There’s a little bit of Google in most of us

Google has been all over the news since Larry Page took over as CEO, I realised that there is a little bit of Google in most of us. Since search entered our lives things have never been the same. From when Google was first incorporated as a privately held company on September 4, 1998, we would never have imagined how different things would be a decade later.

According to Wikipedia “Google runs over one million servers in data centers around the world, and processes over one billion search requests and about twenty-four petabytes of user-generated data every day.”

We are currently living in the information age where anything you wish to research, understand, find or even view is only a mouse click away.

The importance of Google in our everyday lives is massive. Google is a source of income through SEO. Google is in some way or another part of our lives.

Google has brought order to the internet, and has allowed us to find things much faster and easier. The fact is that people use search engines for information, buying products online, selling goods, offering services; people are using the web for various reasons. Search engines have created a luxury for us, because we search within their data bases for whatever we need or want- they make our lives easier.

The growth of Google and other search engines has seen the rise of India, Brazil and China as major up and coming innovative, entrepreneurial, venture capital destinations. The birth of online marketing really is thanks to Google’s innovation. The same can be said for Facebook, Youtube, Skype and major online shops like Amazon, Last Minute.com and many others.

Imagine how fast business will be moving in the next 10 years? Google is one of the most influential businesses in human history. Google is now a verb in dictionaries. No one can argue the influence or sheer power that Google has as a company. Google may have started as a search engine by Page and Sergey Brin, but they have evolved into a global innovator and trend setter.

Here are some of Google’s acquisitions and partnerships: Keyhole, Inc. The search giant renamed the service to Google Earth in 2005, DoubleClick for US$3.1 billion, GrandCentral for US$50 million, On2 Technologies for US$106.5 million, Aardvark, Youtube, Google partnered with NASA to build 1 000 000 square feet (93 000 m2) of offices, Google and Fox Interactive Media of News Corporation entered into a US$900 million agreement. In 2010, Google Energy made its first investment of US$38.8 million into two wind farms in North Dakota. Google has many of its own websites like Orkut.com, Picasa.com, Gmail.com, Blogger.com, and the latest innovation is Google Wallet.

All this started with a need; a need for information that was easy to find, useful and most importantly trusted. Google never had to market itself when it started because the pure brilliance of its search engine was embraced by all. Google is like the cellphone — it just makes sense and it is part of our lives.

It’s almost as if Google is at the center of it all. Need a Facebook account? Google it! Need to open a Twitter account? Or what’s Twitter? Yep, you can find answers on Google. Most businesses build and package their website with the hope it will rank well on Google.

What will Google do next? Who knows? Its quest for social seems dismal but it has already launched into space. Google is relentless and if Google Wallet is successful chances are Google will consume our lives even more.