A Timeline of Google's Epic 20-Year History

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May 24, 2017
Lani Oaten
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A Timeline of Google’s Epic 20-Year History

Google has revolutionised our world and how we source information. From humble beginnings in 1996, to a period in history where “just Google it” is a common antidote to any query, Google – like other big names Apple and Facebook – has had an undeniable impact on the world as it is today.

How Google has changed since 1996

Since the 1990s, Google has chopped and changed a few things (and acquired a few companies), but one thing that has remained fundamentally the same is the format of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) – those 10 blue links that pop up after entering a search term. This simple arrangement of the most relevant results for any keyword is an undeniably ingenious format that makes physical encyclopedias look like dinosaurs.

Granted, this list of 10 blue links has adapted to include advertising, images, videos and many more kinds of results that are driven by sophisticated algorithms geared to give us the exact information we are looking for.

Below, we take a look at how Google has transformed over the years.

The history of Google

1996: BackRub is launched

The co-founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, originally created Google – then nicknamed ‘BackRub’ – for a project at while they were studying at Stanford University. The name ‘BackRub’ was in reference to the way the site was designed to analyse backlinks in order to rank a site in search results. Back then, backlinks were a major metric in determining how relevant a website was for a certain search term.

1998: Google! Beta is launched

Google! Beta, which was the beginning of Google as we know it today, was formally incorporated on 4 September 1998 out of Susan Wojcicki’s garage. Wojcicki was a friend of Page and Brin and is now the CEO of YouTube.

2000: Google AdWords is launched

Google launched its pay-per-click advertising product, Google AdWords, in 2000. At first, AdWords was only available to 350 consumers. In its early days, AdWords campaigns were paid for by the client and set up and managed by Google. The self-service portal for managing ads was launched soon after.

2001: Google Image Search is launched

In 2001, Google Image Search, now known as Google Images, was launched after the most popular search query that Google had ever seen – “Jennifer Lopez’s green dress” (referring to the green Versace dress that she wore to the 2000 Grammy Awards) – took the web by storm without the images to match. Google soon filled that gap and created Google Image Search.

2003: Facebook is launched

While not a direct competitor, the launch of Facebook – a social media giant – is an event in recent history that can’t be understated. Facebook has done for social interaction what Google did for sourcing information. The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, launched the social network while studying at Harvard.

2004: Google Local results is launched

Local results was launched in 2004, which gave local businesses a chance to rank higher up in Google’s Search Engine Results Page for keywords relevant to their business. It also helped searchers find more relevant local results faster.

2004: Sodafizz is launched

Sodafizz was founded in Sydney in 2004 by Isaac Brandon and Sally Schofield (before Google had an office in Australia!). Sodafizz is a Certified Google Partner Agency, and our experienced team of experts are highly qualified to design creative campaigns in line with the latest Google updates and AdWords options.

2005: YouTube is launched

In 2005, YouTube was born, and it quickly became one of the fastest growing sites on the web. The inception of YouTube was a pivotal moment in Google’s continual dominance over the Internet. Google quickly acquired the company in 2006 for $1.65 billion, which now looks like a steal in hindsight: YouTube is now worth well over $70 billion.

2007: Google Universal Search is launched

The development of Google Universal Search has been instrumental in Google’s continued rise and relevancy. This feature was launched in 2005, and allowed for images, news results, video results and more to rank alongside normal web results (the standard blue link). Google Universal Search fundamentally changed the way digital marketers think about ranking positions.

2007: iPhone is launched

Apple gifted the world its first iPhone in 2007, which forever changed the online and offline landscapes. The release of the iPhone has slowly heralded in a mobile-first world, where in 2017, phones have almost become a part of the human anatomy. Evidently, this has resulted in huge changes on Google – to the point where websites aren’t ranked as highly if they aren’t mobile-optimised.

2008: Google Suggest is launched

The ‘autocomplete’ function that happens when you type in a few words on Google – named Google Suggest – was introduced in 2008, and has since become deeply entrenched in the way Google is currently used. The suggestions are generated according to the most frequently used search terms, and were the foundation of the ‘people also ask’ boxes that can also be found on Google today.

2008: Android is launched

Not one to be left out of a digital market, Google made their entrance into the world of smartphones in 2008 with the introduction of the Android mobile operating system. The first ever smartphone to use the Android operating system was the HTC Dream. In 2016, Google launched the Pixel and Pixel XL, the first phones marketed as being made by Google.

2011: Google+ is launched

Launched as a direct Facebook rival, Google+ entered the social media game in 2011. At the time, Mark Zuckerberg considered Google+ a serious threat to Facebook. In 2017, it is clear that Facebook maintained superiority in the social media sphere.

2012: Google Now is launched

Google Now is a voice search tool that has become a smartphone staple for Android users. It is activated by saying “Okay Google”, and allows users to search Google. Google Now was central to the creation of Google Assistant in 2017, which is an intelligent personal assistant similar to Apple’s Siri.

The future of Google

Now more than ever, Google is a force to be reckoned with. In the past few years, Google has released the Hummingbird algorithm, launched Expanded Text Ads (and updated its ‘Ad’ label to be more inconspicuous) and made a point of optimising for voice search. What does this tell us? In the coming years, we can expect an increased pay-per-click ad presence in the list of ‘blue links’ and a continuously increasing emphasis on mobile-focused search and voice search.

Feeling lucky? If you want to build your brand on Google, Sodafizz know a thing or two about Google AdWords (Search Engine Marketing) and Search Engine Optimisation. Get in touch.

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