Ten years of excellence!

-contributed by Ankit

Ten years ago, two young men called Larry and Sergey founded an organization called Google. Since then, Google has become an essential part of millions of people around the globe.

Here is a list of 15 milestones which changed the lives of millions of people forever.

· 15 September 1997: Google.com registered as a domain

After a long brainstorming session, Larry and Sergey decided to name their Search Engine as Google – a play on the word “googol,” a mathematical term for the number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. The use of the term reflected their mission to organize a seemingly infinite amount of information on the web.

· 23 October 2000: Launch of Google AdWords

Google AdWords was launched with 350 customers. The self-service ad program promised online activation with a credit card, keyword targeting and performance feedback.

· 28 July 2001: Launch of Google Image Search

Google Image Search was launched, offering access to 250 million images.

· 23 September 2002: Launch of Google News

Google News was launched with 4000 news sources.

· 17 February 2003: Acquisition of Blogger.com

Google acquired Pyra Labs, the creators of Blogger.

· 4 March 2003: Google AdSense Released

Google launched a content-targeted advertising service, enabling publishers to access Google’s vast network of advertisers.

· 22 January 2004: Orkut Released

Google launched Orkut to tap into the sphere of social networking.

· 1 April 2004: Gmail Launched

Google launched Gmail on April fool’s Day. Initially an invitation was needed to get an account.

· 28 June 2005: Google Earth

Google unveiled Google Earth: a satellite imagery-based mapping service combining 3D buildings and terrain with mapping capabilities and Google search

· 24 August 2005: Launch of Google Talk

Google Talk, an application that enables Gmail users to talk or IM with friends was launched.

· 9 October 2006: Acquisition of YouTube

Google announced the acquisition of YouTube, an online streaming video portal.

· 13 June 2006: Launch of Picasa Web Albums

Google unveiled Picasa Web Albums, allowing users to upload and maintain their photo albums online.

· 11 October 2006: Google Docs and Spreadsheets Released

Google released web-based applications for Docs & Spreadsheets.

· 5 November 2007: Announcement of Android mobile platform

Google announced Android, the first open platform for mobile devices, and a collaboration with other companies in the Open Handset Alliance.

· 1 September 2008: Google Chrome browser

Google finally released there long awaited web browser called Chrome.

With the kind of success which Google has achieved within the first ten years of its inception, it will be interesting to see what surprises it has in store for the internet community in the years to come.