Google 101 Facts

1-11 So how did it all start at Google?

Google 101 Facts
12-35 Tell me about Google Technology

It is a very commonly misunderstood fact that Google’s

search engine technology of Page Rank was based on its ranking concept, when actually it was named so after the name of its inventor as well as one of the founders- Larry Page.

The most intriguing part of the Page Rank method is

that it works by assigning ranks to the pages based on the valid back links to a website. That is why initially it was named Backrub by its inventors.

Google is an international company, with

its homepage available in 88 different languages, making it a company that respects and understands international requirements.

Google is a company that works 24x7, with

offices and employees around the world. The employees keep testing Google’s new algorithms on a small set of users. These changes are not announced and when applied, the behavior of the users is noted and based on that, the changes are applied on the whole of the system.

Google has the world’s largest network of 

translators. Google employs the largest number of people who help transcend the world’s boundaries. You can translate from 345 source language to 345 target languages from this network.

Google is a company of experts who 

take very calculated risks. Did you know that Google has a 20% and a 5% rule, which say that at least 20% of the users need to use a feature before it is included on any page and at least 5% of the users need to use a particular search preference, before it is included in the feature “Advanced Settings”.

Before creating Gmail, Google has carried out 

in depth research on email users practices and mental models based on Googlers, and created the gmail provider to fit all these 'personas', with up to 6 different types of models. This is how gmail became a worldwide used email, that fits the needs of every single user and makes them all feel welcome.

Google processes around 20 petabytes 1015 or 1,000,000,000,000,000 bytes of information

daily, which is an unbelievable number to put your mind around. The number suggests that approximately almost every person using the Internet uses Google at least once.

It is estimated that Google consists of 

around 900,000 servers, which are located in various data centers around the world. These servers are placed in high security modern buildings (data centers) to ensure data safety.  

Gmail is now the official world’s largest email provider (June 2012)

Google Mail's speciality is that a) less spam b) your account's storage space increases over time, so you may never need to delete emails to save space c) quick to load d) amazing search d) powerful filtering.

Email Service Sizing Users 2022

According to Google, one third of all 

search queries are first time queries, which means it is the first time a string of words have been used together, ever. Therefore, Google is creating a different kind of a language of its own, named “Keywords”.

Did you know that Google’s first 

playable doodle was launched on Pac Man’s 30th birthday in May 2010?

The PAC MAN doodle was launched 

with 250 levels to complete and it went on to become so popular with the gaming enthusiasts, that it got a permanent place in Google.

Did you know that you can make phone calls with Gmail?

It is a very interesting and probably unknown fact that in the US, one can make calls to any phone, directly from their Gmail account. This is really a great feature because calls within US and Canada are free.

In the April of 2011, on the occasion of Charlie Chaplin’s 122nd birthday

Google released its first live-action doodle, for the Charlie Chaplin fans out there.

The  development that Google uses is mostly 

built by its own employees. Google prefers to work on Python, Java, C++ and more recently Go.

Google TV brings to you all the goodness of 

Google, straight to your TV set. One can now check emails, watch YouTube videos and use various Google apps from their television. Did you know you can do this all using a remote control or even better, you can control it through a phone!

There is a huge list of Google products that have been discontinued. 

This list is as big as the current ‘in use’ products list. Most of the products in this list got discontinued because either they were not widely used, replaced by or merged with other products. Examples include: Google health; Google checkout; Google wave; Google codesearch; Google Reader; Google Apps standard edition (free).

List of some of the most notable Google products that have been discontinued:


Android, the most famous 

technical word used these days, is actually an operating system based in Linux. Android phones are phones that use this ultra modern operating systems. The late Steve Jobs said he wanted to “go thermonuclear war” against Google, when it launched its Android operating system for  “grand theft".

Google is planning to build three new data centers in Asia

 which will cost them around $200 million and will start functioning soon. This helps with Geolocation of your Google Account (moving your google accounts to the nearest point of presence.

When Google acquired Android

market experts believed that Google was planning to enter the mobile industry with its own handsets, when actually it just wanted to make sure the mobiles searched using Google. Google finally launched its first handset through Nexus series in the year 2010.


List of Google Phones


Google has designed driverless cars 

based around a modified Toyota Prius.  Google lobbied the Nevada state to pass laws to allow driverless vehicles so Google were granted a licence to test their cars in Nevada.  Google cars, also known as Waymo cars, are a self-driving car technology developed by Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. (Google's parent company). The cars are equipped with various sensors and cameras, as well as proprietary software that allows them to navigate roads and make decisions in real-time, without the need for a human driver. The technology has been in development for several years and is now being tested on public roads in several cities. The goal of Waymo's self-driving car technology is to make transportation safer, more accessible, and more convenient for everyone.

Google uses OTP  security token system to 

secure its internal mailing system. Google takes extra care to make sure that its internal mailing system is not hackable and all its top-secret data remains within the complex. OTP is a small pen drive like instrument which has a button on it. Once pressed, it displays a 6 digit number which acts as a password of email. This password can be used only once. To login again, button has to be pressed again.

Google 101 Facts
12-35 Tell me about Google Technology