When Was Google Founded?
The birth of a tech revolution that reshaped the digital world.
➤Google Was Founded on September 4, 1998:
Google officially became a company on September 4, 1998, when it was incorporated in Menlo Park, California.
➤The Founders Were Larry Page and Sergey Brin:
Stanford University students Larry Page and Sergey Brin launched Google as a search engine to organize the world’s information.
➤Started as a Research Project in 1996:
The concept behind Google began in 1996 as a Stanford research project focused on analyzing web links to improve search accuracy.
➤Originally Named ‘Backrub’:
Before becoming Google, the project was called “Backrub” because it analyzed backlinks to determine page importance.
➤September 1998 Marked the Official Launch:
The company was incorporated and Google.com became a registered domain, marking its formal entry into the tech world.
➤Initial Operations Began in a Garage:
Google’s first office was a rented garage in Menlo Park, famously owned by Susan Wojcicki, who later became YouTube’s CEO.
➤Received Its First Investment in 1998:
Google got its first major funding—a $100,000 check—from Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, that same year.
➤Rapid Growth Started After 1998 Launch:
Within months of its founding, Google began to gain attention for delivering faster, more relevant search results than existing engines.
➤The Name ‘Google’ Was Inspired by ‘Googol’:
The name is a play on the mathematical term “googol,” which means 1 followed by 100 zeros—symbolizing the vast amount of data to organize.
➤September 4 Is Celebrated as Google’s Birthday:
Though Google’s birthday was once celebrated on different dates, September 4 is now recognized as the company’s official founding date.