Peoples Republic of South Devon

The World According to Google

July 25th, 2008

The weekly technology column from those good people at Plymouth’s
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It has been said by many (and proudly quoted by Google) that Google’s search engine is “the closest thing the Web has to an ultimate answering machine”. And it is because of Internet searching that Google has become a worldwide household name. But how many people know about what goes on behind those six coloured letters? Not only is there a massive business, a lot of money and power, and some of the best talents in the industry, there also appears to be a very specific ethic being employed. Let’s take a closer look…

Google was formed as an incorporated company in September 1998 by two Stanford University PhD students. Having developed a new theory on how to best conduct reliable and relevant Internet searches, Larry Page and Sergey Brin managed to raise an impressive amount of early financial support based on the evidence presented by their university theses. However, like the best of them, their first six months were spent working out of a friend’s garage – apparently this seems to be a requisite for becoming an IT heavyweight.

Google has experienced a massive growth during its life, acquiring many smaller companies along the way to make it the towering giant that it is now, and leaving the Microsoft Network (MSN) quaking in it’s binary boots. In opposition to Microsoft’s ‘immoral and aggressive’ image, “Don’t be evil” has always been Google’s unofficial slogan, allegedly applied to all areas of their business dealings. Environmentalism, philanthropy, and positive relations have always been important to them, and its the employee relations that I find to be the most intriguing.

The picture above is of the Google offices in Zurich. No joke, it really is. The original ‘dotcom’ companies were defined by bean bags and pizza meetings, but Google has taken it to a whole new level.

Fireman’s poles, slides, lava lamps, games, and themed discussion rooms make up one of the most unconventional office complexes in the world. Wherever you look there are white boards and pens so no idea goes unwritten. The idea is to create a relaxing and comfortable environment that will stimulate the researchers, developers, and engineers towards original and interesting ideas. And it obviously works - Forbes Magazine recently named Google the number 1 place to work in the world!

But Google’s friendly presence has recently started to be challenged. Even they are not immune to the US economic downturn, and it is questionable how long their good intentions will last if profits continue to fall. The second of Google’s self proclaimed ‘ten commandments‘ is “It’s best to do one thing really, really well”, meaning of course searching. However it would appear that they are gradually moving away from this ideal. In addition to enhancing the meaning of the term ‘Internet search’ to encompass a massive range of applications and features (Google Earth, ad-words, comparisons etc.), Google are now branching out into new fields. For instance, watch out for Google Android in the coming years – it may well revolutionise the way that mobile pc’s are viewed, making them a lot more accessible and desirable to a broader range of people.

To find out more about the colourful company that has held our hands through many Internet surfing sessions, go to www.Google.com and, instead of searching, click the ‘about google’ button and take an interesting backstage tour…

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Entry Filed under: technology