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GOOGLE TRACKS.
{{About|the corporation|the search engine|Google Search|other uses}}
WE DON'T.
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2011}}
DUCKDUCKGO.COM
{{pp-semi|small=yes}}
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{{Infobox company
| company_name = Google Inc.
| company_logo = [[Image:Googlelogo.png|200px|alt=Google Logo]]
| company_type = [[Public company|Public]]
| traded_as = {{nasdaq|GOOG}}<br>{{FWB|GGQ1}}
| foundation = [[Menlo Park, California]] {{nowrap|({{Start date|1998|09|04}})}}
| founder = [[Sergey Brin]]<br />[[Larry Page]]
| location_city = [[Googleplex|1600 Amphitheatre Parkway]], Mountain View, California
| location_country = {{nowrap|United States}}
| area_served = Worldwide
| key_people = [[Larry Page]]<br /><small>(Co-Founder and [[Chief executive officer|CEO]])</small><br />[[Eric Schmidt]]<br /><small>([[Chairman|Executive Chairman]])</small><br />[[Sergey Brin]]<br /><small>(Co-Founder)</small>
| industry = Internet<br>Computer software
| products = See [[list of Google products]].
| revenue = {{increase}} US$ 29.321&nbsp;billion <small>(2010)</small>
| operating_income = {{increase}} US$ 10.381&nbsp;billion <small>(2010)</small>
| net_income = {{increase}} US$8.505&nbsp;billion <small>(2010)</small>
| assets = {{increase}} $57.851&nbsp;billion <small>(2010)</small>
| equity = {{increase}} US$46.241&nbsp;billion <small>(2010)</small>
| num_employees = 24,400 <small>(2010)</small>
| subsid = [[:YouTube]], [[DoubleClick]], [[On2 Technologies]], [[Google Voice]], [[Picnik]], [[Aardvark (search engine)|Aardvark]], [[AdMob]]
| homepage = {{URL|www.google.com}}
| intl = yes
| footnotes = <ref name="form 10-k">{{cite web |url=http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288776/000119312511032930/d10k.htm |title=Form 10-K |author=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |authorlink=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |year=2010 |publisher=United States of America |location=Washington, D.C. |at=Part II, Item 6 |accessdate=June 29, 2011}}</ref>
}}
'''Google Inc.''' is an American multinational public corporation invested in [[Internet search]], [[cloud computing]], and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products,<ref>See: [[List of Google products]].</ref> and generates profit primarily from advertising through its [[AdWords]] program.<ref name="financialtables">{{cite web |url=http://investor.google.com/fin_data.html |title=Financial Tables |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=July 5, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Online Ads Give Google Huge Gain in Profit |first=David A. |last=Vise |url= |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=October 21, 2005 |accessdate=February 14, 2010}}</ref> The company was founded by [[Larry Page]] and [[Sergey Brin]], often dubbed the "Google Guys",<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1158956,00.html |title=Meet the Google Guys |last=Ignatius |first=Adi |date=February 12, 2006 |work=Time Magazine |publisher=Time Inc. |accessdate=March 27, 2010 |location=San Francisco, CA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4835250n&tag=mncol;lst;1 |title=The Google Guys |date=March 12, 2009 |newspaper=CBS News.com |publisher=CBS Interactive |accessdate=March 27, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://gizmodo.com/5464532/google-wants-to-add-store-interiors-to-maps |title=Google Wants to Add Store Interiors to Maps |last=Barrett |first=Brian |date=February 4, 2010 |publisher=Gizmodo |accessdate=March 27, 2010}}</ref> while the two were attending [[Stanford University]] as PhD candidates. It was first incorporated as a privately held company on September 4, 1998, and its [[initial public offering]] followed on August 19, 2004. At that time Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric Schmidt agreed to work together at Google for twenty years, until the year 2024.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/18/news/companies/google.fortune/index.htm |title=Google wins again |date=January 29, 2008 |newspaper=Fortune.com |publisher=Time Warner |accessdate=January 22, 2011 |first=Adam |last=Lashinsky}}</ref> The company's mission statement from the outset was "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful",<ref name="corporate">{{cite web |url=http://www.google.com/corporate/ |title=Google Corporate Information |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=February 14, 2010}}</ref> and the company's unofficial slogan{{ndash}} coined by Google engineer Amit Patel <ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/dont-be-evil/2008/04/15/1208025168177.html?page=3|title=Don't Be Evil or don't lose value?|work=The Sydney Morning Herald | date=2008-04-15}}</ref>and supported by [[Paul Buchheit]]{{ndash}} is "[[Don't be evil]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://investor.google.com/conduct.html |title=Google Code of Conduct |date=April 8, 2009 |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=July 5, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2007-07-16-n55.html |title=Paul Buchheit on Gmail, AdSense and More |first=Philip|last=Lenssen |date=July 16, 2007 |publisher=Google Blogscoped |accessdate=February 14, 2010}}</ref> In 2006, the company moved to its current headquarters in [[Mountain View, California|Mountain View]], California.

It has been estimated that Google runs over one million servers in data centers around the world,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pandia.com/sew/481-gartner.html |title=Pandia Search Engine News&nbsp;– Google: one million servers and counting |date=July 2, 2007 |publisher=Pandia Search Engine News |accessdate=February 14, 2010}}</ref> and processes over one billion search requests<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/12/18/google-unveils-top-political-searches-of-2009/ |title=CNN Politics&nbsp;– Political Ticker... Google unveils top political searches of 2009 |first=Eric |last=Kuhn |date=December 18, 2009 |publisher=CNN |accessdate=February 14, 2010}}</ref> and about twenty-four [[petabyte]]s of user-generated data every day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=1327452.1327492 |title=MapReduce |publisher=Portal.acm.org |accessdate=August 16, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/sorting-1pb-with-mapreduce.html |title=Sorting 1PB with MapReduce |last=Czajkowski |first=Grzegorz |date=November 21, 2008 |work=Official Google Blog |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=July 5, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.niallkennedy.com/blog/2008/01/google-mapreduce-stats.html |title=Google processes over 20 petabytes of data per day |last=Kennedy |first=Niall |date=January 8, 2008 |work=Niall Kennedy's Weblog |publisher=Niall Kennedy |accessdate=July 5, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://techcrunch.com/2008/01/09/google-processing-20000-terabytes-a-day-and-growing/ |title=Google Processing 20,000 Terabytes A Day, And Growing |last=Schonfeld |first=Erick |date=January 9, 2008 |work=TechCrunch |publisher=TechCrunch |accessdate=February 16, 2010}}</ref> Google's rapid growth since its incorporation has triggered a chain of products, acquisitions, and partnerships beyond the company's core web search engine. The company offers online productivity software, such as its [[Gmail]] email service, and [[social networking]] tools, including [[Orkut]] and, more recently, [[Google Buzz]] and [[Google+]]. Google's products extend to the desktop as well, with applications such as the web browser [[Google Chrome]], the [[Picasa]] photo organization and editing software, and the [[Google Talk]] [[instant messaging]] application. Notably, Google leads the development of the [[Android (operating system)|Android]] mobile [[operating system]], used on a number of phones such as the [[Nexus One]] and [[Motorola Droid]], as well as [[Google Chrome OS]], which is brand new (was just released on June 15, 2011)<ref>http://www.google.com/chromebook</ref> but is best known as the main operating system on the [[Google Chrome OS#Cr-48 prototype hardware|Cr-48]] and also on commercial [[Chromebook]]s since June 15, among them the Samsung Series 5.<ref>http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/chromebook</ref> [[Alexa Internet|Alexa]] lists the main U.S.-focused google.com site as the Internet's most visited website, and numerous international Google sites (google.co.in, google.co.uk etc.) are in the top hundred, as are several other Google-owned sites such as YouTube, [[Blogger (service)|Blogger]], and Orkut.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alexa Traffic Rank for Google (three month average) |publisher=[[Alexa Internet]] |url=http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/google.com |accessdate=September 6, 2009}}</ref> Google also ranks number one in the [[BrandZ]] brand equity database.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://c1547732.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/BrandZ_Top100_2010.pdf |title=Top 100 Most Powerful Brands of 2009 |year=2008 |publisher=BrandZ |page=9 |format=PDF |accessdate=February 14, 2010}}</ref> The dominant market position of Google's services has led to [[Criticism of Google|criticism of the company]] over issues including privacy, copyright, and [[Censorship by Google|censorship]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6740075.stm |publisher=BBC News |title=Google ranked 'worst' on privacy |date=June 11, 2007 |accessdate=April 30, 2010}}</ref><ref name="gatekeepers">{{Cite news |first= Jeffrey |last=Rosen |title=Google’s Gatekeepers |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/magazine/30google-t.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all |work=New York Times |date=November 30, 2008 |accessdate=July 5, 2010}}</ref>

==History==
{{Main|History of Google}}
[[Image:Google1998.png|thumb|left|Google's original homepage had a simple design since its founders were not experienced in [[HTML]], the language for designing web pages.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://alan.blog-city.com/an_evening_with_googles_marissa_mayer.htm |title=An evening with Google's Marissa Mayer |last=Williamson |first=Alan |publisher=Alan Williamson |date=January 12, 2005 |accessdate=July 5, 2010}}</ref>|alt=Google's homepage in 1998]]
Google began in January 1996 as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they were both PhD students at Stanford University in California.<ref name="milestones">{{cite web |url=http://www.google.com/intl/en/corporate/history.html |title=Google Milestones |work=Corporate Information |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=September 28, 2010}}</ref>

While conventional search engines ranked results by counting how many times the search terms appeared on the page, the two theorized about a better system that analyzed the relationships between websites.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ilpubs.stanford.edu:8090/422/ |title=The PageRank Citation Ranking: Bringing Order to the Web |last1=Page |first1=Lawrence |last2=Brin |first2=Sergey |last3=Motwani |first3=Rajeev |last4=Winograd |first4=Terry |date=November 11, 1999 |publisher=Stanford University |accessdate=February 15, 2010}}</ref> They called this new technology [[PageRank]], where a website's relevance was determined by the number of pages, and the importance of those pages, that linked back to the original site.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.google.com/corporate/tech.html |title=Technology Overview |work=Corporate Information |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=February 15, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=www-diglib.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/WP/get/SIDL-WP-1997-0072?1 |title=PageRank: Bringing Order to the Web |last=Page |first=Larry |work=Stanford Digital Library Project |date=August 18, 1997 |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20020506051802/www-diglib.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/WP/get/SIDL-WP-1997-0072?1 |archivedate=May 6, 2002 |accessdate=November 27, 2010}}</ref>

A small search engine called "RankDex" from IDD Information Services designed by [[Robin Li]] was, since 1996, already exploring a similar strategy for site-scoring and page ranking.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Li |first=Yanhong |date=August 6, 2002 |title=Toward a qualitative search engine |journal=Internet Computing, IEEE |volume=2 |issue=4 |page= |pages=24–29 |publisher=IEEE Computer Society |issn=1089-7801 |doi=10.1109/4236.707687 |url=http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/search/freesrchabstract.jsp?tp=&arnumber=707687 |accessdate=February 14, 2010}}</ref> The technology in RankDex would be patented<ref>{{Cite patent |country=US |number=5920859 |status=patent |title=Hypertext document retrieval system and method |gdate=July 6, 1999 |fdate=February 5, 1997 |invent1=Li, Yanhong |assign1=IDD Enterprises, L.P. |class=G06F17/30D |accessdate=November 27, 2010}}</ref> and used later when Li founded [[Baidu]] in China.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/1005/technology-baidu-robin-li-man-whos-beating-google_2.html |title=The Man Who's Beating Google |last=Greenberg |first=Andy |work=Forbes Magazine |date=October 5, 2009 |accessdate=October 12, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rankdex.com/about.html |title=About: RankDex |publisher=RankDex.com |accessdate=October 12, 2010}}</ref>

Page and Brin originally nicknamed their new search engine "BackRub", because the system checked [[backlink]]s to estimate the importance of a site.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Birth of Google |first=John |last=Battelle |newspaper=Wired Magazine |date=August 2005 |url=http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.08/battelle.html?tw=wn_tophead_4 |accessdate=October 12, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.static.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/22707.html |title=9 People, Places & Things That Changed Their Names |publisher=Mental Floss |accessdate=December 20, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://huron.stanford.edu |title=Backrub search engine at Stanford University |archiveurl=http://replay.waybackmachine.org/19961224105215/http://huron.stanford.edu/ |archivedate=December 24, 1996 |accessdate=March 12, 2011}}</ref>

Eventually, they changed the name to Google, originating from a misspelling of the word "[[googol]]",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://graphics.stanford.edu/~dk/google_name_origin.html |title=Origin of the name "Google" |last=Koller |first=David |date=January 2004 |publisher=Stanford University |accessdate=February 15, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.stanforddaily.com/2003/02/12/from-googol-to-google/ |title=From Googol to Google |last=Hanley |first=Rachael |date=February 12, 2003 |newspaper=The Stanford Daily |publisher=Stanford University |accessdate=February 15, 2010}}</ref> the number one followed by one hundred zeros, which was picked to signify that the search engine wants to provide large quantities of information for people.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.google.com/company.html |title=Google! Beta website |publisher=Google, Inc. |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/19990221202430/www.google.com/company.html |archivedate=February 2, 1999 |accessdate=October 12, 2010}}</ref> Originally, Google ran under the Stanford University website, with the domain ''google.stanford.edu''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://google.stanford.edu |title=Google! Search Engine |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/19981111183552/http://google.stanford.edu/ |publisher=Stanford University |archivedate=November 11, 1998 |accessdate=October 12, 2010}}</ref>

The domain name for Google was registered on September 15, 1997,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://whois.dnsstuff.com/tools/whois.ch?ip=google.com |title=WHOIS&nbsp;– google.com |accessdate=July 5, 2010}}</ref> and the company was incorporated on September 4, 1998. It was based in a friend's (Susan Wojcicki<ref name="milestones"/>) garage in [[Menlo Park, California|Menlo Park]], California. Craig Silverstein, a fellow PhD student at Stanford, was hired as the first employee.<ref name="milestones"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~csilvers/ |title=Craig Silverstein's website |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/19991002122809/www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~csilvers/ |archivedate=October 2, 1999 |publisher=Stanford University |accessdate=October 12, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kopytoff |first=Verne |url=http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-09-07/news/17161124_1_larry-page-google-search-engine |title=Craig Silverstein grew a decade with Google |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |publisher=Hearst Communications, Inc. |date=September 7, 2008 |accessdate=October 12, 2010}}</ref>

In May 2011, unique visitors of Google surpassed 1 billion mark for the first time, an 8.4 percent increased from a year ago with 931 million unique visitors.<ref>http://itsalltech.com/2011/06/22/googles-new-record-1-billion-visitors-in-may/</ref>

===Financing and initial public offering===
[[File:Google’s First Production Server.jpg|thumb|The first iteration of Google production servers was built with inexpensive hardware<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/accession/102662167 |title=Google Server Assembly |publisher=Computer History Museum |accessdate=July 4, 2010}}</ref>|alt=Google's first servers, showing lots of exposed wiring and circuit boards]]

The first funding for Google was an August 1998 contribution of {{US$|100,000}} from [[Andy Bechtolsheim]], co-founder of [[Sun Microsystems]], given before Google was even incorporated.<ref name="Bechtolsheim">{{Cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/04/29/MNGLD6CFND34.DTL|title=For early Googlers, key word is $$$|last=Kopytoff|first=Verne|date=April 29, 2004|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|publisher=Hearst Communications|accessdate=February 19, 2010|location=San Francisco}}</ref> Early in 1999, while still graduate students, Brin and Page decided that the search engine they had developed was taking up too much of their time from academic pursuits. They went to [[Excite]] CEO George Bell and offered to sell it to him for $1&nbsp;million. He rejected the offer, and later criticized [[Vinod Khosla]], one of Excite's venture capitalists, after he had negotiated Brin and Page down to $750,000. On June 7, 1999, a $25&nbsp;million round of funding was announced,<ref>{{Cite press release|url=http://google.com/pressrel/pressrelease1.html|archiveurl=http://www.google.com/press/pressrel/pressrelease1.html |archivedate=March 9, 2000 |title=Google Receives $25&nbsp;Million in Equity Funding |date=June 7, 1999 |location=Palo Alto, Calif. |publisher=Google |accessdate=February 16, 2009}}</ref> with major investors including the [[venture capital]] firms [[Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers]] and [[Sequoia Capital]].<ref name="Bechtolsheim"/>

Google's [[initial public offering]] (IPO) took place five years later on August 19, 2004. The company offered 19,605,052 shares at a price of $85 per share.<ref name="IPO">{{Cite news|url=http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2004/tc20040819_6843_tc120.htm|title=Google: Whiz Kids or Naughty Boys?|last=Elgin|first=Ben|date=August 19, 2004|newspaper=BusinessWeek|publisher=Bloomberg, L.P.|accessdate=February 19, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://investor.google.com/pdf/2004_AnnualReport.pdf|title=2004 Annual Report|year=2004|publisher=Google, Inc.|page=29|accessdate=February 19, 2010|location=Mountain View, California}}</ref> Shares were sold in a unique online auction format using a system built by [[Morgan Stanley]] and [[Credit Suisse]], underwriters for the deal.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://money.cnn.com/2004/04/29/technology/google/|title=Google sets $2.7&nbsp;billion IPO |last=La Monica|first=Paul R.|date=April 30, 2004|publisher=CNN Money|accessdate=February 19, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zdnet.com/news/want-in-on-googles-ipo/135799|title=Want In on Google's IPO?|last=Kawamoto|first=Dawn|date=April 29, 2004|work=ZDNet|publisher=CBS Interactive|accessdate=February 19, 2010}}</ref> The sale of $1.67&nbsp;billion gave Google a [[market capitalization]] of more than $23&nbsp;billion.<ref name="washpost">{{Cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14939-2004Aug19.html|title=Google's IPO: Grate Expectations|last=Webb|first=Cynthia L.|newspaper=Washington Post|publisher=The Washington Post Company|accessdate=February 19, 2010|location=Washington, D.C. | date=August 19, 2004}}</ref> The vast majority of the 271&nbsp;million shares remained under the control of Google, and many Google employees became instant paper millionaires. [[Yahoo!]], a competitor of Google, also benefited because it owned 8.4&nbsp;million shares of Google before the IPO took place.<ref name="yahooshares">{{Cite news|url=http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3392781|title=Yahoo and Google Settle|last=Kuchinskas|first=Susan|date=August 9, 2004|work=internet.com|publisher=QuinStreet, Inc.|accessdate=February 19, 2010}}</ref>

Some people speculated that Google's IPO would inevitably lead to changes in company culture. Reasons ranged from shareholder pressure for employee benefit reductions to the fact that many company executives would become instant paper millionaires.<ref>{{Cite news |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2004/04/63241 |title=Quirky Google Culture Endangered? |newspaper=Wired Magazine |date=April 28, 2004 |accessdate=November 27, 2010}}</ref> As a reply to this concern, co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page promised in a report to potential investors that the IPO would not change the company's culture.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Olsen |first1=Stefanie |last2=Kawamoto |first2=Dawn |url=http://news.cnet.com/2100-1024-5201978.html |title=Google IPO at $2.7&nbsp;billion |work=CNET News |publisher=CBS Interactive |date=April 30, 2004 |accessdate=November 27, 2010}}</ref> In 2005, however, articles in ''[[The New York Times]]'' and other sources began suggesting that Google had lost its anti-corporate, no evil philosophy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rivlin |first=Gary |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/technology/24valley.html |title=Relax, Bill Gates; It's Google's Turn as the Villain |newspaper=New York Times |date=August 24, 2005 |accessdate=November 27, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Gibson |first1=Owen |last2=Wray |first2=Richard |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/search-giant-may-outgrow-its-fans/2005/08/25/1124562975596.html3001.asp |title=Search giant may outgrow its fans |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=August 25, 2005 |accessdate=November 27, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Ranka |first=Mohit |url=http://www.osnews.com/story/17928/Google--Dont-Be-Evil |title=Google&nbsp;– Don't Be Evil |publisher=OSNews |date=May 17, 2007 |accessdate=November 27, 2010}}</ref> In an effort to maintain the company's unique culture, Google designated a Chief Culture Officer, who also serves as the Director of Human Resources. The purpose of the Chief Culture Officer is to develop and maintain the culture and work on ways to keep true to the core values that the company was founded on: a flat organization with a collaborative environment.<ref name="CCO">{{cite web |last=Mills |first=Elinor |url=http://www.zdnet.com.au/meet-google-s-culture-czar-339275147.htm |title=Google's culture czar |publisher=ZDNet |date=April 30, 2007 |accessdate=November 27, 2010}}</ref> Google has also faced allegations of [[sexism]] and [[ageism]] from former employees.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kawamoto |first=Dawn |url=http://news.cnet.com/Google-hit-with-job-discrimination-lawsuit/2100-1030_3-5807158.html?tag=nl |title=Google hit with job discrimination lawsuit |publisher=CNET News |date=July 27, 2005 |accessdate=November 27, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071006/google_old_071006/20071006 |title=Google accused of ageism in reinstated lawsuit |newspaper=CTV News |publisher=CTV Television Network |date=October 6, 2007 |accessdate=November 27, 2010}}</ref>

The stock's performance after the IPO went well, with shares hitting $700 for the first time on October 31, 2007,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/business/hancock/blog/2007/10/google_shares_hit_700.html |title=Google shares hit $700 |date=October 31, 2007 |last=Hancock |first=Jay |publisher=The Baltimore Sun |accessdate=November 27, 2010}}</ref> primarily because of strong sales and earnings in the online advertising market.<ref name="bowlingforgoogle">{{Cite news |last=La Monica |first=Paul R. |url=http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/25/technology/techinvestor/lamonica/index.htm |title=Bowling for Google |publisher=CNN |date=May 25, 2005 |accessdate=February 28, 2007}}</ref> The surge in stock price was fueled mainly by individual investors, as opposed to large institutional investors and [[mutual fund]]s.<ref name="bowlingforgoogle" /> The company is now listed on the [[NASDAQ]] stock exchange under the [[ticker symbol]] GOOG and under the [[Frankfurt Stock Exchange]] under the ticker symbol GGQ1.

===Growth===
In March 1999, the company moved its offices to [[Palo Alto, California]], home to several other noted [[Silicon Valley]] technology startups.<ref name="165univave">{{Cite news|url=http://news.cnet.com/2100-1040-960790.html|title=A building blessed with tech success|last=Fried|first=Ian|date=October 4, 2002|newspaper=CNET News|publisher=CNET|accessdate=February 15, 2010}}</ref> The next year, against Page and Brin's initial opposition toward an advertising-funded search engine,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stross|first=Randall|title=Planet Google: One Company's Audacious Plan to Organize Everything We Know|publisher=Free Press|location=New York|date=September 2008|pages=3–4|chapter=Introduction|isbn=978-1-4165-4691-7|url=http://books.google.com/?id=xOk3EIUW9VgC&printsec=frontcover|accessdate=February 14, 2010|chapterurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=xOk3EIUW9VgC&printsec=frontcover}}</ref> Google began selling advertisements associated with search keywords.<ref name="milestones" /> In order to maintain an uncluttered page design and increase speed, advertisements were solely text-based. Keywords were sold based on a combination of price bids and click-throughs, with bidding starting at five cents per click.<ref name="milestones" /> This model of selling keyword advertising was first pioneered by Goto.com, an [[Idealab]] spin-off created by [[Bill Gross]].<ref name="goto strong">{{Cite news|url=http://searchenginewatch.com/2166331|title=GoTo Going Strong|last=Sullivan|first=Danny|date=July 1, 1998|newspaper=SearchEngineWatch.com|publisher=Incisive Interactive Marketing|accessdate=February 18, 2010}}</ref><ref name="cnet p4p">{{Cite news|url=http://news.cnet.com/Pay-for-placement-gets-another-shot/2100-1023_3-208309.html|title=Pay-for-placement gets another shot|last=Pelline|first=Jeff|date=February 19, 1998|newspaper=CNET News|publisher=CNET|accessdate=February 18, 2010}}</ref> When the company changed names to Overture Services, it sued Google over alleged infringements of the company's pay-per-click and bidding patents. Overture Services would later be bought by Yahoo! and renamed [[Yahoo! Search Marketing]]. The case was then settled out of court, with Google agreeing to issue shares of common stock to Yahoo! in exchange for a perpetual license.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.cnet.com/Google,-Yahoo-bury-the-legal-hatchet/2100-1024_3-5302421.html|title=Google, Yahoo bury the legal hatchet|last=Olsen|first=Stephanie|date=August 9, 2004|newspaper=CNET News|publisher=CNET|accessdate=February 18, 2010}}</ref>

During this time, Google was granted a patent describing its PageRank mechanism.<ref name="patent">{{Ref patent |country=US |number=6285999 |status=patent |title=Method for node ranking in a linked database |gdate=September 4, 2001 |fdate=January 9, 1998 |invent1=Page, Lawrence |assign1=The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University |class=G06F17/30}}</ref> The patent was officially assigned to Stanford University and lists Lawrence Page as the inventor. In 2003, after outgrowing two other locations, the company leased its current office complex from [[Silicon Graphics]] at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in [[Mountain View, California]].<ref name="sgibldg">{{Cite news|url=http://news.cnet.com/Googles-movin-on-up/2110-1032_3-1025111.html|title=Google's movin' on up|last=Olsen|first=Stephanie|date=July 11, 2003|newspaper=CNET News|publisher=CNET|accessdate=February 15, 2010}}</ref> The complex has since come to be known as the [[Googleplex]], a play on the word [[googolplex]], the number one followed by a googol zeroes. Three years later, Google would buy the property from SGI for $319&nbsp;million.<ref name="googleplexpurchase">{{Cite news|url=http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2006/06/19/newscolumn3.html|title=Google to buy headquarters building from Silicon Graphics|date=June 16, 2006|newspaper=Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal|publisher=American City Business Journals|accessdate=February 15, 2010|location=San Jose}}</ref> By that time, the name "Google" had found its way into everyday language, causing the verb "[[google (verb)|google]]" to be added to the [[Merriam-Webster|Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary]] and the [[Oxford English Dictionary]], denoted as "to use the Google search engine to obtain information on the Internet."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/do-you-google.html|title=Do You "Google"?|last=Krantz|first=Michael|date=October 25, 2006|publisher=Google, Inc.|accessdate=February 17, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13720643/|title=To Google or Not to Google|last=Bylund|first=Anders|date=July 5, 2006|publisher=MSNBC|accessdate=February 17, 2010|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060707062623/http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13720643/|archivedate=July 7, 2006}}</ref>

===Acquisitions and partnerships===
{{See also|List of acquisitions by Google}}
Since 2001, Google has acquired many companies, mainly focusing on small venture capital companies. In 2004, Google acquired [[Keyhole, Inc]].<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Google Acquires Keyhole Corp |publisher=Google, Inc. |date=October 27, 2004 |url=http://www.google.com/press/pressrel/keyhole.html |accessdate=November 27, 2010}}</ref> The start-up company developed a product called Earth Viewer that gave a [[3D computer graphics|3-D]] view of the Earth. Google renamed the service to [[Google Earth]] in 2005. Two years later, Google bought the online video site YouTube for $1.65&nbsp;billion in stock.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/09/technology/googleyoutube_deal/index.htm?cnn=yes|title=Google to buy YouTube for $1.65&nbsp;billion|last=La Monica|first=Paul R.|date=October 9, 2006|publisher=CNN Money|accessdate=February 26, 2010}}</ref> On April 13, 2007, Google reached an agreement to acquire [[DoubleClick]] for $3.1&nbsp;billion, giving Google valuable relationships that DoubleClick had with Web publishers and advertising agencies.<ref name="DoubleClicknyt">{{Cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/14/technology/14DoubleClick.html?_r=1&ref=technology|title=Google Buys DoubleClick for $3.1&nbsp;Billion|last=Story|first=Louise|last2=Helft|first2=Miguel|date=April 17, 2007|newspaper=The New York Times|publisher=The New York Times Company|accessdate=February 26, 2010|location=New York}}</ref> Later that same year, Google purchased [[GrandCentral]] for $50&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/all-aboard.html|title=All aboard|last=Chan|first=Wesley|date=July 2, 2007|work=Official Google Blog|publisher=Google, Inc.|accessdate=February 26, 2010}}</ref> The site would later be changed over to [[Google Voice]]. On August 5, 2009, Google bought out its first public company, purchasing video software maker On2 Technologies for $106.5&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/ir_20090805.html|title=Google to Acquire On2 Technologies|publisher=Google Press release|date=August 5, 2009|accessdate=July 5, 2010}}</ref> Google also acquired [[Aardvark (search engine)|Aardvark]], a social network search engine, for $50&nbsp;million, and commented on their internal blog, "we're looking forward to collaborating to see where we can take it".<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=February 12, 2010 |url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/google-acquires-aardvark.html |title=Google Acquires Aardvark |work=Official Google Blog |publisher=Google |quote=we're excited to announce that we've acquired Aardvark, a unique technology company.}}</ref> In April 2010, Google announced it had acquired a hardware startup, Agnilux.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/google-buys-stealthy-start-up-agnilux-2010-04-21 |title=Google buys stealthy start-up Agnilux |date=April 21, 2010 |last=Letzing |first=John |publisher=MarketWatch |accessdate=November 27, 2010}}</ref>

In addition to the numerous companies Google has purchased, the company has partnered with other organizations for everything from research to advertising. In 2005, Google partnered with [[NASA]] [[Ames Research Center]] to build {{convert|1000000|sqft|m2|-3}} of offices.<ref name="nasaames">{{cite web|url=http://news.cnet.com/Can-Google-beat-the-new-office-curse/2100-1030_3-5884957.html|title=Can Google beat the new-office curse?|last=Mills|first=Elinor|date=September 29, 2005|work=CNET News|publisher=CBS Interactive|accessdate=February 26, 2010}}</ref> The offices would be used for research projects involving large-scale data management, [[nanotechnology]], [[distributed computing]], and the entrepreneurial space industry. Later that year, Google entered into a partnership with [[Sun Microsystems]] in October 2005 to help share and distribute each other's technologies.<ref name="googlesun">{{Cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-10-03-google-sun-team_x.htm|title=Google, Sun make 'big deal' together|last=Kessler|first=Michelle|last2=Acohido|first2=Byron|date=October 3, 2005|newspaper=USA Today|publisher=Gannett Co. Inc.|accessdate=February 26, 2010}}</ref> The company also partnered with [[AOL]] of [[Time Warner]],<ref name="googleaol">{{cite web|url=http://news.cnet.com/What-the-Google-AOL-deal-means-for-users/2100-1024_3-6010327.html|title=What the Google-AOL deal means for users|last=Mills|first=Elinor|date=December 28, 2005|work=CNET News|publisher=CBS Interactive|accessdate=February 26, 2010}}</ref> to enhance each other's video search services. Google's 2005 partnerships also included financing the new [[.mobi]] [[top-level domain]] for mobile devices, along with other companies including [[Microsoft]], [[Nokia]], and [[Ericsson]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://finance.yahoo.com/news/DotMobi-Sells-Mobi-DomainName-paidcontent-2969792871.html?x=0&.v=1|title=DotMobi Sells .Mobi Domain-Name Operator|last=Lunden|first=Ingrid|date=February 12, 2010|publisher=Yahoo!|accessdate=February 26, 2010}}</ref> Google would later launch "Adsense for Mobile", taking advantage of the emerging mobile advertising market.<ref name="adsense_mobile">{{cite web|url=http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/annc/20070917_mobileads.html|title=Google AdSense for Mobile unlocks the potential of the mobile advertising market|date=September 17, 2007|publisher=Google, Inc.|accessdate=February 26, 2010}}</ref> Increasing their advertising reach even further, Google and Fox Interactive Media of [[News Corporation]] entered into a $900&nbsp;million agreement to provide search and advertising on popular social networking site MySpace.<ref name="googlemyspace">{{Cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2006_August_7/ai_n16610613/|title=Fox Interactive Media Enters into Landmark Agreement with Google Inc.; Multi-Year Pact Calls for Google to Provide Search and Advertising across Fox Interactive Media's Growing Online Network Including the MySpace Community|date=August 7, 2006|work=B Net|publisher=CBS Interactive|accessdate=February 26, 2010}}</ref>

In October 2006, Google announced that it had acquired the video-sharing site YouTube for US$1.65&nbsp;billion in Google stock, and the deal was finalized on November 13, 2006.<ref>{{Cite news | title = Google closes $A2b YouTube deal|author=[[Reuters]]|work=The Age |location=Australia| url = http://www.theage.com.au/news/Busness/Google-closes-A2b-YouTube-deal/2006/11/14/1163266548827.html|accessdate= November 29, 2008|accessdate= July 5, 2010 | location=Melbourne | date=November 14, 2006}}</ref> Google does not provide detailed figures for YouTube's running costs, and YouTube's revenues in 2007 were noted as "[[materiality (auditing)|not material]]" in a regulatory filing.<ref name=Moneyclip>{{Cite news|first=Yi-Wyn|last=Yen|date=March 25, 2008|url=http://techland.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/03/25/youtube-looks-for-the-money-clip|title=YouTube Looks For the Money Clip|accessdate=March 26, 2008|accessdate=July 5, 2010}}</ref> In June 2008, a ''[[Forbes]]'' magazine article projected the 2008 YouTube revenue at US$200&nbsp;million, noting progress in advertising sales.<ref name="Forbes08">{{Cite news|first=Quentin|last=Hardy|coauthors=Evan Hessel|url=http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/0616/050.html|title=GooTube|work=Forbes|date=May 22, 2008|work=Forbes Magazine |accessdate=August 3, 2009|accessdate=July 5, 2010}}</ref> In 2007, Google began sponsoring [[NORAD Tracks Santa]], a service that pretends to follow Santa Claus' progress on Christmas Eve,<ref name="Tracking Santa: NORAD & Google Team Up For Christmas, Dec 1, 2007, Danny Sullivan">{{cite web |url=http://searchengineland.com/tracking-santa-norad-google-team-up-for-christmas-12817 |title=Tracking Santa: NORAD & Google Team Up For Christmas, Dec&nbsp;1, 2007, Danny Sullivan |accessdate=July 5, 2010 |publisher=Search Engine Land }}</ref> using Google Earth to "track Santa" in 3-D for the first time,<ref name="Behind the scenes: NORAD's Santa tracker for Thur, Dec 21, 2009 By Daniel Terdiman, CNET">{{cite web |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10418101-52.html |title=Behind the scenes: NORAD's Santa tracker for Thur, Dec&nbsp;21, 2009 By Daniel Terdiman, CNET |accessdate=December 31, 2009 |publisher=CNET }}</ref> and displacing former sponsor [[AOL]]. Google-owned YouTube gave NORAD Tracks Santa its own channel.<ref name="Instructions On Tracking Santa With NORAD & Google: The 2007 Edition, Dec 24, 2007, Danny Sullivan">{{cite web |url=http://searchengineland.com/instructions-on-tracking-santa-with-norad-google-the-2007-edition-13001 |title=Instructions On Tracking Santa With NORAD & Google: The 2007 Edition, Dec&nbsp;24, 2007, Danny Sullivan |accessdate=July 5, 2010 |publisher=Search Engine Land }}</ref>

In 2008, Google developed a partnership with [[GeoEye]] to launch a satellite providing Google with high-resolution (0.41 m monochrome, 1.65 m color) imagery for Google Earth. The satellite was launched from [[Vandenberg Air Force Base]] on September 6, 2008.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/09/06/us-geoeye-idUSN0633403420080906|title=GeoEye launches high-resolution satellite|last=Shalal-Esa|first=Andrea|date=September 6, 2008|publisher=Reuters|accessdate=February 26, 2010|location=Washington}}</ref> Google also announced in 2008 that it was hosting an archive of [[Life Magazine]]'s photographs as part of its latest partnership. Some of the images in the archive were never published in the magazine.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Google gives online life to Life mag's photos |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27802744/ |quote=Google Inc. has opened an online photo gallery that will include millions of images from ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine's archives that have never been seen by the public before. |agency=Associated Press |date=November 20, 2008 |accessdate=February 25, 2010 |location=Mountain View, California}}</ref> The photos were [[watermark]]ed and originally had copyright notices posted on all photos, regardless of [[public domain]] status.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://searchengineland.com/google-to-host-10-million-time-life-unpublished-images-15513 |title=Google Hosting Time-Life Photo Archive, 10&nbsp;Million Unpublished Images Now Live |publisher=[[Search Engine Land]] |author=Greg Stirling |date=November 18, 2008 |accessdate=July 5, 2010}}</ref>

In 2010, [[Google Energy]] made its first investment in a renewable-energy project, putting up $38.8&nbsp;million into two wind farms in North Dakota. The company announced the two locations will generate 169.5 megawatts of power, or enough to supply 55,000 homes. The farms, which were developed by NextEra Energy Resources, will reduce fossil fuel use in the region and return profits. NextEra Energy Resources sold Google a twenty percent stake in the project in order to get funding for project development.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Google Invests in Two Wind Farms |first1=Scott |last1=Morrison |first2=Cassandra |last2=Sweet |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |date=May 4, 2010 |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704342604575222420304732394.html |accessdate=November 27, 2010}}</ref> Also in 2010, Google purchased Global IP Solutions, a Norway based company that provides web-based teleconferencing and other related services. This acquisition will enable Google to add telephone-style services to its list of products.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Gomes |first1=Lee |date=May 18, 2010 |title=Google's Latest Telephony Play |work=Forbes |publisher=Forbes, Inc. |url=http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/18/google-microsoft-videoconferencing-technology-telephony.html |accessdate=November 27, 2010}}</ref> On May 27, 2010, Google announced it had also closed the acquisition of the mobile ad network, AdMob. This purchase occurred days after the [[Federal Trade Commission]] closed its investigation into the purchase.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.appscout.com/2010/05/google_closes_acquisition_of_a.php |title=Google Closes Acquisition of AdMob |last1=Albanesius |first1=Chloe |date=May 27, 2010 |work=AppScout |publisher=Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. |accessdate=June 16, 2010}}</ref> Google acquired the company for an undisclosed amount.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2355609,00.asp |title=Google Acquires Mobile Display Ad Firm AdMob |last1=Albanesius |first1=Chloe |date=November 9, 2010 |work=PC Magazine |publisher=Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. |accessdate=June 16, 2010}}</ref> In July 2010, Google signed an agreement with an Iowa wind farm to buy 114 megawatts of energy for 20 years.<ref name="wind energy">{{cite web|url=http://news.techworld.com/green-it/3232690/google-buys-power-from-iowa-wind-farm/?olo=rss |title=Google buys power from Iowa wind farm|publisher=News.techworld.com |date=July 21, 2010 |accessdate=October 26, 2010}}</ref>

On April 4, 2011 [[The Globe and Mail]] reported that Google bid $900-million for six thousand [[Nortel Networks]] patents.<ref>{{cite news|author=Canada |url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/google-bids-900-million-for-nortel-patents/article1969788/ |title=Bid for Nortel patents marks Google's new push into mobile world |publisher=The Globe and Mail |date= |accessdate=2011-04-25}}</ref>

==Products and services==
{{See also|List of Google products}}

===Advertising===
Ninety-nine percent of Google's revenue is derived from its advertising programs.<ref>Google Annual Report, Feb. 15, 2008</ref> For the 2006 fiscal year, the company reported $10.492&nbsp;billion in total advertising revenues and only $112&nbsp;million in licensing and other revenues.<ref name="10-K">{{cite web|url=http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288776/000119312507044494/d10k.htm|title=Form 10-K&nbsp;– Annual Report|accessdate=July 5, 2010|publisher=SEC|work=EDGAR}}</ref> Google has implemented various innovations in the online advertising market that helped make them one of the biggest brokers in the market. Using technology from the company [[DoubleClick]], Google can determine user interests and target advertisements so they are relevant to their context and the user that is viewing them.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Nakashima, Ellen |title=Some Web Firms Say They Track Behavior Without Explicit Consent |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/11/AR2008081102270_pf.html |date=August 12, 2008 |publisher=The Washington Post Company |work=The Washington Post|accessdate=September 1, 2008 |accessdate=July 5, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |author=Helft, Miguel|title=Google to Offer Ads Based on Interests |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/technology/internet/11google.html |work=The New York Times |date=March 11, 2009 |accessdate=March 10, 2009 |accessdate=July 5, 2010}}</ref> [[Google Analytics]] allows website owners to track where and how people use their website, for example by examining click rates for all the links on a page.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Bright, Peter |title=Surfing on the sly with IE8's new "InPrivate" Internet |url=http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2008/08/surfing-on-the-sly-ie8s-inprivate-internet.ars |date=August 27, 2008 |publisher=Ars Technica |accessdate=September 1, 2008}}</ref> Google advertisements can be placed on third-party websites in a two-part program. Google's [[AdWords]] allows advertisers to display their advertisements in the Google content network, through either a cost-per-click or cost-per-view scheme. The sister service, Google [[AdSense]], allows website owners to display these advertisements on their website, and earn money every time ads are clicked.<ref name="AdSense">{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/adsense/login/en_US/?sourceid=aso&subid=uk-en-ha&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=adsense&gsessionid=O---pJlnnf2wFZF8qu81Lg |title=AdSense |accessdate=October 11, 2009}}</ref>

One of the disadvantages and criticisms of this program is Google's inability to combat [[click fraud]], when a person or automated script "clicks" on advertisements without being interested in the product, which causes that advertiser to pay money to Google unduly. Industry reports in 2006 claim that approximately 14 to 20 percent of clicks were in fact fraudulent or invalid.<ref>Mills, Elinor. "[http://news.cnet.com/Google-to-offer-advertisers-click-fraud-stats/2100-1024_3-6098469.html Google to offer advertisers click fraud stats]." ''[http://www.cnet.com/ c net].'' July 25, 2006. Retrieved July 29, 2006.</ref> Furthermore, there has been controversy over Google's "search within a search", where a secondary search box enables the user to find what they are looking for within a particular website. It was soon reported that when performing a search within a search for a specific company, advertisements from competing and rival companies often showed up along with those results, drawing users away from the site they were originally searching.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.searchengineoptimizationjournal.com/2008/03/24/why-companies-are-upset-about-googles-search-within-search/ |title=Why Companies Are Upset With Google's Search-Within-Search |author=Stamoulis, Nick |publisher=Search Engine Optimization Journal |date=March 24, 2008}}</ref> Another complaint against Google's advertising is their censorship of advertisers, though many cases concern compliance with the [[Digital Millennium Copyright Act]]. For example, in February 2003, Google stopped showing the advertisements of [[Oceana (non-profit group)|Oceana]], a non-profit organization protesting a major cruise ship's sewage treatment practices. Google cited its editorial policy at the time, stating "Google does not accept advertising if the ad or site advocates against other individuals, groups, or organizations."<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2004/05/17/google-somewhat-lifts-oceana-ad-ban|title= Google Somewhat Lifts Oceana Ad Ban|date= |publisher=[http://www.webpronews.com/ webpronews.com]}}</ref> The policy was later changed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/adsense/static/en_US/Terms.html|title= Google AdSenseTM Online Standard Terms and Conditions |accessdate= |publisher=Google AdSense}}</ref> In June 2008, Google reached an advertising agreement with Yahoo!, which would have allowed Yahoo! to feature Google advertisements on their web pages. The alliance between the two companies was never completely realized due to [[antitrust]] concerns by the [[U.S. Department of Justice]]. As a result, Google pulled out of the deal in November 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/10/31/yahoo-and-google-may-dump-their-deal/print/ |title=Yahoo and Google may dump their deal|last= Mclntyre|first=Douglas |publisher=Bloggingstocks.com |date=October 31, 2008 |accessdate=October 26, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/ending-our-agreement-with-yahoo.html |title=Ending our agreement with Yahoo!|last= Drummond|first=David|date= November 5, 2008 |work=The Official Google Blog. Googleblog.blogspot.com |accessdate=October 26, 2010}}</ref>

In an attempt to advertise its own products, Google launched a website called [http://www.demoslam.com/ Demo Slam], developed to demonstrate [[Tech demo|technology demos]] of [[List of Google products|Google Products]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.demoslam.com/#/what |title=Google Demo Slam |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=November 18, 2010}}</ref> Each week, two teams compete at putting Google's technology into new contexts. Search Engine Journal said Demo Slam is "a place where creative and tech-savvy people can create videos to help the rest of the world understand all the newest and greatest technology out there."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-launches-demo-slam/25138/|title=Google Launches Demo Slam! |publisher=searchenginejournal |accessdate=November 13, 2010}}</ref>

===Search engine===
[[Image:Google web search.png|thumb|left|In 2011, Google updated its homepage with a new brighter logo and a black navigation bar.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/google-design-turned-up-notch.html |title=The Google Design, turned up a notch |last=Wiley |first=Jon |work=Official Google Blog |date=May 6, 2010 |accessdate=July 5, 2010 |publisher=Google, Inc.}}</ref>|alt=Google's homepage in 2010]]
[[Google Search]], a web search engine, is the company's most popular service. According to market research published by [[comScore]] in November 2009, Google is the dominant search engine in the United States market, with a [[market share]] of 65.6%.<ref name="comscore">{{Cite news|date=December 16, 2006| title=comScore Releases November 2009 U.S. Search Engine Rankings|publisher=|url=http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2009/12/comScore_Releases_November_2009_U.S._Search_Engine_Rankings|accessdate=July 5, 2010}}</ref> Google indexes billions<ref>{{cite web|author=Michael Arrington |url=http://techcrunch.com/2008/07/25/googles-misleading-blog-post-on-the-size-of-the-web/ |title=Google's Misleading Blog Post: The Size Of The Web And The Size Of Their Index Are Very Different |publisher=Techcrunch.com |date=July 25, 2008 |accessdate=December 31, 2010}}</ref> of web pages, so that users can search for the information they desire, through the use of keywords and operators. Despite its popularity, it has received criticism from a number of organizations. In 2003, ''[[The New York Times]]'' complained about Google's indexing, claiming that Google's [[cache|caching]] of content on their site infringed on their copyright for the content.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.cnet.com/2100-1038_3-1024234.html |title=Google cache raises copyright concerns |last1=Olsen |first1=Stefanie |date=July 9, 2003 |work=CNET News |publisher=CBS Interactive |accessdate=June 13, 2010}}</ref> In this case, the United States District Court of Nevada ruled in favor of Google in ''[[Field v. Google]]'' and ''Parker v. Google''.<ref>{{Cite court |litigants=Field v. Google |opinion=CV-S-04-0413-RCJ-LRL |court=Nevada [[United States district court|District Court]] |date=January 19, 2006 |url=http://www.eff.org/IP/blake_v_google/google_nevada_order.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite court |litigants=Parker v. Google |opinion=04-CV-3918 |court=[[United States District Court|Eastern Pennsylvania District Court]] |date=March 10, 2006 |url=http://www.paed.uscourts.gov/documents/opinions/06D0306P.pdf |quote=}}</ref> Furthermore, the publication [[2600: The Hacker Quarterly]] has compiled a list of words that the web giant's new [[Google Instant|instant search feature]] will not search.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/29/google-instant-censorship_n_743203.html |title=Google Instant Censorship: The Strangest Terms Blacklisted By Google |publisher=The Huffington Post |date= |accessdate=October 26, 2010}}</ref> Google Watch has also criticized Google's PageRank algorithms, saying that they discriminate against new websites and favor established sites,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.alternet.org/rights/14001/ |title=Conspiracy Researcher Says Google's No Good |author=Farhad Manjoo |date=August 30, 2002 |publisher=AlterNet |accessdate=December 12, 2009}}</ref> and has made allegations about connections between Google and the [[National Security Agency|NSA]] and the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]].<ref name=sptimes>{{Cite news|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2003/04/14/Technology/Despite_popularly__Go.shtml|title=Despite popularly, Google under fire for privacy issues|newspaper=[[St. Petersburg Times]]|author=Dave Gussow|date=April 14, 2003|accessdate=October 11, 2008}}</ref> Despite criticism, the basic search engine has spread to specific services as well, including an image search engine, the Google News search site, Google Maps, and more. In early 2006, the company launched Google Video, which allowed users to upload, search, and watch videos from the Internet.<ref name="video2006">Tyler, Nathan. "[http://www.google.com/press/pressrel/video_marketplace.html Google to Launch Video Marketplace]." ''Google.'' January 6, 2006. Retrieved February 23, 2007.</ref> In 2009, however, uploads to Google Video were discontinued so that Google could focus more on the search aspect of the service.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cohen |first=Michael |url=http://googlevideo.blogspot.com/2009/01/turning-down-uploads-at-google-video.html |title=Official Google Video Blog: Turning Down Uploads at Google Video |publisher=Googlevideo.blogspot.com |date=January 14, 2009 |accessdate=January 2, 2010}}</ref> The company even developed [[Google Desktop]], a desktop search application used to search for files local to one's computer. Google's most recent development in search is their partnership with the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]] to create Google Patents, which enables free access to information about patents and trademarks.

One of the more controversial search services Google hosts is [[Google Books]]. The company began scanning books and uploading limited previews, and full books where allowed, into their new book search engine. The [[Authors Guild]], a group that represents 8,000 U.S. authors, filed a class action suit in a New York City federal court against Google in 2005 over this new service. Google replied that it is in compliance with all existing and historical applications of copyright laws regarding books.<ref>{{cite web |first=China |last=Martin |url=http://www.infoworld.com/t/platforms/google-hit-second-lawsuit-over-library-project-722 |title=Google hit with second lawsuit over Library project |publisher=[[InfoWorld]] |date=November 26, 2007}}</ref> Google eventually reached a revised settlement in 2009 to limit its scans to books from the U.S., the UK, Australia and Canada.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Pettersson, Edvard|title=Google Wins Preliminary Approval of Online Books Settlement|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ahUxORgasDFs|publisher=Bloomberg|date=November 20, 2009|accessdate=December 18, 2009}}</ref> Furthermore, the Paris Civil Court ruled against Google in late 2009, asking them to remove the works of La Martinière ([[Éditions du Seuil]]) from their database.<ref name=Smith>{{Cite news|author=Smith, Heather|title=Google’s French Book Scanning Project Halted by Court |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=apZ3UG9CPLo8|publisher=Bloomberg|date=December 18, 2009|accessdate=December 18, 2009}}</ref> In competition with [[Amazon.com]], Google plans to sell digital versions of new books.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Rich, Motoko| title=Preparing to Sell E-Books, Google Takes on Amazon |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/technology/internet/01google.html|date=May 31, 2009|work=The New York Times |accessdate=December 18, 2009 }}</ref> Similarly, in response to newcomer [[Bing (search engine)|Bing]], on July 21, 2010, Google updated their image search to display a streaming sequence of [[thumbnails]] that enlarge when pointed at. Though web searches still appear in a batch per page format, on July 23, 2010, dictionary definitions for certain English words began appearing above the linked results for web searches.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/this-week-in-search-72510.html |title=This Week in Search 7/25/10 |last1=Mayer |first1=Marissa |work=Official Google Blog |publisher=Google, Inc. |date=July 25, 2010 |accessdate=July 28, 2010}}</ref> Google's algorithm was changed in March 2011, giving more weight to high-quality content<ref>{{cite web |url=http://linksku.com/link?u=7910|title=Google's Code Shift |date=March 10, 2011 |accessdate=March 10, 2011}}{{dead link|date=April 2011}}</ref> possibly by the use of n-grams to remove spun content.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://scott-herbert.com/blog/2011/04/14/how-panderfarmer-may-be-finding-spun-and-plagiarised-content/|title=How Pander/Farmer may be finding spun and plagiarised content. |date=April 14, 2011 |accessdate=April 15, 2011}}</ref>

===Productivity tools===
In addition to its standard web search services, Google has released over the years a number of online productivity tools. Gmail<!--, known in the United Kingdom and Germany as Google Mail,-->, a free webmail service provided by Google, was launched as an invitation-only [[Beta phase|beta program]] on April 1, 2004,<ref name="GmailCashmore" /> and became available to the general public on February 7, 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/02/anyone-can-signup-for-gmail-account.html |title=More People Can Sign up for a Gmail Account |last=Chitu |first=Ionut Alex. |date=February 7, 2007 |publisher=Google Operating System Blog |accessdate=April 3, 2010}}</ref> The service was upgraded from beta status on July 7, 2009,<ref name="appsoutofbeta">{{cite web |url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/google-apps-is-out-of-beta-yes-really.html |title=Google Apps is out of beta (yes, really) |first=Matthew |last=Glotzbach |date=July 7, 2009 |work=Official Google Blog |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=April 2, 2010}}</ref> at which time it had 146&nbsp;million users monthly.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geek.com/articles/news/facebook-strikes-back-at-google-integrates-its-chat-with-aol-instant-messenger-20100211/ |title=Facebook strikes back at Google, integrates its chat with AOL Instant Messenger |first=Christian |last=Zibreg |date=February 11, 2010 |work=Geek.com |publisher=Geek.com, LLC |at=para. 5 |accessdate=April 2, 2010 |quote=While Gmail’s 146&nbsp;million monthly users are no match for Facebook’s 400+ million-strong user base, not all of them use built-in chat.}}</ref> The service would be the first online email service with one [[gigabyte]] of storage, and the first to keep emails from the same conversation together in one thread, similar to an Internet forum.<ref name="GmailCashmore">{{Cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/04/01/cashmore.gmail/ |title=Six ways Gmail revolutionized e-mail |first=Pete |last=Cashmore |date=April 1, 2010 |publisher=CNN News |publisher=Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. |location=London, England |accessdate=April 2, 2010}}</ref> The service currently offers over 7400 MB of free storage with additional storage ranging from 20 GB to 16 TB available for {{US$|0.25}} per 1 GB per year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/twice-storage-for-quarter-of-price.html |title=Twice the storage for a quarter of the price |last=Lee |first=Elvin |date=November 10, 2009 |work=Official Google Blog |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=April 3, 2010}}</ref> Furthermore, software developers know Gmail for its pioneering use of [[AJAX]], a programming technique that allows web pages to be interactive without refreshing the browser.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/happy-sixth-birthday-google-mail--680998 |title=Happy sixth birthday, Google Mail! |first=Gary |last=Marshall |date=April 1, 2010 |work=TechRadar |publisher=Future Publishing Ltd. |accessdate=April 3, 2010}}</ref> One criticism of Gmail has been the potential for data disclosure, a risk associated with many online web applications. [[Steve Ballmer]] (Microsoft's CEO),<ref>[http://www.crn.com/software/202300583 Microsoft's Ballmer: Google Reads Your Mail] ChannelWeb, October 2007</ref> [[Liz Figueroa]],<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3621169.stm Google's Gmail could be blocked] BBC News, April 2004</ref> Mark Rasch,<ref>{{cite web|last=Rasch |first=Mark |url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/15/gmail_spook_heaven/ |title=Google Gmail: Spook Heaven |publisher=The Register |date=June 15, 2004 |accessdate=October 26, 2010}}</ref> and the editors of Google Watch<ref>[http://www.google-watch.org/gmail.html Gmail is too creepy] Google-Watch</ref> believe the processing of email message content goes beyond proper use, but Google claims that mail sent to or from Gmail is never read by a human being beyond the account holder, and is only used to improve relevance of advertisements.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.google.com/privacypolicy.html |title=Google Privacy Center&nbsp;– Privacy Policy |publisher=Google |date=October 3, 2010 |accessdate=October 26, 2010}}</ref>

[[Google Docs]], another part of Google's productivity suite, allows users to create, edit, and collaborate on documents in an online environment, not dissimilar to [[Microsoft Word]]. The service was originally called Writely, but was obtained by Google on March 9, 2006, where it was released as an invitation-only preview.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/03/writely-so.html |title=Writely so |last=Mazzon |first=Jen |date=March 9, 2006 |work=Official Google Blog |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=April 3, 2010}}</ref> On June 6 after the acquisition, Google created an experimental spreadsheet editing program,<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Google Announces limited test on Google Labs: Google Spreadsheets |publisher=Google, Inc. |date=June 6, 2006 |url=http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/annc/spreadsheets.html |accessdate=April 4, 2010}}</ref> which would be combined with Google Docs on October 10.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://techcrunch.com/2006/10/10/google-docs-spreadsheets-launches/ |title=Google "Docs & Spreadsheets" Launches |last=Arrington |first=Michael |date=October 10, 2006 |publisher=TechCrunch |accessdate=April 4, 2010}}</ref> A program to edit presentations would complete the set on September 17, 2007,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13515_3-9780287-26.html |title=Google Presentations gets the green light |last=Hoffman |first=Harrison |date=September 17, 2007 |work=CNET News |publisher=CBS Interactive, Inc. |accessdate=April 4, 2010}}</ref> before all three services were taken out of beta along with Gmail, Google Calendar and all products from the Google Apps Suite on July 7, 2009.<ref name="appsoutofbeta" />

===Enterprise products===
[[Image:Google Appliance.jpg|thumb|upright|Google's search appliance at the 2008 [[RSA Conference]]|alt=Google's search appliance]]
Google entered the enterprise market in February 2002 with the launch of its [[Google Search Appliance]], targeted toward providing search technology for larger organizations.<ref name="milestones"/> Google launched the [[Google Mini|Mini]] three years later, which was targeted at smaller organizations. Late in 2006, Google began to sell Custom Search Business Edition, providing customers with an advertising-free window into Google.com's index. The service was renamed Google Site Search in 2008.<ref name="csbe2gss">{{cite web |url=http://searchengineland.com/google-rebrands-custom-search-business-edition-as-google-site-search-14123 |title=Google Rebrands Custom Search "Business Edition" As "Google Site Search" |last1=Sterling |first1=Greg |date=June 3, 2008 |work=Search Engine Land |publisher=Third Door Media |accessdate=June 16, 2010}}</ref>

Another one of Google's enterprise products is Google Apps Premier Edition. The service, and its accompanying Google Apps Education Edition and Standard Edition, allow companies, schools, and other organizations to bring Google's online applications, such as Gmail and Google Documents, into their own domain. The Premier Edition specifically includes extras over the Standard Edition such as more disk space, API access, and premium support, and it costs $50 per user per year. A large implementation of Google Apps with 38,000 users is at [[Lakehead University]] in [[Thunder Bay]], Ontario, Canada. In the same year Google Apps was launched, Google acquired [[Postini]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/weve-officially-acquired-postini.html |title=We've Officially Acquired Postini |last1=Girouard |first1=Dave |date=September 13, 2007 |work=The Official Google Blog |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=June 16, 2010}}</ref> and proceeded to integrate the company's security technologies into Google Apps<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Google Adds Postini's Security and Compliance Capabilities to Google Apps |publisher=Google, Inc. |date=October 3, 2007 |url=http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/apps_postini_20071003.html |accessdate=June 15, 2010}}</ref> under the name Google Postini Services.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/security/index.html |title=Postini |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=June 16, 2010}}</ref>

===Other products===
[[Google Translate]] is a server-side [[machine translation]] service, which can translate between 35 different languages. Browser extensions allow for easy access to Google Translate from the browser. The software uses [[corpus linguistics]] techniques, where the program "learns" from professionally translated documents, specifically UN and [[European Parliament]] proceedings.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Google’s Computing Power Refines Translation Tool |first=Miguel |last=Helft |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/technology/09translate.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 8, 2010 |at=para. 15 |accessdate=May 2, 2010}}</ref> Furthermore, a "suggest a better translation" feature accompanies the translated text, allowing users to indicate where the current translation is incorrect or otherwise inferior to another translation.

Google launched its [[Google News]] service in 2002. The site proclaimed that the company had created a "highly unusual" site that "offers a news service compiled solely by computer algorithms without human intervention. Google employs no editors, managing editors, or executive editors."<ref>{{Cite news |first=Joshua |last=Macht |title=Automatic for the People |url=http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,356152,00.html |work=Time Magazine |publisher=AOL Time Warner |date=September 30, 2002}}</ref> The site hosted less licensed news content than Yahoo! News, and instead presented topically selected links to news and opinion pieces along with reproductions of their headlines, story leads, and photographs.<ref>{{Cite news |first=Hannibal |last=Travis |title=Opting Out of the Internet in the United States and the European Union: Copyright, Safe Harbors, and International Law|url=http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1221642 |work=Notre Dame Law Review, vol. 55, p. 391 |publisher=President and Trustees of Notre Dame University in South Bend, IN | year=2008 |accessdate=June 4, 2010}}</ref> The photographs are typically reduced to thumbnail size and placed next to headlines from other news sources on the same topic in order to minimize copyright infringement claims. Nevertheless, Agence France Presse sued Google for copyright infringement in federal court in the District of Columbia, a case which Google settled for an undisclosed amount in a pact that included a license of the full text of AFP articles for use on Google News.<ref>{{Cite news |first=Hannibal |last=Travis |title=Opting Out of the Internet in the United States and the European Union: Copyright, Safe Harbors, and International Law |url=http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1221642 |work=Notre Dame Law Review, vol. 55, pp. 391–92 |publisher=President and Trustees of Notre Dame University in South Bend, IN | year=2008 |accessdate=June 4, 2010}}</ref>

In 2006, Google made a bid to offer free wireless broadband access throughout the city of [[San Francisco]] along with [[Internet service provider]] [[EarthLink]]. Large telecommunications companies such as [[Comcast]] and [[Verizon]] opposed such efforts, claiming it was "unfair competition" and that cities would be violating their commitments to offer local monopolies to these companies. In his testimony before Congress on [[network neutrality]] in 2006, Google's Chief Internet Evangelist [[Vint Cerf]] blamed such tactics on the fact that nearly half of all consumers lack meaningful choice in broadband providers.<ref>{{Cite news |first=Hannibal |last=Travis |title=Wi-Fi Everywhere: Universal Broadband Access as Antitrust and Telecommunications Policy |url=http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=903425 |work=American University Law Review, vol. 55, p. 1701 |publisher=President and Trustees of American University in Washington, DC | year=2006 |accessdate=June 4, 2010}}</ref> Google currently offers free wi-fi access in its hometown of Mountain View, California.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wifi.google.com/ |title=Google WiFi for Mountain View |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=June 16, 2010}}</ref>

One year later, reports surfaced that Google was planning the release of its own mobile phone, possibly a competitor to [[Apple Inc.|Apple]]'s [[iPhone]].<ref name="smith">{{Cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2006/dec/17/news.mobilephones |title=The future for Orange could soon be Google in your pocket |last1=Smith |first1=David |date=December 17, 2006 |work=The Guardian |publisher=Guardian News and Media Ltd. |accessdate=June 16, 2010 | location=London}}</ref><ref name="orlowski">{{cite web |url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/16/google_phone_confirmed/ |title=Google Phone&nbsp;– it's for real |last1=Orlowski |first1=Andrew |date=March 16, 2007 |work=The Register |publisher=The Register |accessdate=June 16, 2010}}</ref><ref name="ricker">{{cite web |url=http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/18/the-google-switch-an-iphone-killer/ |title=The Google Switch: an iPhone killer |last1=Ricker |first1=Thomas |date=January 18, 2007 |work=Engadget |publisher=Weblogs, Inc. |accessdate=June 16, 2010}}</ref> The project, called [[Android (operating system)|Android]], turned out not to be a phone but an [[operating system]] for mobile devices, which Google acquired and then released as an [[open source]] project under the [[Apache License|Apache 2.0 license]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://source.android.com/source/licenses.html |title=Licenses |work=Android Open Source Project |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=April 4, 2010}}</ref> Google provides a [[software development kit]] for developers so applications can be created to be run on Android-based phone. In September 2008, [[T-Mobile]] released the [[T-Mobile G1|G1]], the first Android-based phone.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.cnet.com/t-mobile-g1-details-price-and-launch-date-revealed/ |title=T-Mobile G1 details, price, and launch date revealed |last=Lee |first=Nicole |date=September 23, 2008 |work=CNET News |publisher=CBS Interactive, Inc. |accessdate=April 4, 2010}}</ref> More than a year later on January 5, 2010, Google released an Android phone under its own company name called the [[Nexus One]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://techcrunch.com/2010/01/05/nexus-one-event/ |title=The Droid You're Looking For: Live from the Nexus One Event |last=Siegler |first=MG |date=January 5, 2010 |publisher=TechCrunch |accessdate=April 4, 2010}}</ref>

Other projects Google has worked on include a new collaborative communication service, a web browser, and even a mobile operating system. The first of these was first announced on May 27, 2009. [[Google Wave]] was described as a product that helps users communicate and collaborate on the web. The service is Google's "email redesigned", with realtime editing, the ability to embed audio, video, and other media, and extensions that further enhance the communication experience. Google Wave was previously in a developer's preview, where interested users had to be invited to test the service, but was released to the general public on May 19, 2010, at Google's I/O keynote. On September 1, 2008, Google pre-announced the upcoming availability of [[Google Chrome]], an [[open-source software|open source]] [[web browser]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/fresh-take-on-browser.html |title=A fresh take on the browser |last1=Pichai |first1=Sundar |date=September 1, 2008 |work=Official Google Blog |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=June 16, 2010}}</ref> which was then released on September 2, 2008. The next year, on July 7, 2009, Google announced [[Google Chrome OS]], an open source [[Linux|Linux-based]] operating system that includes only a web browser and is designed to log users into their Google account.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html |title=Introducing the Google Chrome OS |last1=Pichai |first1=Sundar |date=July 7, 2009 |work=Official Google Blog |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=June 16, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Google sees window of opportunity to launch operating system |first1=Pham |last1=Alex |last2=Hirsch |first2=Jerry |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=July 9, 2009 |url=http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jul/09/business/fi-google9}}</ref>

In 2011, Google announced that it will unveil [[Google Wallet]], a mobile application for wireless payments.<ref>TARA SIEGEL BERNARD, The New York Times. "[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/technology/27google.html?_r=1&ref=technology Google Unveils App for Paying With Phone]." May 26, 2011. Retrieved May 30, 2011.</ref>

In 2011, Google announced they were working on a [[Social networking service|social networking service]] called [[Google+]].<ref>Parr, Ben. [http://www.mashable.com/2011/06/28/google-plus "Google Launches Google+ To Battle Facebook [PICS]"], ''Mashable.com'', June 28, 2011, accessed June 28, 2011</ref>

==Corporate affairs and culture==
[[Image:Schmidt-Brin-Page-20080520.jpg|thumb|right|Then-CEO, now Chairman of Google [[Eric Schmidt]] with [[Sergey Brin]] and [[Larry Page]] (left to right) in 2008.|alt=Eric Schmidt, Sergey Brin, and Larry Page sitting together]][[Image:Noogler.png|thumb|upright=.6|alt=Asian man in his twenties wearing a blue, green, yellow and red propellor hat that says "Noogle"|New employees are called "Nooglers," and are given a propeller beanie hat to wear at their first [[TGIF]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zorgloob.com/2004/09/23/noogler-chez-google/ |title=Noogler chez Google |language={{fr icon}}}}</ref>]]
Google is known for having an informal corporate culture. On ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'' magazine's list of best companies to work for, Google ranked first in 2007 and 2008<ref name="best_company">{{Cite journal |last1=Levering |first1=Robert |last2=Moskowitz |first2=Milton |editor1-first=Andrew |editor1-last=Serwer |editor1-link=Andrew Serwer |date=January 22, 2007 |title=In good company |journal=Fortune Magazine |volume=155 |issue=1 |publisher=Cable News Network |url=http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/01/22/8398125/index.htm |accessdate=June 19, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Levering |first1=Robert |last2=Moskowitz |first2=Milton |editor1-first=Andrew |editor1-last=Serwer |editor1-link=Andrew Serwer |date=February 4, 2008 |title=The 2008 list |journal=Fortune Magazine |volume=157 |issue=2 |publisher=Cable News Network |url=http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2008/full_list/index.html |accessdate=June 19, 2010}}</ref> and fourth in 2009 and 2010.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Levering |first1=Robert |last2=Moskowitz |first2=Milton |editor1-first=Andrew |editor1-last=Serwer |editor1-link=Andrew Serwer |date=February 2, 2009 |title=The 2009 list |journal=Fortune Magazine |volume=159 |issue=2 |publisher=Cable News Network |url=http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2009/full_list/index.html |accessdate=June 19, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Levering |first1=Robert |last2=Moskowitz |first2=Milton |editor1-first=Andrew |editor1-last=Serwer |editor1-link=Andrew Serwer |date=February 8, 2010 |title=The 2010 list |journal=Fortune Magazine |volume=161 |issue=2 |publisher=Cable News Network |url=http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2010/full_list/ |accessdate=June 19, 2010}}</ref> Google was also nominated in 2010 to be the world’s most attractive employer to graduating students in the Universum Communications talent attraction index.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.universumglobal.com/IDEAL-Employer-Rankings/Global-Top-50 |title=The World’s Most Attractive Employers 2010 |date=Sept 28, 2010 |publisher=Universum Global |accessdate=October 28, 2010}}</ref> Google's corporate philosophy embodies such casual principles as "you can make money without doing evil," "you can be serious without a suit," and "work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.google.com/corporate/tenthings.html |title=Our Philosophy |work=Corporate Information |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=June 20, 2010}}</ref>

===Employees===
Google's stock performance following its initial public offering has enabled many early employees to be competitively compensated.<ref name="shinalj">{{Cite news |title=Google IPO achieved its major goal: It's all about raising cash for the company and rewarding employees, early investors |first=John |last=Shinal |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/08/22/BUGCL8BS201.DTL |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |publisher=Hearst Communications, Inc. |date=August 22, 2004 |page=J-1 |accessdate=June 20, 2010}}</ref> After the company's IPO, founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page and CEO Eric Schmidt requested that their base salary be cut to $1. Subsequent offers by the company to increase their salaries have been turned down, primarily because their main compensation continues to come from owning stock in Google. Before 2004, Schmidt was making $250,000 per year, and Page and Brin each earned a salary of $150,000.<ref name="topsalaries">{{Cite news |url=http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/31/technology/google/index.htm |title=Google leaders stick with $1 salary |last1=La Monica |first1=Paul R. |date=March 31, 2006 |publisher=CNNMoney.com |publisher=Cable News Network |accessdate=June 20, 2010}}</ref>

In 2007 and through early 2008, several top executives left Google. In October 2007, former chief financial officer of YouTube Gideon Yu joined Facebook<ref>{{cite web|url=http://venturebeat.com/2008/03/04/facebook-hires-sheryl-sandberg-to-be-its-new-coo/ |title=Another Googler goes to Facebook: Sheryl Sandburg becomes new COO |publisher=Venture Beat |date=March 4, 2008 |accessdate=March 31, 2008}}</ref> along with Benjamin Ling, a high-ranking engineer.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/04/news/newsmakers/moritz_google_exec.fortune/ |title=Top Google exec jumps to Facebook |publisher=Fortune|date=March 4, 2008|accessdate=March 31, 2008 | first=Scott |last=Moritz}}</ref> In March 2008, Sheryl Sandburg, then vice-president of global online sales and operations, began her position as chief operating officer of Facebook<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/04/AR2008030402766.html|title=Facebook Raids Google for Executive |work=Washington Post |date=March 5, 2008 |accessdate=March 31, 2008 |first=Michael | last=Liedtke}}</ref> while Ash ElDifrawi, formerly head of brand advertising, left to become chief marketing officer of Netshops, an online retail company that was renamed [[Hayneedle]] in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prnewswire.com/ |title=Netshops Inc. Appoints Ash ElDifrawi as Company's First Chief Marketing Officer |publisher=PR Newswire |date=March 26, 2008|accessdate=March 31, 2008}}</ref>
On April 4, 2011 Larry Page became CEO and Eric Schmidt became Executive Chairman of Google.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://investor.google.com/earnings/2010/Q4_google_earnings.html |title=Google Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2010 Results and Management Changes |publisher=Investor.google.com |date= |accessdate=2011-04-25}}</ref>

{{Anchor|Innovation Time Off}}As a motivation technique, Google uses a policy often called Innovation Time Off, where Google engineers are encouraged to spend 20% of their work time on projects that interest them. Some of Google's newer services, such as Gmail, Google News, Orkut, and AdSense originated from these independent endeavors.<ref>{{Cite news |title=he Google Way: Give Engineers Room |first=Bharat |last=Mediratta |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/jobs/21pre.html |newspaper=The New York Times |publisher=The New York Times Company |date=October 21, 2007 |accessdate=June 20, 2010}}</ref> In a talk at Stanford University, [[Marissa Mayer]], Google's Vice President of Search Products and User Experience, showed that half of all new product launches at the time had originated from the Innovation Time Off.<ref>{{Cite video |people=Mayer, Marissa (speaker) |date=June 30, 2006 |title=Marissa Mayer at Stanford University |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soYKFWqVVzg |medium=Seminar |publisher=Martin Lafrance |accessdate=June 20, 2010 |time=11:33 |quote=Fifty percent of what Google launched in the second half of 2005 actually got built out of 20% time.}}</ref>

On March 2011, consulting firm Universum released data that Google ranks the first on list of ideal employers by nearly 25 percent chosen from more than 10,000 young professionals asked.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/google_ranks_number_one_on_list_tF2RURTMzb5pYs2OGBzWJM?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME= |title=Google ranks number one on list of ideal employers |date=Mar 22, 2011 | work=New York Post}}</ref>

===Googleplex===
[[Image:Googleplexsouthsidesecondangle.jpg|thumb||240px|The [[Googleplex]], Google's original and largest corporate campus|alt=The Googleplex]]
{{Main|Googleplex}}
Google's headquarters in [[Mountain View, California|Mountain View]], California is referred to as "the [[Googleplex]]", a play on words on the number [[googolplex]] and the headquarters itself being a complex of buildings. The lobby is decorated with a piano, [[lava lamps]], old server clusters, and a projection of search queries on the wall. The hallways are full of exercise balls and bicycles. Each employee has access to the corporate recreation center. Recreational amenities are scattered throughout the campus and include a workout room with weights and rowing machines, locker rooms, washers and dryers, a massage room, assorted video games, [[table football]], a baby grand piano, a billiard table, and ping pong. In addition to the rec room, there are snack rooms stocked with various foods and drinks.<ref>"[http://www.google.com/corporate/culture.html About the Googleplex]." ''Google''. Retrieved March 5, 2008.</ref>
In 2006, Google moved into {{convert|311000|sqft|m2|-2}} of office space in New York City, at 111 Eighth Avenue in Manhattan.<ref name="manhattan">Reardon, Marguerite. "[http://news.cnet.com/2100-1024_3-6121970.html Google takes a bigger bite of Big Apple]." ''[http://www.cnet.com/ c net].'' October 2, 2006. Retrieved October 9, 2006.</ref> The office was specially designed and built for Google, and it now houses its largest advertising sales team, which has been instrumental in securing large partnerships.<ref name="manhattan" /> In 2003, they added an engineering staff in New York City, which has been responsible for more than 100 engineering projects, including Google Maps, Google Spreadsheets, and others. It is estimated that the building costs Google $10&nbsp;million per year to rent and is similar in design and functionality to its Mountain View headquarters, including table football, air hockey, and ping-pong tables, as well as a video game area. In November 2006, Google opened offices on [[Carnegie Mellon]]'s campus in [[Pittsburgh]], focusing on shopping related advertisement coding and smartphone applications and programs.<ref>{{Cite news | url = http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/technology/10346550/detail.html | title = Google Completes Pittsburgh Office, Holds Open House | date = November 17, 2006 | accessdate = January 13, 2008 | work=[[WTAE TV|WTAE]] ThePittsburghChannel }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_712700.html |title=Google search: Tech-minded workers |last=Olson |first=Thomas |date=December 8, 2010 |publisher=Trib Total Media |accessdate=December 8, 2010}}</ref> By late 2006, Google also established a new headquarters for its AdWords division in [[Ann Arbor]], [[Michigan]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/webdev/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=202600809| title=Inside Google's Michigan Office| date=October 24, 2007| publisher=[[InformationWeek]]}}</ref> Furthermore, Google has offices all around the world, and in the United States, including Atlanta, Austin, Boulder, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC.
[[File:PONYA Inland Term 1 jeh.JPG|thumb|240px|Google's NYC office building houses their largest advertising sales team.<ref name="manhattan" />|alt=Google's NYC office building]]

Google is taking steps to ensure that their operations are environmentally sound. In October 2006, the company announced plans to install thousands of [[solar panels]] to provide up to 1.6&nbsp;[[megawatt]]s of electricity, enough to satisfy approximately 30% of the campus' energy needs.<ref name="solar">Richmond, Riva. "[http://www.post1.net/lowem/entry/google_plans_to_build_huge Google plans to build huge solar energy system for headquarters]." ''[http://www.marketwatch.com/ MarketWatch].'' October 17, 2006. Retrieved October 17, 2006.</ref> The system will be the largest solar power system constructed on a U.S. corporate campus and one of the largest on any corporate site in the world.<ref name="solar" /> In addition, Google announced in 2009 that it was deploying herds of goats to keep grassland around the Googleplex short, helping to prevent the threat from seasonal bush fires while also reducing the carbon footprint of mowing the extensive grounds.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/mowing-with-goats.html | title=Official Google Blog: Mowing with goats| date=May 1, 2009| publisher=Google}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/04/AR2009050400027.html | work=The Washington Post | title=My Day With The Google Goats | first=MG | last=Siegler | date=May 3, 2009 | accessdate=May 3, 2010}}</ref> The idea of trimming lawns using goats originated from R. J. Widlar, an engineer who worked for [[National Semiconductor]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.national.com/rap/Horrible/sheep.html |title=Sheep Mow Lawns |publisher=National Semiconductor |accessdate=July 5, 2010}}</ref> Despite this, Google has faced accusations in ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'' of being extremely excessive with their energy usage, and were accused of employing their "Don't be evil" motto as well as their very public energy saving campaigns as means of trying to cover up or make up for the massive amounts of energy their servers actually require.<ref>Strand, Ginger. "[http://www.harpers.org/media/slideshow/annot/2008-03/index.html Keyword: Evil]." Retrieved April 9, 2008.</ref>

===Easter eggs and April Fools' Day jokes===
{{Main|Google's hoaxes}}
Google has a tradition of creating [[April Fools' Day]] jokes. For example, [[Google's hoaxes#2000|Google MentalPlex]] allegedly featured the use of mental power to search the web.<ref name="mentalplex">{{cite web |url=http://www.google.com/mentalplex/ |title=Google MentalPlex |date=April 1, 2000 |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=July 5, 2010}}</ref> In 2007, Google announced a free Internet service called [[TiSP]], or Toilet Internet Service Provider, where one obtained a connection by flushing one end of a [[fiber-optic]] cable down their toilet.<ref name="TiSP">{{cite web |url=http://www.google.com/tisp/ |title=Welcome to Google TiSP |date=April 1, 2007 |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=July 5, 2010}}</ref> Also in 2007, Google's Gmail page displayed an announcement for [[Gmail Paper]], allowing users to have email messages printed and shipped to them.<ref name="gmail_paper">{{cite web |url=http://mail.google.com/mail/help/paper/more.html |title=Google Paper |date=April 1, 2000 |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=July 4, 2010}}</ref>
In 2008 Google announced Gmail Custom time where users could change the time that the email was sent.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://mail.google.com/mail/help/customtime/index.html |title=Gmail Custom Time: Google makes custom time |date=April 14, 2011 |work=Google |publisher=Google |accessdate=April 14, 2011}}</ref>
In 2010, Google jokingly changed its company name to Topeka in honor of [[Topeka, Kansas]], whose mayor actually changed the city's name to Google for a short amount of time in an attempt to sway Google's decision in its new [[Google Fiber|Google Fiber Project]].<ref name="Google Blog: A Different Kind of Company Name">{{cite web |url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/different-kind-of-company-name.html |title=A different kind of company name |last1=Schmidt |first1=Eric |date=April 1, 2010 |work=Official Google Blog |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=July 4, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/01/business/main6353136.shtml |title=April Fools: Google Changes Name to Topeka |date=April 1, 2010 |work=CBS News |publisher=CBS Interactive, Inc. |accessdate=July 4, 2010}}</ref> In 2011, Google announced Gmail Motion, an interactive way of controlling Gmail and the computer with body movements via the user's webcam.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.gmanews.tv/story/216708/technology/googles-gmail-motion-launched-april-1 |title=Google's GMail Motion launched April&nbsp;1 |date=April 1, 2011 |work=GMA News |publisher=GMA News }}</ref>

In addition to April Fools' Day jokes, Google's services contain a number of [[Easter egg (virtual)|Easter eggs]]. For instance, Google included the [[Swedish Chef]]'s "Bork bork bork," [[Pig Latin]], "Hacker" or [[leetspeak]], [[Elmer Fudd]], and [[Klingon language|Klingon]] as language selections for its search engine.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.google.com/language_tools |title=Language Tools |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=July 4, 2010}}</ref> In addition, the search engine calculator provides the [[Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything]] from [[Douglas Adams]]' ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.google.com/search?q=answer+to+life+the+universe+and+everything |title=Google Search Results for 'answer to life the universe and everything' |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=July 4, 2010}}</ref> Furthermore, when searching the word "recursion", the spell-checker's result for the properly spelled word is exactly the same word, creating a recursive link.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.google.com/search?q=recursion |title=Google Search Results for 'recursion' |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=July 4, 2010}}</ref> Likewise, when searching for the word "anagram," meaning a rearrangement of letters from one word to form other valid words, Google's suggestion feature displays "Did you mean: nag a ram?"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.google.com/search?q=anagram |title=anagram search |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=Sep 22, 2010}}</ref> In Google Maps, searching for directions between places separated by large bodies of water, such as Los Angeles and Tokyo, results in instructions to "kayak across the Pacific Ocean." During FIFA World Cup 2010, search queries like "World Cup", "FIFA", etc. caused the "Goooo...gle" page indicator at the bottom of every result page to read "Goooo...al!" instead.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://asia.cnet.com/crave/google-celebrates-world-cup-with-gooooooooooal-62111461.htm | title=Google celebrates World Cup with Gooooooooooal! | publisher=CNET Asia | date=June 9, 2010 | accessdate=May 18, 2011 | author=Chan, John}}</ref>

===Philanthropy===
{{Main|Google.org}}
In 2004, Google formed the not-for-profit philanthropic [[Google.org]], with a start-up fund of $1&nbsp;billion.<ref name="philanthropy">{{cite web |url=http://www.google.org/about.html|title=About the Foundation |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=July 16, 2010}}</ref> The mission of the organization is to create awareness about [[climate change]], global public health, and global poverty. One of its first projects was to develop a viable [[plug-in hybrid]] [[electric vehicle]] that can attain 100 miles per gallon. Google hired [[Larry Brilliant|Dr. Larry Brilliant]] as the program's executive director in 2004<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Hafner |first1=Katie |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/technology/14google.html |title=Philanthropy Google’s Way: Not the Usual |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 14, 2006 |accessdate=July 16, 2010}}</ref> and the current director is Megan Smith.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Helft |first1=Miguel |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/technology/companies/24google.html |title=Philanthropy Google’s Way: Not the Usual |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 23, 2009 |accessdate=July 16, 2010}}</ref>

In 2008 Google announced its "project 10<sup>100</sup>" which accepted ideas for how to help the community and then allowed Google users to vote on their favorites.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.project10tothe100.com/ |title=Project 10 to the 100th |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=July 16, 2010}}</ref> After two years of silence, during which many wondered what had happened to the program,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/06/google-struggles-to-give-away-10-million/ |title=Google Struggles to Give Away $10&nbsp;million |last1=Van Burskirk |first1=Elliot |date=June 28, 2010 |publisher=Wired.com |accessdate=September 26, 2010}}</ref> Google revealed the winners of the project, giving a total of ten million dollars to various ideas ranging from non-profit organizations that promote education to a website that intends to make all legal documents public and online.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/10-million-for-project-10100-winners.html |title=$10&nbsp;million for Project 10^100 winners |date=September 24, 2010 |last1=Twohill |first1=Lorraine |publisher=Google, Inc. |accessdate=September 26, 2010}}</ref>

In 2011, Google donated 1&nbsp;million euros to [[International Mathematical Olympiad]] for to support the next five annual International Mathematical Olympiads (2011–2015).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imo2011.nl/node/39 |title=Google donating 1&nbsp;million euros to IMO |date=January 20, 2011 |accessdate=February 4, 2011}}</ref>

===Network neutrality===
Google is a noted supporter of [[network neutrality]]. According to Google's ''Guide to Net Neutrality'':
<blockquote>
Network neutrality is the principle that Internet users should be in control of what content they view and what applications they use on the Internet. The Internet has operated according to this neutrality principle since its earliest days... Fundamentally, net neutrality is about equal access to the Internet. In our view, the broadband carriers should not be permitted to use their market power to discriminate against competing applications or content. Just as telephone companies are not permitted to tell consumers who they can call or what they can say, broadband carriers should not be allowed to use their market power to control activity online.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/search/label/Net%20Neutrality |publisher=Google Public Policy Blog |title=Time to let the process unfold |date=October 22, 2009 |author=Richard Whitt |accessdate=December 20, 2009 }}</ref>
</blockquote>
On February 7, 2006, [[Vint Cerf]], a co-inventor of the [[Internet Protocol]] (IP), and current Vice President and "Chief Internet Evangelist" at Google, in testimony before Congress, said, "allowing broadband carriers to control what people see and do online would fundamentally undermine the principles that have made the Internet such a success."<ref>{{cite web|author=Cerf, Vinton|authorlink=Vint Cerf|title=The Testimony of Mr. Vinton Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google|url=http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=1937&wit_id=5416|accessdate=May 4, 2008|format=PDF|page=8|date=February 7, 2006}}</ref>

===Privacy===
Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, said 2007 in an interview with the Financial Times: "The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask the question such as ‘What shall I do tomorrow?’ and ‘What job shall I take?'".<ref>[http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/c3e49548-088e-11dc-b11e-000b5df10621,dwp_uuid=e8477cc4-c820-11db-b0dc-000b5df10621.html Google’s goal: to organise your daily life] Financial Times</ref> Schmidt reaffirmed this 2010 in an interview with the Wall Street Journal: "I actually think most people don't want Google to answer their questions, they want Google to tell them what they should be doing next."<ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704901104575423294099527212.html Google and the Search for the Future] Wall Street Journal</ref>

On December 2009, Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, declared after privacy concerns: "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place. If you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines&nbsp;– including Google&nbsp;– do retain this information for some time and it's important, for example, that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act and it is possible that all that information could be made available to the authorities."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/07/schmidt_on_privacy/|title=Google chief: Only miscreants worry about net privacy|last=Cade|first=Metz |date=December 7, 2009 |work=The Register|accessdate=January 5, 2010}}</ref> [[Privacy International]] ranked Google as "Hostile to Privacy", its lowest rating on their report, making Google the only company in the list to receive that ranking.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.privacyinternational.org/issues/internet/interimrankings.pdf |title=Privacy International 2007 Consulation Report |format=PDF |date= |accessdate=October 26, 2010}}</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6740075.stm Google ranked 'worst' on privacy] BBC News, June 2007</ref><ref>Delichatsios, Stefanie Alki; Sonuyi, Temitope, [http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.805/student-papers/fall05-papers/google.pdf "Get to Know Google...Because They Know You"], MIT, Ethics and Law on the Electronic Frontier, 6.805, December 14, 2005</ref>

At the Techonomy conference in 2010 Eric Schmidt predicted that "true transparency and no anonymity" is the way forward for the internet: "In a world of asynchronous threats it is too dangerous for there not to be some way to identify you. We need a [verified] name service for people. Governments will demand it." He also said that "If I look at enough of your messaging and your location, and use artificial intelligence, we can predict where you are going to go. Show us 14 photos of yourself and we can identify who you are. You think you don't have 14 photos of yourself on the internet? You've got Facebook photos!"<ref name="thinq.co.uk">{{Cite news |url=http://www.thinq.co.uk/2010/8/5/no-anonymity-future-web-says-google-ceo/ |title=No anonymity on future web says Google CEO |publisher=THINQ.co.uk |accessdate=August 7, 2010 |date=August 5, 2010}}</ref>

The non-profit group Public Information Research launched Google Watch, a website advertised as "a look at Google's monopoly, algorithms, and privacy issues."<ref name="Sherman">{{Cite book |last1=Sherman |first1=Chris |title=Google power: unleash the full potential of Google |last=Sherman |url=http://books.google.com/?id=SRadJIuhVjAC&dq=Google+Power;+Unleash+the+Full+Potential+of+Google&q=Daniel+Brandt#v=snippet&q=Daniel%20Brandt |accessdate=June 13, 2010 |year=2005 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |location=Emeryville, California |isbn=0072257873 |page=415 |quote=...a look at Google's monopoly, algorithms, and privacy issues.}}</ref><ref name="theage">{{Cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/Breaking/Google-critic-releases-source-code-for-proxy/2005/01/12/1105423537735.html |title=Google critic releases source code for proxy |work=The Age |location=Australia |first=Sam |last=Varghese |date=January 12, 2005 |accessdate=October 11, 2008 | location=Melbourne}}</ref> The site raised questions relating to Google's storage of [[HTTP cookie|cookies]], which in 2007 had a life span of more than 32 years and incorporated a unique ID that enabled creation of a [[data logger|user data log]].<ref name=agger>{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2175651/|title=Google's Evil Eye: Does the Big G know too much about us?|first=Michael|last=Agger|date=October 10, 2007|publisher=Slate|accessdate=October 23, 2007}}</ref> Google has also faced criticism with its release of [[Google Buzz]], Google's version of social networking, where Gmail users had their contact lists automatically made public unless they opted out.<ref>{{Cite news| url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2010/02/google-buzz--facebook-in-gmail/1 | work=USA Today | title=Google adds Facebook-like features to Gmail | date=February 9, 2010 | accessdate=April 30, 2010 | first=Jefferson | last=Graham}}</ref> Google has been criticized for its censorship of certain sites in specific countries and regions. Until March 2010, Google adhered to the [[Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China|Internet censorship policies of China]], enforced by means of filters known colloquially as "The [[Great Firewall of China]]".<ref name="bbc1">{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4645596.stm |title=Google censors itself for China |publisher=BBC |accessdate=January 31, 2008 |date=January 25, 2006}}</ref> There were reports in 2010 from leaked diplomatic cables that the Chinese Politburo had hacked into Google's computers as part of a worldwide coordinated campaign of computer sabotage carried out by "government operatives, private security experts and Internet outlaws recruited by the Chinese government."<ref name=twsDecZ16aa>{{Cite news
|author=Scott Shane and Andrew W. Lehren
|title= Leaked Cables Offer Raw Look at U.S. Diplomacy
|work=The New York Times |quote= ...China’s Politburo directed the intrusion into Google’s computer systems in that country, a Chinese contact told the American Embassy in Beijing in January, one cable reported. The Google hacking was part of a coordinated campaign of computer sabotage carried out by government operatives, private security experts and Internet outlaws recruited by the Chinese government. ...
|date= November 28, 2010
|url= http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/world/29cables.html?_r=1
|accessdate= December 26, 2010
}}</ref>

Despite being highly influential in local and national public policy, Google does not disclose its political spending online. In August 2010, [[Bill de Blasio|New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio]] launched a national campaign urging the corporation to disclose all of its political spending.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://advocate.nyc.gov/google |title=Google: Disclose Now! |last1=Bill de Blasio |first1=Office of the Public Advocate for the City of New York |date=August 5, 2010 |accessdate=August 11, 2010}}</ref>

During 2006–2010 Google Streetview camera cars collected about 600 gigabytes of data from users of unencrypted public and private [[Wi-Fi]] networks in more than 30 countries. No disclosures nor privacy policy was given to those affected, nor to the owners of the Wi-Fi stations. A Google representative claimed that they were not aware of their own data collection activities until an inquiry from German regulators was received, and that none of this data was used in Google's search engine or other services. A representative of [[Consumer Watchdog]] replied, "Once again, Google has demonstrated a lack of concern for privacy. Its computer engineers run amok, push the envelope and gather whatever data they can until their fingers are caught in the cookie jar." In a sign that legal penalties may result, Google said it will not destroy the data until permitted by regulators.<ref>{{cite web|author=Michael Liedtke, AP Technology Writer |url=http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Google-grabs-personal-info-apf-2162289993.html?x=0 |title=Google grabs personal info off of Wi-Fi networks |publisher=Finance.yahoo.com |date=May 14, 2010 |accessdate=October 26, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8684110.stm | title=Google admits wi-fi data blunder | date=May 15, 2010 |publisher=BBC News | first=Maggie | last=Shiels}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal box|San Francisco Bay Area|Companies}}
* [[Gayglers]]&nbsp;– [[LGBT]] employee group
* [[Google China]]
* [[Google logo]]
* [[Google platform]]
* [[Google Ventures]]&nbsp;– [[venture capital]] fund
* [[Googlebot]]&nbsp;– web crawler
* [[List of Google domains]]

==References==
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{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
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{{sisterlinks|Google}}
* {{official website|www.google.com}}
* [http://www.google.com/corporate Corporate homepage]
* [http://googleblog.blogspot.com/ Official blog]
* {{YouTube channel|Google}}
* {{crunchbase}}
* [http://research.google.com/ Google Research]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/19981111183552/google.stanford.edu Google website from November 11, 1998] at the [[Internet Archive]]
*{{Dmoz|Computers/Companies/Google%2C_Inc./}}

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[[br:Google]]
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[[ca:Google]]
[[cv:Кукăль (компани)]]
[[ceb:Google]]
[[cs:Google]]
[[cy:Google]]
[[da:Google]]
[[de:Google Inc.]]
[[dsb:Google]]
[[et:Google]]
[[el:Google]]
[[es:Google]]
[[eo:Google]]
[[eu:Google]]
[[fa:گوگل]]
[[fo:Google]]
[[fr:Google]]
[[ga:Google]]
[[gl:Google]]
[[ko:구글]]
[[hi:गूगल]]
[[hsb:Google]]
[[hr:Google (tvrtka)]]
[[io:Google]]
[[id:Google]]
[[iu:ᒎᒐᓪ/guugal]]
[[is:Google]]
[[it:Google Inc.]]
[[he:גוגל (חברה)]]
[[jv:Google]]
[[kn:ಗೂಗಲ್]]
[[ka:Google]]
[[kk:Google]]
[[ky:Google]]
[[rn:Google]]
[[ht:Google]]
[[ku:Google]]
[[lo:ກູໂກລ]]
[[la:Google]]
[[lv:Google]]
[[lb:Google]]
[[lt:Google]]
[[hu:Google, Inc.]]
[[mk:Google]]
[[mg:Google]]
[[ml:ഗൂഗിള്‍]]
[[mr:गूगल]]
[[arz:جوجل]]
[[ms:Google]]
[[mn:Google]]
[[my:ဂူဂယ်]]
[[nah:Google]]
[[nl:Google Inc.]]
[[ne:गूगल]]
[[ja:Google]]
[[no:Google]]
[[nn:Google]]
[[oc:Google]]
[[or:ଗୁଗଲ]]
[[uz:Google]]
[[pnb:گوگل]]
[[ps:ګووګل]]
[[km:Google ស្វែងរក]]
[[pl:Google]]
[[pt:Google]]
[[kaa:Google]]
[[ro:Google]]
[[qu:Google]]
[[ru:Google (компания)]]
[[sah:Google]]
[[sco:Google]]
[[sq:Google]]
[[scn:Google]]
[[si:ගූගල්]]
[[simple:Google]]
[[sd:گوگل]]
[[sk:Google]]
[[sl:Google]]
[[so:Google]]
[[sr:Гугл]]
[[sh:Google]]
[[fi:Google]]
[[sv:Google]]
[[tl:Google]]
[[ta:கூகிள்]]
[[kab:Google]]
[[tt:Google]]
[[te:గూగుల్]]
[[th:กูเกิล]]
[[tr:Google]]
[[uk:Google]]
[[ur:گوگل]]
[[vec:Google Inc.]]
[[vi:Google]]
[[wa:Google]]
[[vls:Google]]
[[yi:גוגל]]
[[yo:Google]]
[[zh-yue:Google]]
[[diq:Google]]
[[zh:Google]]

Revision as of 16:42, 5 July 2011

GOOGLE TRACKS. WE DON'T. DUCKDUCKGO.COM

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