That hidden, enormous force behind the internet, the giant search engine, did not get this big all at once. It grew over time, and we put together a timeline showing what Google shipped and when, all the way to the present day. In our piece on the history of search engines we went through where search engines stood through the eyes of an SEO specialist working in Turkey, and that one may interest you as well.

Google’s Milestones Year by Year

  • 1995 – Larry Page and Sergey Brin meet at Stanford University
  • 1996 – Work starts on a search engine project called BackRub
  • 1997 – The google.com domain is registered
  • 1998 – Google Inc. is formally founded
  • 1999 – The first office opens in Palo Alto (the same year we at Türk SEM published our own first website)
  • 2000 – Google AdWords launches
  • 2000 – The Google Toolbar is released
  • 2001 – Google Image Search goes live
  • 2001 – Eric Schmidt is appointed CEO
  • 2002 – Google News starts
  • 2003 – Google AdSense is introduced
  • 2003 – Blogger is acquired
  • 2004 – Gmail launches
  • 2004 – Google goes public (IPO)
  • 2004 – Google Scholar goes live
  • 2005 – Google Maps is released
  • 2005 – Google Earth launches
  • 2005 – Android Inc. is acquired
  • 2005 – Google Analytics opens to the public
  • 2006 – Google Translate starts
  • 2006 – YouTube is acquired
  • 2006 – Google Docs & Spreadsheets (later Google Docs) is introduced
  • 2007 – DoubleClick is acquired
  • 2007 – The Android operating system is announced
  • 2008 – The Google Chrome browser is released
  • 2008 – The T-Mobile G1, the first Android phone, is released
  • 2008 – Google Street View expands
  • 2009 – Google Voice is introduced
  • 2009 – Chrome OS is announced
  • 2010 – The Google Nexus phone line begins
  • 2010 – The Google Fiber project is announced
  • 2011 – The Google+ social network launches
  • 2011 – Google Wallet, the mobile payment system, is introduced
  • 2011 – Motorola Mobility is acquired
  • 2012 – Google Drive cloud storage starts
  • 2012 – Google Now, the virtual assistant, is introduced
  • 2012 – The Google Play Store launches
  • 2013 – Google Glass, the wearable, is introduced
  • 2013 – The Waze navigation app is acquired
  • 2014 – Google Capital (now CapitalG), the investment arm, is set up
  • 2014 – The Android One program starts
  • 2014 – Google Cardboard, the virtual reality platform, is introduced
  • 2015 – Alphabet Inc. is created as the holding company and Google is restructured
  • 2015 – Android Pay (now Google Pay) launches
  • 2015 – Google Photos is relaunched as a separate app
  • 2016 – Google Assistant is introduced
  • 2016 – The Google Home smart speaker is released
  • 2016 – The Google Duo video calling app launches
  • 2016 – The Google Allo messaging app is introduced (shut down in 2019)
  • 2017 – Google Lens, the visual recognition technology, is introduced
  • 2017 – The Google for Jobs search feature starts
  • 2018 – Google One, the cloud storage subscription, starts
  • 2018 – The Google Duplex AI assistant is announced
  • 2018 – The decision is taken to shut Google+ down for consumers
  • 2019 – The Google Stadia cloud gaming platform launches
  • 2019 – The Google Pixel 3a mid-range phone line is introduced
  • 2020 – Google Meet video conferencing is offered free of charge
  • 2020 – Android 11 is released
  • 2020 – The Google TV platform is redesigned and launched
  • 2021 – Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) is rebranded
  • 2021 – Google integrates its AI company DeepMind more closely
  • 2021 – Google starts testing FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts)
  • 2021 – Unlimited free storage in Google Photos comes to an end
  • 2022 – Google brings the Office apps together inside Gmail
  • 2022 – The Pixel Watch is introduced at Google I/O
  • 2022 – Google acquires the cybersecurity firm Mandiant
  • 2023 – The Google Bard AI chatbot is announced
  • 2023 – Expanded AI and ML features arrive in Google Cloud
  • 2023 – AI powered features in Google Search are expanded
  • 2023 – The Google Stadia service is shut down
  • 2023 – Google introduces its PaLM 2 AI model
  • 2024 – Google announces it is speeding up its quantum computing research
  • 2024 – Augmented reality features are added to Google Maps
  • 2024 – Waymo, Google’s self-driving car project, expands

Alphabet, the Google Parent Company, in Larry Page’s Own Words

We are excited about…

  • Getting more ambitious things done.
  • Taking the long-term view.
  • Empowering great entrepreneurs and companies to flourish.
  • Investing at the scale of the opportunities and resources we see.
  • Improving the transparency and oversight of what we’re doing.
  • Making Google even better through greater focus.
  • And hopefully… as a result of all this, improving the lives of as many people as we can.

What could be better? No wonder we are excited to get to work with everyone in the Alphabet family. Don’t worry, we’re still getting used to the name too!

To read the whole thing: Abc.xyz

From Us

Google took on a steady role in how people reach information, and it has carried that role successfully right up to today. Larry Page and Sergey Brin still hold on to the same appetite for work. Alphabet is still shaping the internet in our own day.