Google is a key player on the web founded in September 1998 by Larry Page and Sergei Brin. Thanks to the tool Wayback Machine which allows you to consult archived pages on the web, we have reconstructed the evolution of the Google home page since its launch in 1998…
From a simple page cobbled together in a garage, Google.com gradually became the essential tool that we know today... and yet, the visual changes to the page were only very marginal.
16 years of history in 16 images to be found below:
November 1998: the first daysFebruary 1999: Google has to handle more than 500 queries every dayMay 2000: Google is available in 10 languages in addition to English. In June of the same year, Google will be the first to reference 1 billion web pagesMarch 2001: Eric Schmidt is called in to head the company. Google is usable in 26 languages. 3 billion pages are indexed.August 2002: Few new features this year but growth continues. Launch of Google Labs.June 2003: Another quiet year for innovation, but Google's revenue reached nearly $1.5 billion.August 2004: On the 18th of the month, Google went public on the NASDAQ in a reverse auction… a first in the world of IPOs. Gmail was launched in April of the same year.February 2005: Google is getting into online mapping and launching Google Maps.July 2006: Little change in the search engine, but Google enters the top 10 most famous brands in the world.July 2008: After a rather empty year in 2007 in terms of new features, Google has passed the 1 billion indexed pages mark.July 2009: Google launches a Linux-based operating system that aims to be lightweight and suitable for emerging netbooks: Google Chrome OSOctober 2010: Google accounts for 6,4% of global Internet traffic and is growing faster than the web. Google is available in 150 languages.August 2011: Google is launching "Panda," an update to its indexing algorithm that is supposed to favor content with added value. Google has a fleet of 900 servers. The company is testing a secure version of SSL searches.December 2012: By the end of the year, Google had indexed over 30 billion documents, 3.5 billion queries were generated every day, and its stock price had increased eightfold since its IPO.December 2013: 2013 is the year of robotics for Google, which made 8 acquisitions in the sector. The company's turnover is nearly $60 billion.June 2014: Google launches new domain name registration service and continues its acquisitions!
In any case, what is striking is that in 16 years of existence, the Google home page has changed very little!
As a forty-something dad fascinated by the web, I spend a lot of my time keeping watch to find you the best news. Tips and tricks, humor, websites and high-tech are the main subjects I want to cover here… but I will not fail to offer you good deals gleaned here and there on the web…
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