Google Search

"Google.com" redirects here. For the company itself, see Google.

Google Search
Google Search on desktop
Type of site
Web search engine
Available in149 languages
OwnerGoogle
RevenueGoogle Ads
URLgoogle.com Edit this at Wikidata
IPv6 supportYes[1]
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional
Launched
  • 1995; 29 years ago (1995) (first prototype)
  • 1997; 27 years ago (1997) (final launch)
Current statusOnline
Written in

Google Search (also known simply as Google or Google.com) is a search engine operated by Google. It allows users to search for information on the Web by entering keywords or phrases. Google Search uses algorithms to analyze and rank websites based on their relevance to the search query. It is the most popular search engine worldwide.

Google Search is the most-visited website in the world. As of 2020, Google Search has a 92% share of the global search engine market.[3] Approximately 26.75% of Google's monthly global traffic comes from the United States, 4.44% from India, 4.4% from Brazil, 3.92% from the United Kingdom and 3.84% from Japan according to data provided by Similarweb.[4]

The order of search results returned by Google is based, in part, on a priority rank system called "PageRank". Google Search also provides many different options for customized searches, using symbols to include, exclude, specify or require certain search behavior, and offers specialized interactive experiences, such as flight status and package tracking, weather forecasts, currency, unit, and time conversions, word definitions, and more.

The main purpose of Google Search is to search for text in publicly accessible documents offered by web servers, as opposed to other data, such as images or data contained in databases. It was originally developed in 1996 by Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Scott Hassan.[5][6][7] The search engine would also be set up in the garage of Susan Wojcicki's Menlo Park home.[8] In 2011, Google introduced "Google Voice Search" to search for spoken, rather than typed, words.[9] In 2012, Google introduced a semantic search feature named Knowledge Graph.

Analysis of the frequency of search terms may indicate economic, social and health trends.[10] Data about the frequency of use of search terms on Google can be openly inquired via Google Trends and have been shown to correlate with flu outbreaks and unemployment levels, and provide the information faster than traditional reporting methods and surveys. As of mid-2016, Google's search engine has begun to rely on deep neural networks.[11]

In August 2024, a US judge in Virginia ruled that Google's search engine held an illegal monopoly over Internet search.[12][13] The court found that Google mantained its market dominance by paying large amounts to phone-makers and browser-developers to make Google its default search engine.[14]

  1. ^ York, Dan (June 6, 2016). "Google's IPv6 Stats Hit 12% on Fourth Anniversary of World IPv6 Launch". CircleID. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  2. ^ "The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine". Computer Science Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2009.
  3. ^ "Search Engine Market Share Worldwide | StatCounter Global Stats". StatCounter Global Stats. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  4. ^ "google.com". similarweb.com.
  5. ^ Fisher, Adam (July 10, 2018). "Brin, Page, and Mayer on the Accidental Birth of the Company that Changed Everything". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on July 4, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  6. ^ McHugh, Josh (January 1, 2003). "Google vs. Evil". Wired. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  7. ^ D'Onfro, Jillian (February 13, 2016). "How a billionaire who wrote Google's original code created a robot revolution". Business Insider. Archived from the original on August 24, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  8. ^ Yoon, John; Isaac, Mike (August 10, 2024). "Susan Wojcicki, Former Chief of YouTube, Dies at 56". New York Times. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  9. ^ Google (Tue June 14, 2011) Official announcement Archived July 31, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Hubbard, Douglas (2011). Pulse: The New Science of Harnessing Internet Buzz to Track Threats and Opportunities. John Wiley & Sons.
  11. ^ "Soon We Won't Program Computers. We'll Train Them Like Dogs". Wired. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  12. ^ Barakat, Matthew; Liedtke, Michale (August 5, 2024). "Google illegally maintains monopoly over internet search, judge rules". Associated Press. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  13. ^ "A court says Google is a monopolist. Now what?". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  14. ^ "A court says Google is a monopolist. Now what?". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved November 18, 2024.