simple design because the company founders had little experience in [[HTML]], the [[markup language]] used for designing web pages<ref>{{Cite web |last=Williamson |first=Alan |date=January 12, 2005 |title=An evening with Google's Marissa Mayer |url=http://alan.blog-city.com/an_evening_with_googles_marissa_mayer.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930021302/http://alan.blog-city.com/an_evening_with_googles_marissa_mayer.htm |archive-date=September 30, 2011 |access-date=July 5, 2010 |website=Alan Williamson}}</ref>|alt=Google's homepage in 1998]]

Google was initially funded by an August 1998 investment of $100,000 from [[Andy Bechtolsheim]],<ref name="howwestarted" /> co-founder of [[Sun Microsystems]]. This initial investment served as a motivation to incorporate the company to be able to use the funds.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Long |first=Tony |date=September 7, 2007 |title=Sept. 7, 1998: If the Check Says 'Google Inc.,' We're 'Google Inc.' |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |url=https://www.wired.com/2007/09/dayintech-0907/ |url-access=limited |access-date=April 6, 2021 |archive-date=May 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502183045/https://www.wired.com/2007/09/dayintech-0907/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Bechtolsheim">{{Cite news |last=Kopytoff |first=Verne |date=April 29, 2004 |title=For early Googlers, key word is $ |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/For-early-Googlers-key-word-is-Founders-2786378.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090919030812/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fchronicle%2Farchive%2F2004%2F04%2F29%2FMNGLD6CFND34.DTL |archive-date=September 19, 2009}}</ref> Page and Brin initially approached [[David Cheriton]] for advice because he had a nearby office in Stanford, and they knew he had startup experience, having recently sold the company he co-founded, Granite Systems, to [[Cisco]] for $220 million. David arranged a meeting with Page and Brin and his Granite co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim. The meeting was set for 8 a.m. at the front porch of David's home in Palo Alto and it had to be brief because Andy had another meeting at Cisco, where he now worked after the acquisition, at 9 a.m. Andy briefly tested a demo of the website, liked what he saw, and then went back to his car to grab the check. David Cheriton later also joined in with a $250,000 investment.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jolis |first1=Jacob |title=Frugal after Google |url=https://stanforddaily.com/2010/04/16/frugal-after-google/ |website=The Stanford Daily |date=April 16, 2010 |access-date=June 3, 2022 |archive-date=June 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603050109/https://stanforddaily.com/2010/04/16/frugal-after-google/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Invention And History Of Google {{!}} Silicon Valley: The Untold Story |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85Nyi4Xb9PY&t=262s |website=[[YouTube]] |publisher=Discovery UK |access-date=June 3, 2022 |archive-date=June 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603050109/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85Nyi4Xb9PY&t=262s |url-status=live }}</ref>

Google received money from two other [[angel investor]]s in 1998: [[Amazon (company)|Amazon.com]] founder [[Jeff Bezos]], and entrepreneur [[Ram Shriram]].<ref name="endofworld">{{Cite book |last=Auletta |first=Ken |title=Googled: The End of the World as We Know It |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-14-311804-6 |edition=Reprint |location=New York |oclc=515456623 |quote=On September 7, 1998, the day Google officially incorporated, he [Shriram] wrote out a check for just over $250,000, one of four of this size the founders received. |author-link=Ken Auletta}}</ref> Page and Brin had first approached Shriram, who was a venture capitalist, for funding and counsel, and Shriram invested $250,000 in Google in February 1998. Shriram knew Bezos because Amazon had acquired Junglee, at which Shriram was the president. It was Shriram who told Bezos about Google. Bezos asked Shriram to meet Google's founders and they met six months after Shriram had made his investment when Bezos and his wife were on a vacation trip to the Bay Area. Google's initial funding round had already formally closed but Bezos' status as CEO of Amazon was enough to persuade Page and Brin to extend the round and accept his investment.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Canales |first1=Katie |title=The unlikely way Jeff Bezos became one of the first investors in Google, which probably made him a billionaire outside of Amazon |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/how-jeff-bezos-became-first-investors-in-google-2018-4?r=US&IR=T |website=[[Business Insider]] |access-date=June 3, 2022 |archive-date=June 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603054945/https://www.businessinsider.com/how-jeff-bezos-became-first-investors-in-google-2018-4?r=US&IR=T |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Bhagat |first1=Rasheeda |title=The sherpa who funded Google's ascent |url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/columns/rasheeda-bhagat/the-sherpa-who-funded-googles-ascent/article64554661.ece |website=The Hindu Business Line |date=January 12, 2012 |access-date=June 3, 2022 |archive-date=June 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603054946/https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/columns/rasheeda-bhagat/the-sherpa-who-funded-googles-ascent/article64554661.ece |url-status=live }}</ref>

Between these initial investors, friends, and family Google raised around $1,000,000, which is what allowed them to open up their original shop in [[Menlo Park, California]].<ref name="Google Inc">{{Cite web |last1=Hosch |first1=William L. |last2=Hall |first2=Mark |title=Google Inc. |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Google-Inc |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220013941/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Google-Inc |archive-date=February 20, 2019 |access-date=March 17, 2019 |website=Britannica }}</ref>
[[Craig Silverstein]], a fellow PhD student at Stanford, was hired as the first employee.<ref name="milestones" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Craig Silverstein's website |url=http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~csilvers/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991002122809/http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~csilvers/ |archive-date=October 2, 1999 |access-date=October 12, 2010 |website=Stanford University}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kopytoff |first=Verne |date=September 7, 2008 |title=Craig Silverstein grew a decade with Google |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Craig-Silverstein-grew-a-decade-with-Google-3270079.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107075029/http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Craig-Silverstein-grew-a-decade-with-Google-3270079.php |archive-date=November 7, 2012}}</ref>

After some additional, small investments through the end of 1998 to early 1999,<ref name=endofworld /> a new $25 million round of funding was announced on June 7, 1999,<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Google Receives $25&nbsp;Million in Equity Funding |date=June 7, 1999 |location=Palo Alto, Calif. |url=https://www.google.com/pressrel/pressrelease1.html |access-date=February 16, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010212052759/http://www.google.com/pressrel/pressrelease1.html |archive-date=February 12, 2001}}</ref> with major investors including the [[venture capital]] firms [[Kleiner Perkins]] and [[Sequoia Capital]].<ref name="Bechtolsheim" /> Both firms were initially reticent about investing jointly in Google, as each wanted to retain a larger percentage of control over the company to themselves. Larry and Sergey however insisted in taking investments from both. Both venture companies finally agreed to investing jointly $12.5 million each due to their belief in Google's great potential and through the mediation of earlier angel investors Ron Conway and Ram Shriram who had contacts in the venture companies.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vise |first1=David |last2=Malseed |first2=Mark |title=The Google Story |date=2005 |chapter=Chapter 5. Divide and Conquer}}</ref>