When is Google’s Birthday? Anniversary Google Doodle celebrates 17 years of tech company on 27 September – here’s four ways it’s changed
Happy Birthday Google.
From search engine to science research and everything in between, in 17 years the company has grown from an office in the dorm rooms of founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page to a multi-billion dollar company that is now a verb in the dictionary.
Celebrating the occasion, Google has made a doodle featuring several aspects of the company back in 1998. Far from the high concepts of today, there's a lava lamp (they had a big resurgence in the 90s, honest) a Linux penguin mascot and servers held together with lego.
Oh how things change.
While there is some debate over the exact date of Google's birthday – and the company has celebrated on several different days in its history – 27 September has been the chosen date for a while now.
"When’s Google’s birthday? I'm not sure even we know," Google said in a blog post in 2013.
September was a busy month for Google, incorporating as an official company on 4 September 1998 after investor Andy Bechtolsheim had written out a check to Google for $100,000. A year before that, the google.com domain was officially registered on 15 September, according to the official history.
Here's four ways Google's changed from that simple start in '98 and what it is now in 2015.
1. The logo
Back in 1998, Google's logo looked like this:
Now (when it's not being doodled differently in celebration of a big event), it looks a little slicker after a recent makeover.
2. The value
Almost two decades ago, when Google first started out, the top 10 list of the biggest companies in the world looked like this.
Now, Google is the fourth biggest company in the world, in terms of market value.
3. The people
Back in 1998, Page and Brin hired its first member of staff and Craig Silverstein claims the title of employee number one. As of halfway through this year, that figure stands at more than 57,000.
4. The location
Home to the first handful of employees was this garage at 232 Santa Margarita Avenue, Menlo Park in California.
(Source: Wikicommons/Jordiipa)
Now, Google has more than 70 offices in more than 40 countries around the world, with its headquarters – the Googleplex – located in nearby Mountain View.
(Source: Google)