Difference between revisions of "Google"

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Google controls 65.5% of the search engine market. Google Watch has accused Google of creating algorithms that favor well established sites over newer sites <ref>Farhad Manjoo (August 30, 2002). "Conspiracy Researcher Says Google's No Good". AlterNet. Retrieved December 16, 2011</ref>.  This claim may or may not be true and it can be considered ethically questionable that Google has never released their search algorithms for this reason. The fact that Google's search engine is constantly gathering and interpreting data is ethically problematic as well, because there is no way for users to indicate what information they want to release to Google. The question of whether or not data is a fair price to pay for using Google's services is an ethical question that must be addressed. The presence of Google, as well as other search engines, creates a central location for finding information which can help contribute to cyber crimes, such as: [[Cyberstalking]], and [[Virtual Rape]].
 
Google controls 65.5% of the search engine market. Google Watch has accused Google of creating algorithms that favor well established sites over newer sites <ref>Farhad Manjoo (August 30, 2002). "Conspiracy Researcher Says Google's No Good". AlterNet. Retrieved December 16, 2011</ref>.  This claim may or may not be true and it can be considered ethically questionable that Google has never released their search algorithms for this reason. The fact that Google's search engine is constantly gathering and interpreting data is ethically problematic as well, because there is no way for users to indicate what information they want to release to Google. The question of whether or not data is a fair price to pay for using Google's services is an ethical question that must be addressed. The presence of Google, as well as other search engines, creates a central location for finding information which can help contribute to cyber crimes, such as: [[Cyberstalking]], and [[Virtual Rape]].
 
==Nymwars==
 
==Nymwars==
−
(''See [[Nymwars|main article]]'')
+
''Main article:'' [[Nymwars]]
  
 
There has been a lot of controversy due to Google's policy of requiring real names in Google+.
 
There has been a lot of controversy due to Google's policy of requiring real names in Google+.

Revision as of 22:10, 17 December 2011

Google Logo

Google is a worldwide search, advertising, and service-based corporation. Google has distinguished itself from other companies by avoiding the "corporate" feel that tech startups tend to fall into after experiencing massive growth.

Mantra

"Don't be evil".

History

Google was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The two Standford grads founded the company on September 4th, 1998 in Menlo park, California and have since moved their headquarters to 1600 Amphitheater Parkway, Mountain View, California.

Their intention was to create a product to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful". Since then the company has rapidly expanded and produced a suite of products far beyond the traditional search engine. The company now acquires companies on a regular basis and has entered into many different markets. It leads the production of the Android operating system, the Chrome browser, Google+, among many others.

Google began as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Standford University where both were pursuing their PhD's in Human Computer Interaction. Google quickly became a project worth pursuing and the two decided to to run it full time.

After some Initial Financing, Google's initial public offering occurred on August 19, 2004 for $85 at 18,605,052 shares. With a starting market cap of $23 billion, the world started to realize that Google had some real potential. Today the company has 31,353 employees and total assets of $57.851 billion as of 2010.

Acquisitions

Since 2001, Google has acquired companies like Keyhole, Inc (later renamed to Google Earth), Youtube, DoubleClick, and GrandCentral. It has also formed partnerships with companies like NASA Ames Research Center, Sun Microsystems, AOL of Time Warner, Microsoft, Nokia, and Ericsson.

Data Centers

As of 2011, Google owns and operates 6 data centers in the United States, another in Finland, and another in Belgium. Additionally, Google plans on building another 3 data centers in Asia in the next two years.

Advertising

Advertising is the number one revenue source for Google, from which it derives 99% of its total revenue. Google helped engineer a brand new type of competitive advertising that ensures the highest bidder pays only 1 cent above the second place bidder. Additionally, it helped popularize the Pay Per Click (ppm) model now used by virtual every type of online advertiser.

Adwords

Adwords is the Google campaign that allows advertisers to rent out space and pay on a cost per click (CPC) basis. Before Adwords came along, sites were allowed to chose their own "key words" - the words used by Google to determine the appropriate search results. But Larry Page, in developing his famous "Page Rank", decided that advertisers should have to do less work and developed an algorithm that mitigated users gaming the system.

Working at the Googleplex

Employment at Google is considered to be on of the most enjoyable jobs available. It has won numerous awards for its unique work environment and continuous to be a vibrant and exciting environment in which to work. The work environment has exercise balls, bicycles, workout rooms, video games, table tennis, billiards, and even massage dollars.

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Google Products

Web

  • Google Chrome
  • Web Search

Mobile

Media

  • Google Books
  • Google Music
  • Images
  • News
  • Picasa
  • Picnik
  • Videos
  • YouTube

Geo

Home & Office

  • Calendar
  • Docs
  • Gmail
  • Google Health
  • Google Wallet
  • Sites
  • Talk
  • Translate
  • Voice

Social

  • Blogger
  • Google+
  • Groups
  • Knol
  • Orkut
  • Reader

Innovation

  • Fusion Tables
  • Code

Privacy and Ethical Implications

Ethical Implications

Search engine

Google controls 65.5% of the search engine market. Google Watch has accused Google of creating algorithms that favor well established sites over newer sites [1]. This claim may or may not be true and it can be considered ethically questionable that Google has never released their search algorithms for this reason. The fact that Google's search engine is constantly gathering and interpreting data is ethically problematic as well, because there is no way for users to indicate what information they want to release to Google. The question of whether or not data is a fair price to pay for using Google's services is an ethical question that must be addressed. The presence of Google, as well as other search engines, creates a central location for finding information which can help contribute to cyber crimes, such as: Cyberstalking, and Virtual Rape.

Nymwars

Main article: Nymwars

There has been a lot of controversy due to Google's policy of requiring real names in Google+.

See Also

References

  1. ↑ Farhad Manjoo (August 30, 2002). "Conspiracy Researcher Says Google's No Good". AlterNet. Retrieved December 16, 2011

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