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2023

The largest DDoS attacks on Google and Amazon have been going on for 1.5 months

On October 10, 2023, Amazon, Cloudflare and Google (part of Alphabet Holding) reported the most powerful DDoS attack on their services in history. Information security experts say that such large-scale attacks can cause serious damage to the Internet infrastructure.

As noted by Google, the DDoS attack began in August 2023 and, as of October 10 of this year, continues. At the peak of activity, the avalanche of "garbage" calls to Google services reached 398 million requests per second. This is approximately 8.5 times more compared to the most destructive DDoS attack of 2022, when up to 46 million requests per second were recorded. It is noted that in just two minutes of the attack "more requests were generated than the total number of views of articles reported by Wikipedia for the entire September 2023."

Cloudflare, which provides CDN and security services, said the DDoS attack, which began in August 2023, was three times more powerful than any previous cyber campaign of this type. Amazon Web Services reported that the company's services were subjected to a new type of DDoS attack.

The problem is related to the HTTP/2 protocol. Attackers took advantage of the Rapid Reset vulnerability (CVE-2023-44487), which was assigned a hazard rating of 7.5 points out of 10 possible (CVSS). The flaw allows you to generate a huge number of requests at a time, and then instantly cancel them, as a result of which network resources are overloaded. Moreover, massive DDoS attacks through a vulnerability HTTP/2 Rapid Reset can be organized through relatively small botnets, numbering about 20 thousand compromised computers. As of October 12, 2023, nothing was reported about which cyber group is behind the record DDoS attack.^[1]

Google will pay $93 million for collecting user location data when the function is disabled

On September 14, 2023, the American corporation Google entered into a settlement agreement in the framework of proceedings related to the unauthorized collection of user location data.

Charges against Google were brought by California Attorney General Rob Bonta. The essence of the claims boils down to the fact that the company continues to receive information about the location of users even after they have disabled the corresponding function in the settings of their devices. According to the case file, the company misleads consumers only by creating the appearance that they can control the collection of personal information. As a result, Google can display personalized ads without user permission. At the same time, court documents note that location-based Google advertising is an important part of its business, since customers want to promote their products depending on who lives and where. The lawsuit also says Google counts location in its "behavioral profile" of users.

Google assured consumers that it would not track their location as soon as they refused, but in practice did the opposite, continuing to collect data on user movements for its own commercial benefit. It's unacceptable and we're holding Google accountable, "Bonta said.

As part of the settlement, Google will have to pay $93 million. The corporation pleaded not guilty, but agreed to provide more information about ways to track users' locations. These conditions include greater transparency regarding data collection methods, notifications before using location information to create advertising profiles, etc. Similar measures would extend beyond California to other states.^[2]

Google closes its failed VR technology division

On February 8, 2023, it became known about the abolition of the virtual reality technology division (Google Labs) at Google. His team will move to another structure of the company - Tech & Society. Read more here

2022

A fine of $29.5 million for tracking the location of users without their consent

In late December 2022, Google settled two lawsuits related to tracking the location of users of the company's products without their consent. The total amount of penalties amounted to $29.5 million.

The cases were heard in Indiana and Washington (DC). The court filing referred to an "odd and misleading" practice of collecting geolocation data from users of Google services. The company accumulated location information without obtaining prior consent from people. Such information can be used to target ads, allowing Google to display more relevant ads. And this, in turn, makes it possible to increase the interest of potential consumers and increase the company's income.

As part of the settlement of claims, Google will pay a fine of $20 million in Indiana, $9.5 million in Washington. In addition, the company promised to implement a pop-up notification feature for users who have location history or corresponding app activity enabled. Google will also report whether geolocation information collection is set in the settings of a particular application. The IT giant must provide guidance on actions users can take to change geolocation settings and delete accumulated data.

My office has reached an agreement with Google to pay the company $9.5 million for misleading and manipulating consumers, including using "dark patterns" to deceive users and gain access to their location data, said Attorney General of the District of Columbia Karl Racine.

Two more similar proceedings remain open in Texas and Washington: they also threaten Google with millions of fines.^[3]

Fine of $391 million for collecting user data by deception

On November 14, 2022, it became known that Google agreed to pay $391.5 million to resolve the proceedings initiated by 40 US states in connection with the illegal collection of user data by the IT giant.

As stated in the materials of the US Department of Justice, Google continued to receive information about the location of users of a number of its mobile applications even after they deactivated the corresponding option. The allegations span from 2014 to 2020. Information obtained by bypassing user consent helped the company customize the display of its advertisements.

Attorneys general concluded that the company violated state consumer protection laws by misleading users about its location-tracking practices. In particular, Google has not provided complete clarity on the extent to which users can restrict location tracking by changing account and/or mobile device settings.

The key initiators of the proceedings were Oregon and Nebraska; 38 more states joined them. Google uses the personal and behavioral data it collects to create detailed user profiles and target ads, it said. At the same time, location information is one of the most confidential and valuable types of personal data. Google, in turn, said that the company has already made a number of changes to the services provided, which gave users more control over personal data, including in the field of geolocation. In addition, other innovations are being prepared - in particular, simpler and more understandable tools for deleting location data.^[4][5]

Google will pay $162 million to infringe on competing search engines in Android

On October 20, 2022, the antimonopoly regulator India imposed Google a fine of 13.38 billion (the Indian rupees approximately $161.9 million) for non-competitive practice in the market. mobile devices

The process in question was initiated in 2019. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) concluded that American the IT giant illegally used its dominant position in the segment - and Androidsmartphones Internet search to promote its own applications and services, in particular, browserChrome and video hosting. YouTube

According to Counterpoint Technology Market Research, the Google Android operating system is used by 97% of the approximately 600 million smartphones that are currently in circulation in India. According to the investigation, the company demanded that the suppliers of such devices pre-install the entire Google Mobile Suite, as well as place icons to launch these applications in a visible place on the screen. Thus, according to the regulator, Google created unfair conditions for manufacturers and limited competition.

Шаблон:Quote 'Markets should be able to compete, and the dominant players (in this case Google) have a responsibility to ensure that their behavior does not violate these requirements, the CCI decision says. The antitrust authority has ruled that Google should not require mobile device providers to pre-install a full set of their apps. In addition, users should be able to choose their preferred programs and search tools when initially configuring the gadget. It is also reported that Google faces several more antitrust proceedings in India: they are related to the company's activities in the markets for smart TVs and payments within applications. If Google's anti-competitive behavior in these areas is proven, the company could face new fines.^[6][7]

Google will pay $85 million to secretly collect user location data

In early October 2022, it became known that Google would pay $85 million to the state of Arizona to settle a lawsuit in the case of illegal collection of user location data.

According to Bloomberg, in May 2020, Arizona accused Google of violating a state law protecting consumers from fraud. The company collected location data using other settings that record location history, such as Activity on the Internet and through other applications. This happened after users disabled the function that records the geolocation history of devices.

Google's lawyers argued in their defense that the state's consumer protection law requires alleged fraud to be related to a sale or advertisement. However, in January 2021, an Arizona judge denied the company's request to dismiss the case, the agency said.

{{quote 'I'm proud of this historic settlement that proves that no organization, not even big tech companies, is above the law! Big businessmen should have more meticulous honesty than they usually have in other human relationships. Because big business requires teamwork on a giant scale, "said Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich. }} Citing a statement from Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, the settlement comes amid Google facing similar complaints from state attorneys general in Texas, Indiana and Washington over user location data. The settlement with Arizona represents the largest amount paid to Google per user in a similar privacy and consumer fraud lawsuit.^[8]

Google and Meta will pay billions to collect user data without their knowledge

On September 14, 2022, it became known that the South Korean regulator fined Google and Meta (recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) for tracking user behavior in Internet without their consent and using their data for targeted advertising. Read more here.

Heavy fines for violating EU persdata law

Google paid $42.7 million to collect data without users' knowledge

On August 12, 2022, Google agreed to pay $42.7 million in fines as a result of a multi-year lawsuit with the Australian antitrust regulator over the provision of false information to users about the collection of personal location information.

In April 2021, a federal court ruled that Google violated consumer law by misleading some local users who thought the company did not collect personal data about their location through mobile devices running the Android operating system between January 2017 and December 2018.

Google misled users by saying the "location history" feature on their Android mobile devices was the only way to get location data, while the company's online activity monitoring feature and apps also collect and store local data, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said.

The watchdog estimates that 1.3 million Google user accounts were affected in Australia in October 2019, and legal proceedings have been launched against the company and its local unit.

The company was also convicted of violating two other consumer protection laws regarding actions to mislead the public and provide inaccurate information about the functionality of services.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission then called the court's decision a clear signal to digital platforms about the need to openly inform consumers about what is happening to their data.

According to the regulator, Google took steps to eliminate the current problem back in 2018. At a brief federal court hearing, it was announced that the fine of A $60 million ($42.7 million) was agreed by the parties as "fair and reasonable."^[9]

Google will pay 10 million euros for the transfer of user data to third parties

Spanish data the AEPD protection body in May 2022, 2022, fining the company Google for "two very serious violations" related to the transfer of citizens' data EU to a third party without legal grounds and thus impeding the exercise of people's right to delete their personal data in accordance with. GDPR

Google was fined €10 million by Spain for violations of the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), according to which it was found that the company transferred information that could be used to identify citizens who required the removal of their personal data under EU law, including the email address, the reasons given and the stated URL, to a third party based in the United States, without having a legal basis for such further processing.

In addition to the fine, Google was ordered to make changes to its procedures to bring them into line with GDPR, as well as delete all personal data that is still stored by the company in connection with this violation.

The third party to which Google illegally transfers data is the Lumen Project, an American academic project of the Berkman Klein Center for the Internet and Society at Harvard University, which aims to collect and study legal requests to delete information from the network by creating a database of requests to delete content.

The AEPD also directed Google to "strongly ask" the Lumen project to stop using and erase all citizens' data from the EU. The AEPD found that by passing on the personal data of European citizens who demanded their data be deleted to the Lumen Project, Google essentially violated their legal right to delete information (under Article 17 of the GDPR) - also known as the "right to be forgotten." In its decision, AEPD argues that Google has not given users wishing to erase their data a choice regarding the transfer of their information to the Lumen Project, meaning there is no legitimate basis for transferring the data.

The regulator also criticised a system based on the form Google had developed for people requesting their data be deleted - for being confusing and requiring the choice of a query option, which the regulator said could have led to the request not being considered under data protection but under a different regulatory regime.

{{quote 'The Agency's decision states that this system is equivalent to "leaving Google LLC a decision on whether, when the GDPR is applied and when the GDPR is not applied, which would mean agreeing to that, that this organization can bypass the application of personal data protection rules, and, more specifically, agreement that the right to delete personal data is due to the content removal system developed by the responsible organization, the AEPD press release says. }} A Google spokesman said the company has already taken steps to change its processes, such as reducing the amount of information it shares with Lumen on requests to delete data coming from EU countries. Google also said that its general policy is not to share information about delete requests from personal data or any other delete requests that cite data protection or privacy rights.^[10]

Google will pay a fine of $188 million for forcing smartphone manufacturers to use Android

In mid-February 2022, the South Korean antimonopoly regulator announced an increase in the fine imposed on Google for alleged anti-competitive actions to $187.8 million. Initially, the fine was imposed in connection with the pressure of smartphone manufacturers to pre-install the Android operating system. Read more here.

Bill requiring compensation to be paid to British media for posting their articles

On January 31, 2022, information appeared that UK government he had prepared a bill according to which the American IT the giants Google and (Meta formerly Facebook) would be obliged to pay compensation for British MEDIA the use of their materials.

According to the publication, the initiative will oblige Google and Meta to sit down at the negotiating table with media companies in the United Kingdom to reach a compromise on the amount of payments for posting their articles on their resources. If the parties fail to agree on the amount, then the UK Competition and Markets Authority will enter the matter. It is noted that the regulator will have to act "quickly and effectively" in the issue of protecting the interests of local media.

According to the newspaper's sources, this bill largely repeats the law, which entered into force in Australia in February 2021. After the adoption of the initiative, Google and Meta agreed to pay large Australian media companies one billion dollars each over the next few years.^[11]

Fine of 150 million euros due to cookies

In early January 2022 France Google , the National Commission on Informatics and Freedoms (CNIL) fined Meta Platforms 150 million and 60 million euros, respectively, for violations in the collection of user data.

As it Reuters clarifies, the claims relate to the management policy of the so-called. cookies files For some time they store in text the actions that the user performed on the site. These files allow you to track, for example, what is interesting to the user in order to offer him the most suitable advertising.

According to CNIL, disabling the function of saving cookies on facebook.com resources, google.fr and youtube.com is not as obvious to the user as enabling it. It is for this reason that fines were imposed on Google and Meta Platforms by the French regulator.

When you accept cookies, it is done with one click, "says Karin Kiefer, head of CNIL data protection and sanctions. - Rejecting cookies should be as simple as accepting them.

It is noted that the preliminary consent of Internet users to use cookies that help create targeted digital advertising campaigns occupies an important place in the EU requirements for data privacy.

The fine of 150 million euros imposed on Google turned out to be a record for the French National Commission on Informatics and Freedoms. The previous maximum was dated 2020, when 100 million euros were collected from Google.

A Google spokesman, commenting on the CNIL ruling, said the company understood the measure of its responsibility and would make the changes in agreement with CNIL. Meta representative - that Facebook users already have a greater degree of control over the privacy profile, and these permissions can always be canceled. But the company will still work in this direction.^[12]

2021

Building a company to develop drugs with artificial intelligence

In early November 2021, the holding, Alphabet which is based on the corporation, Google launched a Britain new drug development company. It was named Isomorphic Labs. The company will build on research conducted artificial intelligence DeepMind by a London-based lab that Google acquired in 2014. More. here

Launch of a unit for organizing cyber protection of government agencies

In October 2021, Google announced the launch of the Cybersecurity Action Team, designed to help governments, infrastructure life support facilities, large enterprises and small businesses. Read more here.

Fine of $177 million for imposing Android on smartphone manufacturers

In mid-September 2021, the Korean to trade Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) announced Google a fine of 207 billion won (almost $177 million). The regulator recognized the company violated antitrust laws for imposing Android manufacturers. smartphones

The latter, according to the KFTC decree, were forced to sign agreements with Google prohibiting them from installing modified versions of Android (the so-called "forks") on their mobile devices, as well as developing their own versions of this OS. In exchange, Google gives companies a license to use the app store and access early versions of Android. Such policies by Google damaged innovation and cemented the dominant position of the American corporation in the mobile platform market, the commission said.

In addition to imposing a fine, the regulator also ordered the company to correct the cooperation agreement and allow other OS versions to be used on smartphones. The department believes that the measures "will help pave the way for the revival of competition in the markets of mobile OS and applications."

By September 2021, the South Korean Fair Trade Commission is conducting three more investigations against Google - on the requirement to release mobile gaming applications only in its Google Play store, on the unfair conduct of Google's affairs when selling Digital Signages, as well as on a new billing policy.

A similar investigation against the American corporation began in September 2021. They European Union Brussels also considered that Google violates EU antitrust laws by forcing manufacturers to use their voice assistant on Google Assistant Android devices.^[13]

Investing $30 billion with Microsoft in US cybersecurity after meeting with Biden

At the end of August 2021 Google Microsoft , they announced that they would invest a total of $30 billion in development cyber security USA over the next five years. The government has begun to engage technology companies even more actively in the work to address the threats facing the country due to a series of complex malicious cyber actions and attacks aimed at important infrastructure in the country. More. here

Lobbying costs in the EU - €5.75 million

At the end of August 2021, the costs of leading IT companies to lobby their interests in the European Union became known. Google spends about €5.75 million annually. Read more here.

Speaking Out Against U.S. Government Antitrust Bills

On June 24, 2021, it became known that, Apple, and Amazon Facebook Google opposed the adoption of USA antitrust bills. More. here

Preparing for the opening of the first offline Google Store in New York

On May 20, 2021, Google announced the impending opening of its first physical store. He will work in New York in the summer of 2021. Read more here.

A fine of $36.6 million for promoting its services to the detriment of competing in Turkey

In mid-April 2021, the Turkish authorities fined Google 296 million Turkish lira ($36.6 million) for promoting their services to the detriment of competing ones. The Turkish Antimonopoly Authority believes that Google deliberately distorted the order of delivery of regular search results in the content services market by placing its own text ads at the top of the overall search results and excluding competitors.

The department clarified that the investigation was carried out against the subsidiaries of the technology giant - the Turkish company Google Reklamcilik ve Pazarlama Ltd, Google International LLC, Google LLC, Google Ireland Ltd, as well as against the parent company Alphabet. The Turkish Antitrust Authority has obliged Google to guarantee normal competition in the service search market for six months, as well as report on this issue to the regulator annually for five years.

Google responded that its search services were designed to effectively meet consumer demand for information and that the supply of more travel and accommodation options actually increased competition.

We will evaluate the decision of the [council] and continue to work with the antimonopoly department, maintaining our usual constructive approach, the company said in a statement.

In 2019 European Commission , it also fined Google 1.69 billion dollars for violating antitrust rules EU regarding online advertising. It is also known that earlier, in September 2018 Turkey , Google fined $15 million for violating competition law due to the promotion of mobile, operating system Android as well as mobile applications and services. In November 2020, Turkey fined other large companies, including, and, Facebook Twitter YouTube$1.18 million for not appointing their representative in the country, as required by the new law.^[14]

Launch of the organization for the development of the Rust programming language

In early February 2021, Google, Microsoft, AWS, Huawei, Mozilla launched the Rust Foundation, a non-profit organization. She will be responsible for supporting the ecosystem and developers of the Rust software language, as well as sponsoring the project. Read more here.

2020

Lobbying costs

Google spent $8.7 million on lobbying in 2020, while in 2018 the company's expenses amounted to $21.7 million. Read more here.

Google sued for consuming mobile traffic on Android devices without permission

Google has been sued for consuming mobile traffic on Android devices without permission. This became known on November 16, 2020.

For some unknown reason, Android devices send 260 MB of data per month to Google using mobile traffic. The lawsuit "Taylor et al. v. Google" was filed in federal district court in the city of San Jose (California, USA) on behalf of four citizens living in Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa. The plaintiffs hope that the lawsuit will receive collective status. Read more here.

The court ordered Google to disclose the correspondence of the son of the Russian billionaire Akhmedov as part of the divorce proceedings

At the end of November 2020, a court in San Jose (USA, California) ordered Google to disclose the correspondence of the son of the Russian oligarch Farhad Akhmedov as part of the divorce proceedings with the division of property. According to the ex-wife of businessman Tatyana Akhmedova, he rewrote part of the property to the 26-year-old son Temur, so as not to transfer it to her. Read more here.

Alphabet opens agrotech company Mineral

On October 14, 2020, X Development, owned by Alphabet, announced the opening of a new agrotech company. It is called Mineral, its activities will be focused on improving agriculture with the help of innovative technologies. Read more here.

Epic Games sues Apple, Google for removing Fortnite from app stores

On August 14, 2020, it became known that the developer of computer games Epic Games filed lawsuits against Apple Inc. and Google (part of Alphabet Inc.), accusing the company of violating antitrust laws.

The company filed lawsuits after Apple and Google removed Fortnite, a game developed by Epic, from their app stores. This is due to the fact that the company invited users to make purchases inside the game directly in order to reduce their cost. Read more here.

Fox News: Ad gives Google 'limitless power' over US media

Most news organizations in the US dare not criticize the Black Lives Matter movement because it amounts to ruin for them, complains Fox News host Tucker Carlson. According to him, Google controls almost all online advertising on which the media depends, and can block their income even for objectionable comments^[15] readers^[16].

{{quote 'What is happening to our country right now is completely, absolutely wrong! This will become obvious to everyone - someday when our French revolution is over. In the meantime, most are too scared to say that. One of the reasons we can say that and often say that is because Fox News is an independent company. Our ability to make a living is independent of Google's progressive IT monopoly. Thank God!

Most media companies are dependent on Google. Google controls 70 percent of all online ads. So if you're in the news business, you're listening to Google. When Google tells you to do something, you do. You have no choice. They can ruin you overnight. And they will ruin.

In the entire history of mankind, no organization has ever had more control over information than Google now. So if you are worried about the concentration of power in the hands of a handful of figures who do not bear any responsibility... And you really should even worry about it... No one has more limitless power than Google.

NBC News decided this morning to use Google's power to remove a couple of its competitors. Power in such cases is useful. An NBC employee named Adele-Momoko Fraser sent Google management a long tedious text from the organization of English left-wing activists, where they scold two sites, The Federalist and Zero Hedge, calling them, quote, "racist." Google, of course, immediately swallowed the bait. The company threatened to deny both news organizations access to Google's advertising platform. In other words, block their income.

Adele-Momoko Fraser was delighted, she immediately posted a winning tweet, boasting about what inspired censorship. She called the two sites "far right" - the term means nothing but implies some immoral behaviour condemned by Adele-Momoko Fraser. At the end of her tweet, she thanked the activists who helped her drown out competing opinions, quote, "for hard work and cooperation." Exclamation point! Hashtag# BlackLivesMatter and three raised fists at the end.

Adele-Momoko Fraser came across as a very pleased person. She contributed to the revolution today.

So what did Zero Hedge and The Federalist do, what did they deserve to demonetise? We asked Google and were told the two sites had unmoderated comment sections. In other words, readers could say what they wanted. Google believes this should not be tolerated.

Under the threat of destruction, The Federalist had no choice but to submit to Google. The site deleted the entire comments section. You can no longer express your opinion about the articles of The Federalist. Google has banned it. There are still comments on Zero Hedge, so he was demonetized. Let's see if they can keep working.

But all this raises an interesting question. Google says it now holds conservative sites responsible for their readers' comments. However, this is a paradox! - thanks to the special indulgence that Google received from the US Congress - remember the so-called section 230 of the Telecommunications Decency Act? - Google itself is not responsible for the content of its platform, because, according to Congress, this is not necessary.

That is, if, for example, someone slandered you and this slander passes through Google's servers, you cannot sue Google because of this. For any consequences, Google is inviolable. It's very good for a big company to have immunity. Fox News doesn't have one. But again, thanks to Congress, Google has immunity. This is one of the main reasons that Google's founders are among the richest and most influential people in the world. This congress allowed them.

Senator Josh Hawley pointed this out today. Let's hope he and his colleagues take action soon to remove that privilege. If Google does not want to extend 230 section protection to others, it itself does not rely on this protection! It's obvious.

Google should have faced such consequences long ago. Congress should have done that years ago. It has long been clear that the main threat to our freedoms is now not the federal government, but the IT monopoly.}}

Google will distribute $1,000 each to families in San Francisco who have been affected by COVID-19

On April 12, 2020, Google announced the payment of $1,000 to families in San Francisco, who were hardest hit by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. As financial support, the company itself allocates $1 million through its Google.org fund, the same amount will be provided by CEO Sundar Pichai. In total, it is planned to raise $5 million from Google employees and other people through the GiveDirectly charity.

By 18:00 Moscow time on April 13, 2020, about $455 thousand was collected from 507 philanthropists. In total, it is planned to provide financial support to 5 thousand families living in the San Francisco Bay Area (San Francisco Bay Area).

GiveDirectly has begun raising $500,000 for 252 low-income families participating in the federal supplemental food assistance program. The GiveDirectly platform allows you to provide targeted assistance to those in need: they receive the collected money directly from the fund, according to the service's website. The project is supported by the Google Charitable Foundation, the Agency USA for International Development (USAID), the private Good Ventures Foundation and others. During the existence of the fund, 130 thousand families received assistance, $140 million was transferred to them by April 2020.

In San Francisco, which Google intends to help in the fight against coronavirus, the company's office is located. There are some of the highest real estate prices here, so people who, due to the pandemic, were left without earnings, fell into an acute crisis, which is aggravated by health problems.

As noted in Google, due to the crisis caused by the outbreak of coronavirus, many poor families are forced to choose between food, medicine and rent. At the same time, there are many single mothers among the victims.

As of April 12, 2020, San Francisco recorded 872 confirmed cases of infection with a new type of coronavirus and 14 deaths due to it.^[17]

2019

Google paid researchers $6.5 million for vulnerabilities

In 2019, Google paid^[18] to security researchers for more than $6.5 million as part of the vulnerability reward program. Compared to 2018, the amount of remuneration paid in 2019 almost doubled. In 2018, Google paid security researchers $3.4 million. The program was launched in 2010, and since then the company has paid researchers about $15 million^[19].

Main article: Bughunters Bug bounty Vulnerability scanning

Google and Facebook sell advertisers data on people's emotional state

In early September 2019, Privacy International (PI) investigated more than 100 mental health sites in France, Germany and the UK and concluded that sensitive mental health information was often sold to advertisers by tech companies such as Google and Facebook. Read more here.

US presidential candidate proposes splitting Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook

In mid-March 2019 USA Elizabeth Warren , the senator and Democratic presidential candidate proposed breaking up tech companies like,, and Apple. Facebook Amazon Google The senator's campaign received support on social networks. More. here

SAP and Google are looking for entrepreneurs to promote a circular economy

At the end of January 2019, at the World Economic Forum, Google and SAP announced a competition to find entrepreneurs with viable, revenue-generating business plans to promote a circular economy. Read more here.

2018

Google to refund mother whose baby let $1,600 off mobile games

At the end of September 2018, the District Court of Suwon (South Korea) issued a verdict on the lawsuit, the initiator of which requested compensation for debiting money from her credit card in mobile games without her consent. Read more here.

Entry into the blockchain market

In July 2018, Google officially entered the blockchain market. The company admits that it has lagged far behind competitors in terms of the development of such technologies. Read more here.

Google will lay a new fiber optic cable across the ocean

Google will lay a Dunant cable between the United States and France - under the Atlantic Ocean. The project is planned to be completed by 2020^[20].

It is noted that the project is designed to support the growth of the Google Cloud cloud service. In addition, the cable will increase network capacity, amplifying one of the busiest routes on the Internet.

The cable received this name in honor of the first Nobel Peace Prize winner Henri Dunant, founder of the international Red Cross movement. Google's previous transatlantic cable was named Curie after Marie Curie.

Google became a platinum member of the Linux Foundation

At the end of June 2018, Google became a platinum member of the non-profit organization Linux Foundation, which oversees a wide range of work related to the development of Linux.

Platinum participants receive the right to join a company representative on the board of directors of the Linux Foundation, while paying an annual contribution of 500 thousand dollars (for comparison, the contribution of a gold participant is $100 thousand per year, silver - $5-20 thousand per year). 

From Google, the board of directors of the organization included Sarah Novotny, head of open source strategy development for Google Cloud Platform (GCP), known for her participation in the Nginx and MySQL communities.

According to Google, by June 2018, the company had created or participated in more than 10,000 open source projects. Among them are  Cloud Foundry , Node.js , Cloud Native Computing Foundationand the Open API Initiative, which are managed by the Linux Foundation.

Open source is an integral part of Google's culture. We have long recognized that the potential of free ecosystems is growing rapidly, becoming more resilient and adaptable to change, and allowing for better software , says Sarah Novotny. - Linux Foundation is the foundation of the Open Spource community. By working closely with the organization, we can better engage with the community as a whole and continue to build a more inclusive ecosystem that everyone can take advantage of.

As a platinum member of the Linux Foundation (highest status), Google will have access to an extensive knowledge base and experience in the field of Open Source, and will also be able to count on priority support in resolving legal and technical issues. In addition to Google, companies, Verizon,, Fujitsu,, AT&T,, Microsoft,, VMware,, Cisco,,,,,,, and have platinum status in the Linux Foundation Huawei. IBM Intel Samsung NEC Qualcomm Hitachi Oracle^[21] 

Rejection of the motto "not to be evil"

In late April - early May 2018, Google's famous slogan "Don't be evil" disappeared from the code of the American corporation. In the new version of the Google rule book, the slogan is fluently mentioned only once, although in its previous edition the phrase was a leitmotif.

The American edition of Gizmodo was the first to draw attention to the changes in the code. Observers note that the slogan "Don't be evil" has been Google's unofficial motto since 2000. Even after Google reorganized in 2015, when Alphabet Inc. "s new holding company was formed, and the motto began to sound like" Do the right thing, "the original slogan firmly embedded in Google's corporate culture continued to be in the code.

But now it's not. It is not known when exactly Google edited the text, but in the archive copy of the code dated April 21, 2018, saved by the Wayback Machine service, the slogan "Don't be evil" is still there and is mentioned several times. Here's a little excerpt from^[22] Evil^[23]

"Don't be evil." Usually Googlers mean by these words how we serve our customers. However, this phrase means a lot more. Yes, we are talking about providing our users with impartial access to information, about putting their needs at the forefront and providing them with the best products and services. But also by these words we mean the right behavior in a broad sense - compliance with the law, honesty and nobility, respectful and polite attitude towards colleagues. Google's code of conduct is one way to put the "Don't be evil" postulate into practice. It is based on the principle that everything we do while working at Google should and will be assessed taking into account the highest ethical standards of doing business.

In the updated version of the Google code, first archived in the Wayback Machine on May 4, 2018, there is only one reference to the original slogan, and the phrase is contained at the very end of the extensive text:

And remember... don't be evil, and if you see something you think is wrong - claim it![24]

Google caught spying on Apple users and is demanding $4.3 billion in compensation

A class action lawsuit has been filed in the High Court of England and Wales, in which the company Google is accused of collecting a history of visiting user sites smartphones iPhone , bypassing browserApple Safari security settings between August 2011 and February 2012^[25]

A class action lawsuit filed by Richard Lloyd, a former director of Which? for testing consumer goods and technology, insists that Google used the received information about users to further sort them by consumer categories for advertisers.

Tracking the personal history of surfing, according to Lloyd, during this period potentially affected only 4.4 million iPhone users in the UK, in connection with which the amount of the claim is 3.2 billion pounds sterling or $4.3 billion.

Creating a Cyber Division

On January 24, 2018 Google , it launched a new division that will sell to Fortune 500 companies software for collateral. cyber security The new initiative should help the American Internet giant strengthen its position in the corporate IT sector.

The new division, called Chronicle, emerged from Google X's experimental division and is now a separate company within parent holding Alphabet. Chronicle will rely on software that is based on machine learning and allows you to analyze large amounts of data for cybersecurity more quickly and more accurately than traditional systems do.

Chronicle began offering two services: a security and analytics platform for enterprises and an online virus and malware scanner VirusTotal. The new platform is powered by Alphabet's infrastructure and will use machine learning and advanced search capabilities to help companies analyze security.

Stephen Gillett, who in the past served as chief operating officer of Symantec, has been appointed to lead the Chronicle. The primary goal of creating Chronicle, Gillett said, is to eliminate "white spots" in the safety of companies and enable them to gain a better understanding of their defenses. Gillett also noted that access to Google's expertise in automated data analysis would give the company an advantage.

Google representatives are not yet ready to share detailed information about the work of the new division and the number of companies participating in alpha testing of the project.

The global cybersecurity market is estimated at $100 billion, according to Gartner data released in 2018. Chronicle's entry into this market has made Google a serious competitor for other players: Symantec, Palo Alto Networks and Cylance. At the same time, analysts note that Google's previous attempts to enter the cybersecurity products market were unsuccessful.^[26]

Converting Software Workstations from Ubuntu to Debian

In January 2018, it became known about the transfer of Google programmers' computers from Ubuntu to Debian. Details are provided by The Inquirer website.

The gLinux distribution, based on Debian Testing and using the rolling model, will be installed on Google engineering workstations.

Previously, for several years, the American company used the Goobuntu distribution, developed on the basis of LTS releases of Ubuntu. Google was a member of the Ubuntu Advantage Program (which involves receiving commercial support from Canonical), but was not active in the community.

Goobuntu is an assembly of Ubuntu that uses tools that developers use at Google, as well as components for integration with the internal network environment. All home user directories were mounted from a centralized file server, which allowed you to access your environment regardless of the computer used. 

For migration from Goobuntu to gLinux, special tools are provided to ensure transparent change of workstation operating systems. It is assumed that installing Debian on computers will lead to closer cooperation between Google and the community, and the use of the Testing branch may indicate that Google is connected to participate in Debian testing and quality control processes.

The source notes that Google's rejection of Ubuntu can be considered a big loss for Canonical, despite the fact that this distribution is widely used in servers and hardware to launch cloud services.

gLinux has become the preferred operating system at Google, but the company uses other computer platforms. For example, Google promotes Chrome OS and Fuschia OS operating systems.^[27]

2017

Opening of AI Research Centre in China

On December 13, 2017, it became known that, Alphabet the parent holding, was Google opening a China research center in the region. artificial intelligence (AI) American the internet giant says it is Google's first such center in, Asia complementing its other research bases in,,, and. New York Toronto London Zurich

The center, which will include a team of specialists from Beijing, will focus on basic research in the field of artificial intelligence. The work of the center will be supervised by professor at Stanford University and leading scientist of the AI and Machine Learning group at Google Cloud Fei-Fei Li and head of research and development at Google Cloud AI Jia Li, CNBC reports.^[28]

Although USA often called one of the leading players in the global AI technology market, analysts Goldman Sachs note that the United States should be on its heels in this area. China

According to observers, the opening of a research center in China is a convenient excuse for Google to try to gain a foothold in the Celestial Empire, where the search and other services of the American corporation remain banned. In addition, in the context of a global shortage of qualified AI personnel, this is a good opportunity to attract the best specialists in this field in the second largest economy in the world.

I believe AI and its associated benefits have no boundaries. Whether the discovery is made in Silicon Valley, Beijing or elsewhere, advances in the field have the potential to improve the lives of people around the world. As a company that prioritizes AI development, we consider the opening of the center to be an important part of our collective mission. And we want to work with the best AI talents, wherever they are, for the sake of fulfilling it, "Fei-Fei Lee wrote in a statement about the center's opening.[29]

Google accused of illegally collecting data of millions of Britons

A class action lawsuit has been filed in the UK against Google for illegally collecting data from millions of users. A similar lawsuit was filed in the UK for the first time in history, according to BBC Google in November 2017^[30] of^[31].

The plaintiff is the public organization Google You Own Us, headed by the former head of the Which service, Richard Lloyd. The service specializes in providing product and service reviews. According to the lawsuit, Google is accused of illegally collecting information about 5.4 million Britons, bypassing the security settings on their iPhone. According to Lloyd, each of them deserves compensation in the amount of several hundred pounds.

The lawsuit is related to the use of cookies by the American tech giant. According to the document, for several months in 2011-2012, Google placed cookies to track ads on Safari users' devices, where the ability to use such cookies is blocked by default.

The ability to bypass security settings in Safari is already known and affects various devices, but the Google You Own Us lawsuit applies only to British iPhone owners. According to Lloyd, Google is guilty of a massive breach of trust, and the lawsuit filed should be a warning to it and other Silicon Valley companies that users are not afraid to retaliate.

If Lloyd wants to file a class-action lawsuit, he should come to California, according to Google's statement. "It is disappointing that they are trying to hide behind issues of procedures and jurisdictions, instead of being responsible for their actions," the activist said.

Billions in Apple deductions

On August 14, 2017, it became known that Google pays Apple billions of dollars annually to use its default search engine on iPhones and iPads.

In 2017, such expenses will amount to about $3 billion, estimates Bernstein analyst Tony Sacconaghi, citing his own calculations.

Firstly, according to the expert, it is known from court documents that in 2014 Google paid Apple about $1 billion for using a search engine in iOS as a priority: if it is not the user who does not change the settings and launches another search engine, all requests for information on the Internet are made in the Google service. From 2014 to 2017, Google's mobile revenue tripled from $16 billion to $50 billion, so deductions to Apple could triple.

The figure of $3 billion is also obtained on the basis that Google's spending on attracting traffic increased 2.2 times compared to the first half of 2014, the analyst said.

According to Tony Sacconaghi, Google can refuse payments to Apple only if it feels that its search engine has become so popular that the partner will use it by default in its iOS electronics.

On the other hand, the iPhone and iPad bring Google about half of the revenue in the mobile search segment, so the company will hardly risk such revenue. Thus, the cooperation between Apple and Google is beneficial to both companies, the analyst is sure.

Apple's service business has become the company's fastest growing. By the end of June 2017, the corresponding 12-month revenue of the IT giant reached $27.8 billion, which is more than Facebook's annual turnover. If Apple's service division were a separate company, it would be among the hundred largest in the United States, CNBC said.^[32]

Lithuanian stole more than $100 million from Google and Facebook

In March 2017, the media reported that Google and Facebook were affected by a phishing attack organized by a fraudster from Lithuania. The names of the companies were not disclosed, but it was noted that the attacker managed to deceive more than $100 million. Read more here.

2016

Google accused of deceiving authorities and creating "super profiles" of users

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a complaint against Google's actions that violate user rights. Consumer Watchdog and Privacy Rights Clearing House claim that Google incorrectly treats user data and violates previous promises not to combine identity-identifying user data and information about what resources they visit^[33].

Data on site visits is collected by an online advertising company that DoubleClick Google acquired in 2008. The authors of the complaint to the Federal Trade Commission claim, that Google has created "super profiles" of users, since it has the ability to track their activity through all OS-based mobile devices, and " Android through any website that uses, Google Analytics hosts videos from, YouTube or displays ads from DoubleClick or AdSense."

The complainants claim that when buying the DoubleClick service, Google promised not to combine user identity data with website browsing statistics in one database. However, in June 2016, Google changed its Privacy Policy, quietly removing from the document the obligation not to combine this data without the user's knowledge.

The authors of the complaint consider Google's actions fraudulent and indicate that the corporation regularly takes steps aimed at violating user rights. From the Federal Trade Commission, they demand to investigate and prohibit Google from using DoubleClick statistics in combination with personal data of users without the direct and explicit consent of the latter. The complaint also requires Google to recover all revenue generated by combining DoubleClick data with information collected by other Google services.

Reorganizing the Corporate and Cloud Business into Google Cloud

On September 29, 2016, Google announced a reorganization of the corporate direction. All business and cloud solutions are combined in a division called Google Cloud.

We are talking about Google for Work,, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Google Enterprise, enterprise mobility solutions, laptop computers on operating system Chrome OS all cloud services. Previously, all this was promoted by various divisions, and after the reorganization, a single structure appeared - Google Cloud.

In addition, the Google Apps for Work complex, which includes Gmail, Docs, Drive, Calendar, Hangouts, Maps for Work, Search for Work, Sheets and Slides, has been renamed G Suite.

Apparently, Google is carrying out a large-scale rebranding using the letter G: it already appears on some of the company's products, including the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, as well as the Chromcast Ultra set-top box.

Choosing a cloud partner for customers is of great importance, "says Diane Greene, head of Google's cloud business. - It is necessary to choose the technology on which the bet is made, the long-term bet. There are those technologies that don't just save money and improve security. In the next five years, all kinds of companies will be transformed using smart data, analytics, machine learning and digital communications.

Google has long operated in the cloud market, but lags behind its main rivals in revenue. Analysts at Forrester Research predict that in 2016 Google's revenue from sales of cloud solutions will be $3.9 billion, while Amazon and Microsoft will earn $10.8 billion and $10.1 billion, respectively.^[34]

2015

Application for an IT project for the Pentagon worth $2 billion

In mid-January 2015, the Cooperating Google and (PricewaterhouseCoopers PwC) applied to participate in a tender to update the electronic system health care for the Ministry of Defense. USA

According to The Wall Street Journal, the contract value is estimated at more than $2 billion. In addition to Google and PwC, it is claimed by a number of technology companies, including Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Computer Sciences. Who will receive the order will become known in June 2015.

We are talking about the modernization of the health protection system of military personnel, civilian specialists, military pensioners and their families (Military Healthcare System, MHS). About 9.7 million users are registered in this system.

Restructuring: the emergence of Alphabet holding

On August 10, 2015, Google announced a large-scale restructuring, in which the company became a subsidiary of a new holding called Alphabet. Google co-founder Larry Page, who became CEO of Alphabet, told about this in his blog, and another Google founder Sergey Brin was appointed president of this holding company.

As part of the restructuring, Google became Alphabet's largest subsidiary, which is responsible for the Internet business and: software in addition to the search engine, this includes contextual advertising, mapping service, applications, video hosting YouTube and. operating system Android

At the same time, all Google shares on the stock exchange since that time belong to Alphabet.

On August 10, 2015, Sundara Pichai was announced as the future CEO of Google.

Logo change

In August 2015, Google introduced a new logo.

"

The new logo is still a word, but the company has now decided to use the sans-serif font, so it looks more modern and playful. The colors have become softer, "notes The Verge

.

The Google icon, which is a multi-colored G, was developed by Russian designer Denis Kortunov back in 2008, according to the DailyTech^[35].

In 2008, one of the options for the new logo Kortunov proposed on the Turbomilk blog, criticizing the logo that existed at that time. The new icon from the Russian designer contained all four Google branded colors that colored the capital letter G. However, the modern logo of the company, despite the preserved concept, has several differences, for example, the thickness of the letter and the location of the colors.

Site vc.ru^[36] who phoned Denis and found out that Google really agreed with Kortunov to use the logo. The designer did not spread about the details of the agreement.

Solving the problem on a quantum computer

On December 10, 20115, Google announced the existence of experimental superiority of quantum computers over traditional computing systems. As a means for this, a quantum computer D-Wave 2X was used, acquired in 2013 together with NASA^[37].

The scientific community of physicists has not yet decided in its assessment of the results obtained by the company.

For the experiment, the researchers took an optimization task involving 945 binary variables. They ran the task on a D-Wave 2X quantum computer using an algorithm called "quantum normalization" and on a traditional single-core processor computer system using an annealing simulation algorithm. During the experiment, the researchers recorded: D-Wave 2X coped with the task 100 million times faster than the "classic" computer.

The researchers conducted another experiment. They ran Monte Carlo algorithms on a regular computer designed to emulate a quantum computer on a machine with a traditional architecture and compared the resulting performance with that of a real quantum system. The values ​ ​ were also 100 million times different from each other.

According to the management of the group of experimenters, the results are interesting and promising, but the work ahead is difficult in terms of the practical use of quantum optimization. In particular, it is necessary to find ways to increase density and increase control over connections between qubits (elementary objects for storing data in the memory of a quantum computer, their connections). You need to learn how to reproduce not only quadratic optimization, but also higher-order optimization.

The resulting evidence impressed the scientific community, but so far it has been tested by other physicists, and even if they come to a similar conclusion, this will be only partial evidence of the effectiveness of D-Wave as a quantum computer, the Technology Review responded to the event and explained: in the experiment, researchers could use a more productive algorithm on a traditional computer. In this case, the difference would not be so significant, or the traditional system became the winner in testing.

2012: Smart Glasses Announcement

In 2012, Google announced Google Glass smart glasses that display data in human view. Although this device did not become mass, it had a great impact on the wearable electronics market.

2011

Page is CEO again. Reorganization

On April 7, 2011, Larry Page, who replaced Eric Schmidt as chief executive officer of Google, completed a reorganization of the company's top management^[38].

According to LATimes, the reorganization was that Page put key top managers of the Internet giant at the head of separate business divisions. They will report on their work directly to Page. Google representatives have officially confirmed that the company has reorganized, but did not comment on the details.

According to Google's new CEO, such changes, in which one person will now lead each working group of different projects, will help make the development process easier and more manageable.

As a result of the reorganization, a number of top Google managers received new positions. So, Andy Rubin (Andy Rubin) became senior vice president for mobile, Vic Gandotra (Vic Gundotra) took over as Senior Vice President Social, Sundar Pichai (Sundar Pichai) led the browser work unit, Chrome Salar Kamangar (Salar Kamangar) became the head of direction YouTube and video services, Alan Eustace (Alan Eustace) will be the main search manager at Google, and Susan Wojcicki will be the advertising business of the Internet giant. A number of other appointments took place.

The second co-founder of Google Sergey Brin (Sergey Brin), as before, will be responsible for the main strategic initiatives. Until now, his position at the company was called president of technology. Her change has not been reported.

According to Page's idea, now top Google managers at the head of the divisions will be able to act more autonomously and will not have to contact the company's management committee to make every significant decision. Thus, the speed of the company should increase, and the management system should become simpler.

"The idea is to

empower people more, allow them to take the risk and give more power to make important decisions," said one of the sources well aware of the state of affairs at Google.

As analysts note, Larry Page has probably spent a lot of time thinking about how to reorganize the company's management in order to reduce bureaucracy and management hitches, while accelerating innovation. Perhaps he decided to take the Android and YouTube divisions, which are largely autonomous and have made major strides in the process, as an example. This reorganization actually puts Page at the head of Google alone, by analogy with the management system used by Steve Jobs at Apple.

According to sources, the company's employees positively perceived and supported the changes in top management. It is known that this is not the only innovation that Page plans to bring to the work of the company. "Throughout the company, we are now working on many new things," said an anonymous source, but did not talk about the details.

As part of the reorganization launched by the new chief executive of Google, the resignation of Jonathan Rosenberg, vice president of product management at Google, is to take place over the next months. Rosenberg, as part of Google, was involved in the formation of a number of teams of programmers who worked on the creation of products such as the Chrome browser and mobile. operating system Android

According to Rosenberg himself, Page immediately after taking office asked all top managers to give long-term obligations to remain in the company for at least several years. Rosenberg was unable to make such commitments, as he planned to leave Google around 2013.

It was reported that in 2011 Google plans to hire more than 6 thousand 200 workers, increasing its staff by at least 25%. The company employs 24 thousand 400 people. Google has more than 60 locations in 30 countries.

The word "insurance" is the most expensive in Google AdWords

WordStream published a study in the summer of 2011 in which it compared the most expensive keywords in the Google AdWords contextual advertising service. As part of the study, analysts compiled the top 20 most expensive keywords. The most expensive were the words "insurance," "loan" and "mortgage." Also in the top twenty are "software," "hosting" and others. The cost of one click on advertising with the word "insurance" is more than $50, the report says. Advertisers are willing to pay $44 for the word "loan." Analysts also calculated that online advertising revenues account for about 97% of Google's total profits.

2010

Google's impact on U.S. economy grows

Google announced in May 2011 that it, together with National Small Business Week, had measured the impact of its projects, including AdWords and AdSense, on the US economy. It turned out that in 2010 Google provided $64 billion in revenues to American businesses and non-profit organizations using its services. This is 18% more than in 2009, analysts say. According to representatives of the Internet giant, almost 1 million American companies made a profit in 2010 thanks to Google tools.

The company also claims that for every dollar spent on advertising in Google AdWords, business representatives make $8 in profits through customers who come from AdWords and the Google search engine. This data is based on a complex formula for calculating Google's impact on the American economy, developed by the company's chief economist Hal Varian. He suggested that each business receives $2 per dollar spent on AdWords - this assumption is based on a survey of a large number of Google advertisers. The expert also calculated that for each click on ads in AdWords, advertisers receive five clicks from regular search results.

The state that made the most profit thanks to Google tools was California ($15 billion), where the company's headquarters are located. Next come New York ($8.6 billion), Illinois ($4.2 billion), Washington ($3.7 billion), Texas and Florida ($3.6 billion each).

Start of development of an unmanned vehicle

Having taken a dominant position in the Internet search market, Google began to develop new ideas, sometimes crazy. In 2010, the company announced the start of development of self-driving cars.

Google capitalization in July 2010 $156.1 billion.

2008: The first Android smartphone and Chrome browser

In 2008, the first available on the mass market was released Android-smartphone - HTC Dream. It was the starting point for turning Android into the world's most popular mobile operating system.

In the same 2008, the Google Chrome browser was released, closely integrated with the company's growing number of web services.

2006

Appearance of the verb "Google"

By 2006, due to the popularity of the search engine in English, neologism to google or to Google appeared (an analogue in Russian computer slang - google), used to indicate the search for information in the World Wide Web using Google. It is with this definition that the verb is listed in the most authoritative dictionaries of the English language - Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster, although other sources^[39] give examples of its use to indicate a search for chego‐libo at all on the Internet. Fearing the loss of the trademark, the company demands to refrain from using this verb ^[40] or use it to indicate search only using Google. However, the first to use the word as a verb was Larry Page himself, who on July 8, 1998 signed one of his messages for the mailing list: "Have fun and keep googling! ^[41]

Creating Google Docs

In 2006, Google took over Upstartle, which created a popular word processor based on a web browser called Written. In the future, these technologies formed the basis of Google Docs.

Buying YouTube

In the same 2006, Google bought YouTube - at that time a not very well-known video publishing site founded by a team of former PayPal employees. Google paid about $1.65 billion for YouTube.

Create the first data center

With numerous acquisitions, Google was getting bigger and bigger. In 2006, the company opened its first fully developed and self-designed data center in Dulles, Oregon, along the Columbia River. From this data center, Google began to demonstrate the possibilities of highly efficient operation of data centers.

2005: Android Acquisition

In 2005, Google bought a small company that was developing an operating system for digital cameras. The firm was run by Andy Rubin and the software platform was called Android. Subsequently, Rubin headed the Android direction at Google.

2004

Gmail announcement

April 1, 2004 was a landmark day for Google: the company announced the closed beta testing of the Gmail mail service. Since the announcement was made on "April Fools Day," the media and users initially thought it was a joke.

Stock offering on Nasdaq

Main article: Google Shares

On August 19, 2004, she began selling her shares on the stock market, that is, she became a public company Шаблон:Nasdaq 'GOOGL. The value of the shares is estimated at $85 apiece, which makes its capitalization equal to $23 billion. On the first day of trading, the paper soared by 18%, which is much higher than in the average growth of securities on the day of placement that year - 8.9%. Read more here.

After going public, Google aimed to expand its business beyond the search engine. So, startups Keyhole, Where2 and ZipDash were bought, which then formed the basis of the Google Maps mapping service.

2001: Eric Schmidt - new CEO

At the urging of the Sequoia investor, Brin and Page invited Eric Schmidt to become the company's first CEO in 2001, allowing the founders to focus on Google technology.

2000: Launch of contextual advertising service

In 2000, Google began to do even better thanks to the launch of the AdWords contextual advertising service.

By that time, Google's search engine was growing in popularity, which brought the company a steady revenue stream that allowed it to withstand the collapse of the dot-com market.

Around 2000, when Google began making big money, the famous but unofficial corporate philosophy was adopted: "Do no harm. We strongly believe that in the long term we will be better - like shareholders and in all other respects. We're going to be a company that does good things for the world, even if it's not profitable for us in the short term.'

1999: Google nearly bought; first investment

In 1999, Brin and Page offered Excite manager (then a leading search engine) George Bell to buy Google for $750,000 in cash, but he refused.

Soon the first Google office was opened.

The company conducted its first round of financing, raising $25 million from investment companies Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers and Sequoia Capital. The developers decided to celebrate this by drinking beer.

1998: Founding of the Company

The corporation was founded by Bryn and Page on September 4, 1998, and the domain Google.com incorporated on September 15, 1997. The company's office was located in Menlo Park, California, USA.

It is believed that the founders of the company received the first check from investors on Google Inc., and they had to call the company being created that way.

When Google began to heavily load Stanford University's IT systems, Page and Brin had to move the company to the garage of future Google employee and YouTube head Susan Wodzycki. At the same time, Google founders managed to attract $100,000 in investments from Sun Microsystems founder Andy Bechtolsheim. Thanks to these funds, Page and Brin officially registered the company.

The Google search engine's original homepage was not very appealing. Neither Page nor Breen had much experience with the HTML hypertext markup language. Instead, they focused on developing the search algorithm they created

The company's first Doodle appeared on August 30, 1998. It featured the emblem of the Burning Man Festival in Nevada, United States. The logo was supposed to serve as a comic message to Google users that the founders had left for the Burning Man festival.

In 1998, Larry Page and Sergey Brin hired the first Google employee. It was Craig Silverstein, a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford. Silverstein was active in the development of the search algorithm and was involved in other projects at Google.

In 1998, the Google search engine was launched at a data center in Santa Clara (California), where other projects were hosted. Larry Page persuaded the owner of the data center to give a deferral with the payment of bills for the use of equipment, because most of the company's web traffic was inbound, and ordinary customers of this data center were focused on outbound data transmission

1997: First Google Server

The case of the first Google server was made from Lego design parts, as Brin and Page lacked money. This equipment was housed on the Stanford campus. At first, the search engine was located at google.stanford.edu, and on September 15, 1997, the domain was registered google.com.

1996: Brin and Page Study Project at Stanford University

In 1996-1997, the Google search engine was created as an educational project of Stanford University students Larry Page and Sergey Brin. In 1996, they worked on the BackRub search engine, and in 1998 they created a new Google search engine on its basis.

Google is a distorted spelling of the English word googol, coined by Milton Sirota, nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner, to denote a number consisting of one and one hundred zeros. 10 to the hundredth degree is the number "googol," one with a hundred zeros. The very name of our company reveals its goal - to achieve significant results using intelligent technologies, starting^[42]

In their BackRub search engine, Larry Page (left) and Sergey Brin (right) used the PageRank link ranking algorithm in 1996. It applies to pages of sites linked by links and assigns a digital index to each such page, which in turn indicates the "importance" or other "authority" of this page in front of all other known Google search engine

The first office, if you could call it that, Page and Brina were actually two rooms in a Stanford University dormitory. The name BackRub in the search engine did not last long. Students chose a more attractive name for her - Google, which means one with a hundred zeros and reflected the amount of data that young programmers tried to process

Notes