September 27, 2023, is big occasion in the tech world – Google’s 25th birthday. The journey of this American multinational tech company had humble beginnings and the entire journey is nothing short of remarkable.

In the mid-’90s, two bright minds, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, crossed paths as doctoral students in Stanford University’s computer science program. Little did they know that their collaboration would change the digital landscape of the world forever. They started a research project initially called “BackRub,” which eventually turned into the search engine we now know as Google.

Larry Page explored the mathematical intricacies of the World Wide Web’s link structure. He laid the foundation for a revolutionary search algorithm that made Google the search giant we know today. By 1998, their project had evolved into Google, a name inspired by ‘Googol’- a mathematical term that represents a very large number.

In August 1998, Google Inc. received its official birth certificate in the form of a $100,000 check from Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems. From their Stanford dorm room, Page and Brin moved to their first “office” – a rented garage in Menlo Park, California. The office had both computers and a ping pong table, which turned into their home for the next few years as they worked to realize their vision of a sorted internet.

Beyond Search

Today, Google’s impact extends far beyond its search engine. With products like YouTube, Android, Gmail, and Google Maps, Google has become an integral part of daily life for billions across the globe.

Google’s influence in the tech world spread when it became the default search engine for Yahoo in 2000. AdWords was launched in October 2000, thereby laying the foundation for Google’s online advertising dominance.

The next big development came in 2004 when Google announced that Gmail will offer a staggering 1GB of storage capacity, thereby making Gmail an integral part of our lives, and helped push back the competition from the likes of YahooMail and Microsoft’s Hotmail. The company went public in August of the same year.

Birth of Google’s Android and YouTube

Google’s innovation didn’t stop with search and email. It ventured into mobile with the acquisition of Android in 2005 and the launch of Google Talk. The acquisition of YouTube in 2006 signaled Google’s entry into the online video space.

Google’s acquisition spree continued with DoubleClick in 2007, expanding its influence in online advertising. Universal search, introduced in 2007, allowed users to access a wide range of content types in one search.

In 2008, Google unveiled its first Android phone, the T-Mobile G1, and introduced the world to the Chrome web browser. The following years saw the launch of Google Glass, the acquisition of mapping startup Waze, and the creation of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, with Sundar Pichai taking the helm as CEO of Google.

Google’s Future

Earlier this month, Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, shared his thoughts on the company’s future, particularly its opportunities with AI, in a blog post. Google is entering its next quarter-century where it is contending with other powerhouses in each and every product segment. AI is one of the biggest opportunities Google is trying to tap into and it is already among the top names in this field. The next 25 years could demand even more innovation and impact from Google to retain its top spot.

Until then, Happy 25th birthday, Google!