How Google, which is now the largest search engine in the world, got its name from an interesting story that involves intrigue in mathematics and a stroke of luck, as well as the insight of those who founded it. Google is a name linked to online search and knows our entire world. But the source of this famed name is as arcane and enticing a mystery to unpack as any puzzle in high theory.
The Founders and the Early Days
The truth is that Google was established by a pair of Ph. D. brethren at Stanford University. They started working on a search engine project named ‘BackRub’ in 1996 that was based on backlinks to establish the significance of a particular site. But as the project grew to encompass additional activities and evolved to better reflect their mission (or perhaps as more of an appeal for funding), they knew they would have to find a new name that captured their broader effort to organize all of the world’s information.
The Concept of a Googol
Google (word)TopicThe Name Google comes from the mathematical term Googol. A googol is 10^100, or better put; a massive number comprising of a 1 followed by 100 zeros. The number was first introduced by Edward Kasner’s 9-year-old nephew, Milton Sirotta, who described it in his 1940 book Mathematics and the Imagination.
It seems as though Larry Page and Sergey Brin later appropriated the word “googol” because it matched their intention of organizing (largely) all the pages on the internet. With their search engine, they imagined it indexing something close to unlimited data, as though it could, much like the theoretical googol representing a figure so large that it amounts to infinity.
The Naming Process
Like many other memorable names, the move from “googol” to “Google” was smooth due to a stroke of luck. Supposedly, during a brainstorming session with Sean Anderson, a fellow graduate student, the word “googolplex” (which is 1 followed by a googol zero) was suggested. This number is “googol,” Larry Page retaliated! Anderson then verified if the domain name “googol. com” was available. What he should have typed is “google. com” instead. Google: They registered the domain name on September 15, 1997; the name was a play on the word “googol”, One followed by one hundred zeroes, which was a mathematical term for 10 raised to the power of 100.
The name “Google” is catchy and easy to remember, and it also conveys their mission of organizing a large amount of information that exists on the web. The use of one extra o compared to a name in the mathematical lexicon, “googol” instead of “google,” had a lightheartedness and novelty they could get behind.
Branding and Symbolism
Google became branded to mean search. It has since come to represent e-commerce, scale, and reach. This cheekiness in the name is replicated in the company’s unofficial slogan, “Don’t be evil,” and its multicolored logo.
In both cases, it was further underlined with a unique take on the logo. Using GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), Sergey Brin created a simple, playful logo composed of a wordmark with multi-colored letters, based on the Catull typeface. The logo has gotten cleaned up over the years, but its colorful, friendly soul remains.
Google’s Influence
The ubiquity of the Google name has transcended the idea of merely being a company and entered into a verb in the modern vernacular. A word in the English language has taken on a new shape to have an entirely different meaning. I.e To google = or to search the information online because of the monolith that a company was able to become that is almost in charge of the internet and the information retrieval process.
Short History of Google
Largest search engine Google is how to name an example of disembodied or artificial intelligence, as the selection of a characteristic short evocative term that was desire-based but is sadly rooted in happenstance and mathematics can draw more on the imagination. What started out as a research project to grow into the largest and most impactful search engine to date, the name Google is an embodiment of its owner’s zeal for making all of the world’s information accessible and utilizable by everyone. The story behind the name is a reminder of the blend of creativity, serendipity, and intellectual curiosity that drives innovation.
