Meeting at Stanford & the BackRub project
Google’s story begins during the mid-1990s at Stanford University, where Larry Page and Sergey Brin were both graduate students. Initially, Page explored how to analyze the structure of the Web by studying links between pages. He developed a program called BackRub, which crawled and ranked pages based on how many other pages linked to them — essentially viewing links as “recommendations.” Brin joined him, and together they refined the ranking method into what later became known as the PageRank algorithm.
Adopting the name “Google” & early funding
By 1997, the duo registered the domain google.com — a playful twist on the mathematical term googol (1 followed by 100 zeros), chosen to reflect their ambition to index vast amounts of information.
Soon after, they dropped the name BackRub in favor of “Google.”
Around that time they secured a vital early commitment: Sun Microsystems co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim wrote them a $100,000 check based on a demo — even before Google formally existed as a company.
That investment spurred Page and Brin to incorporate officially.
Incorporation & the ‘garage’ phase
On September 4, 1998, Page and Brin filed incorporation papers and formally founded Google, Inc.
In the earliest days, they operated out of a modest garage in Menlo Park, California — a location often cited in the lore of Silicon Valley startups. Google itself later references that its “small garage” beginning is part of company folklore.
Even though there is some debate about exactly which date counts as Google’s “birthday,” the firm has tended to celebrate on September 27 in recent years.
Growth, Strategy & Early Milestones
Scaling search and monetization
In the early years, Google’s clean interface and strong search relevance distinguished it from other search engines that prioritized ads or portals. A key element was Google’s algorithmic strength, which allowed it to outperform predecessors by focusing on link structure rather than just keyword matching.
By 2000, Google launched AdWords (later rebranded as Google Ads) — its self-serve advertising platform, which became a core pillar of its business model.
In the same year, Google became the default search engine for Yahoo, dramatically boosting traffic.
In 2001, Google invited Eric Schmidt to become CEO and chairman, bringing seasoned managerial leadership to complement the technical founders.
Over time, Google expanded beyond search — launching Gmail in 2004, Google Maps in 2005, and acquiring YouTube in 2006.
In 2015, Google was reorganized under a parent company called Alphabet, with Google as its largest subsidiary.
From the start — as Page and Brin themselves noted in their founders’ letter — Google was never meant to be a “conventional company.”
Creativity, experimentation, and challenge have been hallmarks of the company’s evolution, along with a persistent mission to organize and democratize access to information.
Algorithmic edge & dominance
Google’s strength has always rested on algorithms and data. Analysts point out that its methodology for ranking search results — and its continuous refinement of those algorithms — allowed it to leap ahead of competitors.
Over decades, Google’s dominance in search cemented its role as a gateway to the web and a foundation for other services.
What began as a dorm-room project now underpins a multi-billion dollar empire. Reuters tracked how Google’s ad business — tightly integrated with its search operation — became central to global digital advertising. As recently as 2025, U.S. courts have even explored whether Google unlawfully monopolized parts of that ad market.
Google’s origin story is a classic example of academic curiosity turning into epochal innovation. From a link-analysis research project at Stanford to the global powerhouse that shapes how billions explore the internet, its trajectory reflects the impact of combining technical vision, strategic investment, and continuous product evolution. Even today, Google’s founding principles — organizing knowledge and making it accessible — echo through its many services and ongoing ambitions.