
Founded in 1998 by Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google has become one of the largest high tech companies in the world. The company has a global reach, handling more than 1.2 trillion web searches each year. It has also become a major player in cloud computing, mobile devices, e-commerce, and quantum computing.
The company's primary focus is on online advertising and cloud computing. Its advertising revenue accounts for nearly all of its revenue. It has also developed several other products, including Gmail, Maps, Android, Google Assistant, and Google Earth. However, its most popular product remains its search engine, which is used by more than 200 million people each day.
The company has been criticized for its use of other people's intellectual property, its monopoly position, and its privacy concerns. In 2010, a group of publishers sued Google for using their intellectual property to manipulate its search results. The lawsuit was settled, with Google paying $125 million.
In 2011, Google handled three billion online searches per day. Google also has an extensive network of data centres, each containing hundreds of thousands of computers. They are located across the world, including 32 offices in North America, six offices in Latin America, and 18 offices in Asia-Pacific.
Alphabet is the parent company of Google. The company is run by CEO Sundar Pichai and executive chairman Eric Schmidt. It is a multinational technology corporation based in Mountain View, California. The company was originally created as an online search engine and has since branched into a variety of other services.
The company has a number of subsidiaries. Its main products are its search engine, cloud computing, and its Android mobile operating system. Other products include Google Voice, which provides users with voicemail transcriptions, and Google Maps, which helps users find local businesses.
It is also known for its software, such as its Google Docs program and its Chrome browser. In addition, the company has several other products, including Google Keep, which allows users to create and store notes. Other products include Google Lens, which uses artificial intelligence to recognize objects, and Google Meet, which allows users to videoconference.
The company also focuses on consumer electronics and e-commerce. In 2007, the company launched its Android mobile operating system and Google Maps, which allows users to find local businesses. In 2012, the company acquired Motorola Mobility and AdMob, a mobile advertising network.
The company's stated mission is to organize the world's information. Its algorithms rank pages based on relevancy. They also analyze key content attributes, such as title and alt attributes, images, and videos.
In June 2015, Google announced it would discontinue the service Google+. The company has a large number of open source products, but has moved many of them to GitHub. In 2018, executive chairman Schmidt stepped down. The company also announced a restructuring, with its core business moving to Alphabet. The new corporate name is Alphabet Inc. The company is also referred to as the "most valuable brand" in the world because of its market dominance.