Google is celebrating its 25th birthday today - and it shows no signs of going anywhere.
The search engine, whose European headquarters is located in Dublin, was conceived as a concept in 1996.
Back then, the internet was very much in its infancy – comparatively few people used the internet to do anything, fewer still had an email address and no one had a smartphone.
“It was two nerdy lads, sitting in Stanford going, ‘There has to be a way to link the information that’s available on the internet in some way?’ Tech Correspondent Jess Kelly told Newstalk Breakfast.
“They were well ahead of their time; they weren’t meant to succeed because there were so many other players already in the market.
“Yahoo was one of the biggest companies in the world - they tried to buy Google for $3 billion in the early part of their journey and Google said, ‘No - because we’re worth more.’
“They wanted $5 billion - and now look what’s happened; how often do you hear the word ‘Yahoo’?”
Person using Google (Perry van Munster / Alamy Stock Photo)The company is now part of Alphabet - a company worth an estimated €1.58 trillion - that also owns Fitbit and YouTube.
“They bought YouTube back in 2006 and if you talk to any young person, they would say that they watch YouTube more than they watch traditional TV,” Jess said.
“It was such a smart investment.”
Every day, there are some 8.5 billion Google searches and it raised €258.63 billion in revenue last year.
From the outside, it might seem like everything has gone right for the company - but it has made its fair share of mistakes as well.
“They also tried to bring out a social network as well - which completely failed,” Jess said.
“Then of course, they’ve received multiple slaps on the wrist from the EU or different governing bodies around the world.”
Still, one forecast predicts Alphabet’s revenue will reach €346 billion in the next five years - suggesting the company is not going anywhere any time soon.
“I think we’ll be Googling things for a long time to come,” Jess said.
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Main image: A Google user searches on their smartphone. Picture by: Alamy.com
