Google Inc. is a multinationalpublic cloud computing, Internetsearch, and advertising technologiescorporation. Google hosts anddevelops a number of Internet-basedservices and products, and generatesprofit primarily from advertisingthrough its AdWords program. Thecompany was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, often dubbed the“Google Guys”, while the two were attending Stanford University as Ph.D.
candidates. It was first incorporated as a privately held company onSeptember 4, 1998, with its initial public offering to follow on August 19,2004. The company’s stated mission from the outset was “to organize theworld’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”, and thecompany’s unofficial slogan coined by Google engineer Paul Buchheit isDon’t be evil. In 2006, the company moved to their current headquarters inMountain View, California.
Google’s rapid growth since its incorporation has triggered a chain ofproducts, acquisitions and partnerships beyond the company’s core searchengine. The company offers online productivity software, such as its Gmaile-mail software, and social networking tools, including Orkut and, morerecently, Google Buzz. Google’s products extend to the desktop as well,with applications such as the web browser Google Chrome, the Picasa photoorganization and editing software, and the Google Talk instant messagingapplication. More notably, Google leads the development of the Androidmobile phone operating system, used on a number of phones such as theNexus One and Motorola Droid. Because of its popularity and numerousproducts, Alexa lists Google as the Internet’s most visited website. Googleis also Fortune Magazine’s fourth best place to work, and BrandZ’s mostpowerful brand in the world. The dominant market position of Google’sservices has led to criticism of the company over issues including privacy,copyright, and censorship.
Google is known for having an informal corporate culture. On FortuneMagazine’s list of best companies to work for, Google ranked first in 2007and 2008 and fourth in 2009 and 2010. Google’s corporate philosophyembodies such casual principles as “you can make money without doingevil,” “you can be seriouswithout a suit,” and “workshould be challenging and thechallenge should be fun.”
Google has a traditionof creating April Fool’s Dayjokes. For example, GoogleMentalPlex allegedly featuredthe use of mental power to search the web. In 2007, Google announceda free Internet service called TiSP, or Toilet Internet Service Provider,where one obtained a connection by flushing one end of a fiber-opticcable down their toilet. Also in 2007, Google’s Gmail page displayed anannouncement for Gmail Paper, allowing users to have email messagesprinted and shipped to them. In2010, Google jokingly changedits company name to Topeka inhonor of Topeka, Kansas, whosemayor actually changed the city’sname to Google for a shortamount of time in an attempt tosway Google’s decision in itsnew Google Fiber Project.
