How Google Went from Search Engine Zero to Search Engine Hero

It has been seventeen years since Larry Page and Sergey Brin created a small web crawler in a garage. Google was not the first name they came up with, but it is now the first one on most people’s lips when asked to name a search engine. Many other search engines have come and gone over the years. Others have tried to claw back market share—most notably Yahoo! But Google remains on top of the pile, and today Google is the most popular search engine in the world. So how did Google manage to become synonymous with web searches after such an inauspicious beginning?

Top-Notch Search Results

Way back in 1998, search engines were in their infancy. There were a few knocking around, but an early factor in Google’s success was that it produced significantly better search results for users. Today, we are used to typing in a search query and being shown hundreds of relevant pages, but back then, search results were not nearly as good. However, Google soon built a reputation for showing users more relevant results compared to other search engines at the time.

The Early Years

Google grew rapidly in the first few years. By 2000, Google had surpassed all of its competitors and was officially the world’s largest search engine. A year later, the search engine had indexed more than three million documents, and by July of that same year, Google’s images search was launched.  By the end of 2004, Google had created its desktop search feature and had eight billion documents indexed.

How Has Google Stayed on Top?

When you consider the transient nature of the internet, it is pretty phenomenal that Google has managed to stay at the top of the tree for so long. But one of the main reasons why Google has achieved this momentous feat is that it has never rested on its laurels. Right from the beginning, Google has been at the forefront of technological developments, as well as expanding into the hardware market.  Its updates may have troubled many SEO companies in Las Vegas, but everything Google has done has been for the good of their users.

Android Operating System

In addition to being the biggest search engine in the world, Google is also responsible for some of the best-known technological innovations, too. Google’s Android operating system is the most popular mobile software, despite strong competition from Apple. Google also has a share in the mobile handset market—in 2011 Google bought Motorola and it also has relationships with Asus and LG, two other big names in the world of technology.

Can Google Continue to Stay at the Top?

Most Las Vegas SEO experts believe that there will come a time when Google is eventually ousted from its number one position. But the general consensus is that, if Google continues to innovate and come up with exciting new technologies, there is every chance that Google will continue to survive and thrive in what is an exceptionally competitive marketplace. So in another fifteen years, we could be saying, Happy 30th Birthday Google, and enjoying yet another Google Doodle when we open up a search engine page.