Google turns 20: How one search engine

changed the world

When Google became a registered domain in 1997, it was competing with other search engines
like Yahoo Search, AltaVista and AskJeeves but they all used algorithms that rarely gave users
exactly what they were looking for. Google changed that by using a PageRank algorithm which
prioritized a website’s popularity over its relevance.

This led to websites becoming more connected to each other, popular websites coming up more
often during Google searches and unpopular ones promptly dying off. Now, most websites work
together and link to each other in what’s called backlinking, a process that contributed to Google’s
rise.

“They really just found a new way of ranking pages, it used to be just done on keywords … (now)
it’s all about backlinking and it changed the world completely,” researcher and futurist speaker
Nikolas Badminton told CTV’s Your Morning Tuesday.

Futurist Nikolas Badminton tells CTV's Your Morning how Google "changed the world completely"
in the way it organizes website searches.

Online ad revenue, the primary way to make money on the internet today, was an untapped
resource during the web's infancy. But Google was one of the first companies to realize the
potential of building a business model around that. Companies now rely on this method to make
money and use Google itself to make their products, services and voices easily searchable online.

During the internet’s nascent era, Hotmail and Yahoo Mail both competed for email traffic; virtual
calendars were unconnected on different platforms, and mapping websites like MapQuestweren’t
tailored to changing road conditions. But by creating similar products and services of their own,
like Gmail and Google Maps, Google arguably became the most centralized hub on the internet to
get all those services in a single place.

In the past several years, Google has leaned into that description by expanding into online
communication with Google Hangouts and online storage like the Google Cloud. Products like
Google Docs, Google Sheets and the Android operating system for mobile devices have also
helped Google become a “lifestyle brand,” Badminton said.

Humble beginnings

The company was founded by Stanford University Ph.D. students Sergey Brin and Larry Page and
like a lot of internet startups at the time, it began out of a garage. As Google grew, it bought
smaller startups and other companies to integrate their technology into its products. For example,
Google bought the video streaming service YouTube for US$1.65 billion in 2005, which catapulted
it into popularity.

Google also bought music-streaming service Songza and incorporated it into its own music
service, Google Play in 2014.

The company quickly began expanding the number of services it offered by releasing its own web
browser, Google Chrome, in 2008, to compete with Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer. In 2010,
Google delved into the world of smartphones with its Nexus brand that was eventually replaced by
Pixel in 2016.
Android P, Google's latest operating system, coming in the "Pixel 3," was unveiled at the Google
I/O 2018 conference. (Google Google I/O 2018)

In October 2015, a corporate restructuring of Google formed a conglomerate called Alphabet Inc.,
with Google still being its leading subsidiary. With offices around the world, including New York
City, Sydney, London, and Toronto, the company boasts more than 85,000 employees as of
March 2018.

But Google’s overarching power and integration into our lives have led to a ​flurry of concerns​ of
privacy intrusion​ and data mining over the years, which some activists have argued are far cries of
the company’s initial motto of: “Don’t be evil.”

“People believe in the mantra of making the world a better place, not being evil and doing good in
the world through technology,” Badminton said.

As for Google’s future, Badminton said it’ll be about “dominance.”

“They’ve already got 75 percent of search traffic and 90 percent of mobile search traffic. They’re
going to be everywhere—they’re going to be in sensors and in (self-driving) cars.”

Rodriguez, Jeremaiah. (2018, September 4). ​Google turns 20: How one search engine changed the
world.​ Retrieved from
https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/google-turns-20-how-one-search-engine-changed-the-world-1.407905
3
 Summary
Google is the most popular search engine these days followed by Bing
and Yahoo search engines. This technology allows people to browse different
pages of the followed keywords given by its user interface. Google helped
globally when it comes to economics as for now it is known to be the main
source of advertisements and entertainment platforms from different
websites. Google also allows its user to use its application such as the Google
docs, Google slides, any alternatives for the Microsoft Office. To allow its
user to freely create different types of documents at any time. As for now,
Google is working on many projects involving computer algorithms which
may help improve the next generation Technologies. Speaking of the
advancement of technology.

Reaction
It is a fact that most of us use Google for many reasons such as
searching for lectures, completing term papers, Creating different projects
and etc. As part of the new generation, I am glad that this technology exists,
knowing that it always comes in handy in any situation that a student could
probably have, Currently using it for finishing school projects and learning
through the internet. Even for the teachers, staff and all sorts of people, use it
to complete their jobs. Google is considered to be important for this
generation. Back in the day, our parents always told us how difficult handling
school assignments and projects, since there is no internet before. And in
present, most things can be searched through search engines including the
term papers. It is a good thing that search engines exist since most students
have frequent assignments. But if used in a malicious way it could be
damaging.
 Assignment

in

Media and Information Literacy

By: Dan Victor B. Lofranco

What media is important or instrumental in the
course of events?

As mentioned in the Article, ​Google​ was able to change mankind

society

Why do you think the identified media was

instrumental or very important in this event?
Google was able to change the society through its function as a “
Search Engine”. As for now, most people are currently using it for
their needs to finish their job quicker that includes the higher
generation of people. Most of the questions nowadays can be
answered through Google not only that. It allows us to search for
places, Websites, seeking information, and Data analysis.

Was the outcome a positive or a negative change?

Explain your answer.

It is highly positive since most of the users entrusted Google for

their personal information to be kept. Though its function may vary,
it is on the User's privilege to either allow it or not since there is a
risk of mismanaging the information and may be exploited by the
Hackers for malicious uses.