Google Turns 20: How an Internet Search Engine Reshaped the World

Google Turns 20: How an Internet Search Engine(ˈenjən) Reshaped the World

The biggest moments, product launches, and acquisitions(ˌakwəˈziSHən) throughout Google’s two-decade history.

By Verge(vərj) Staff(staf)

No technology(tekˈnäləjē) company is arguably(ˈärgyo͞oəblē) more responsible for shaping the modern(ˈmädərn) internet, and modern life, than Google. The company that started as a novel search engine now manages eight products with more than 1 billion users each. Many of those people use Google software to search the repository(riˈpäzəˌtôrē) of human knowledge, communicate, perform work, consume media, and maneuver(məˈno͞ovər) the endlessly vast internet in 2018. On Tuesday(-dē,ˈt(y)o͞ozdā), September 4th, Google turned 20 years old, marking one of the most staggeringly(ˈstaɡ(ə)riNGlē) influential(ˌinflo͞oˈenCHəl) runs for any corporation(ˌkôrpəˈrāSHən) in history.

As Alphabet(ˈalfəˌbet), the holding company of which Google is now a subsidiary(səbˈsidēˌerē), steadily(ˈstedəlē) rises(ī) to join Apple and Amazon(ˈaməˌzän) in the $1 trillion(ˈtrilyən) market valuation(ˌvalyo͞oˈāSHən) territory(ˈterəˌtôrē), we’re reflecting on all the moments in Google’s past that led to its position at the peak of industries as diverse(dəˈvərs, dīˈvərs ) as mapping, self-driving cars, and smartphone operating systems. This isn’t a comprehensive(ˌkämpriˈhensiv) history of Google’s past 20 years. But it is an approximation(əˌpräksəˈmāSHən) of the company’s biggest product launches, legal(ˈlēgəl) quagmires(ˈkwagˌmīr), and instrumental(ˌinstrəˈmentl) acquisitions that have turned it into a Silicon(ˈsiləˌkän) Valley(ˈvalē) powerhouse that will likely last for many decades to come.

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https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/5/17823490/google-20th-birthday-anniversary-history-milestones