Come, let us travel back to the year 1996 when dialup tones haunted our nightmares, Friends was still on the air and 2 Stanford PhD students named Larry Page and Sergey Brin decided to name their revolutionary search engine as BackRub. Something was brewing in the backyards of 1996. Not ‘Skynet’ or ‘CyberSleuth 3000’ but BackRub – a moniker that sounds less like a tech giant and more like a questionable massage parlour in Slough. Very unimpressive name for a company.

The name, as David Koller of Stanford recalls, was inspired by the engine’s focus on analysing backlinks. But then that is what BackRub did because it did nothing else but sneak through backlinks on the internet. Backlinks are hyperlinks that is used in directing users from one site to another. They are still important just as they were in 1996. Think of it as the internet’s version of a pub recommendation. You don't like this pub, you ask someone in here where is a better pub and they tell you. But let’s be honest, BackRub belongs in the same hall of shame as Toshiba’s 'Belly-feel' or Nintendo’s 'Wii'. It was the 1990s when ideas were shameless 😂

Before Google became the overlord of search, BackRub was quietly revolutionising how we would navigate the web. It was trying to come up with an efficient system that hadn't been invented yet. Unlike 1996’s search engines (which ranked pages based on keyword stuffing like a toddler screaming for attention), BackRub’s PageRank algorithm treated the web as a democracy. They looked for the highest voices screaming on the internet. The more backlinks a site had (especially from ‘important’ sites), the higher it ranked. Well-established websites with backlinks meant great reputation for the backlinked website. Genius but also a bit meta – ‘We’ll rank pages based on how other pages rank them'. These were the early phases of SEO. Technically, BackRub was a beast. The company did a good job in enabling keyword searches come up with proper results. It ran on a junky setup of Sun Ultra servers and Linux-powered Pentium PCs that was guzzling half of Stanford’s bandwidth. This was because the founders were students who were borrowing the internet from their university to keep their firm chugging. BackRub ran on a Frankenstein setup of Sun Ultra II servers, Linux-powered Pentium PCs and enough cables to knit a jumper for Godzilla. It wasn't just enough to keep things operating smoothly.

By 1996, it devoured 50% of Stanford’s bandwidth prompting IT to grumble louder than a Brit in a queue. Everyone else had to struggle because of it. By then, BackRub had indexed 75 million pages which is a feat akin to cataloguing every book in the British Library using a Tamagotchi. For 1996, that was a massive amount of indexing. It was revolutionary for an era when Altavista’s idea of innovation was a neon homepage. BackRub was taking a corporate shape slowly. It is hard to imagine today that one of the world’s most influential companies began life with a name that sounds more like a spa treatment than a technological titan. I mean, where is the connect to the brand between BackRub and Google! Yet before Google became synonymous with innovation and search, it was known as BackRub. Time prompted the founders to ditch BackRub and adopt the name Google. How did we go from that to a verb so ubiquitous that it made it into the Oxford English Dictionary?

In this in-depth blog post, we’ll delve into the fascinating, quirky and sometimes controversial origins of Google’s original name. There is a story behind the company's origin and renovation. Picture this – 2 PhD students, a cringeworthy name and a typo that birthed a verb used by billions. This isn’t just a story about algorithms but a masterclass of embracing chaos. Here we go.

When BackRub ruled the web with a name that only a mother could love

PageRank – An algorithm that made Yahoo! seem a participation trophy

Stanford’s digital playground – Why ‘BackRub’?

Why ‘BackRub’ was doomed...

The brainstorm that almost wasn’t!

The day the domain dropped

Silicon Valley’s sacred site – Susan Wojcicki’s garage

The ‘Don’t Be Evil’ mantra – Iconic or ironic?

PageRank – Silicon Valley savvy or stolen valour?

Link farms – SEO’s wild wild west

Lesser-known facts – Google’s greatest hits and misses

A parallel universe – What if Google had stayed BackRub?

Expert insights and industry perspectives

Accidents, ambition and the art of the typo

Future, hiccups and the road ‘less travelled’

Google today

The algorithm that changed the game – Why your SEO strategy owes BackRub a pint

From cringe to dominance

When BackRub ruled the web with a name that only a mother could love

Year 1996 – Bill Clinton was the American president, Friends was America’s therapist and the internet sounded like a fax machine screaming into a cup of noodles. Life was very laid back but still things kept moving. When we rewind to 1996, it was also a phase of awkward adolescence for something called ‘the internet’. It was new and everyone knew that it was around but no one cared much. The mid’90s were a time of dialup screeches, GeoCities glitter and search engines that ranked pages like a game of bingo. The internet was real slow back then that people did not find much use of it.

Two brilliant PhD students at the time from Stanford University namely Larry Page and Sergey Brin, embarked on an experiment that would change the face of the internet forever. The students ended up developing one of the greatest companies today. They were busy tackling the web’s biggest mystery – how to sort through the chaotic mess of information lying around on the internet. Finding any information on the net wasn't efficient enough. Things were lethargic. Their solution? To make a system that segregate information and pick whatever you wanted when you asked for it. A system that analysed ‘backlinks’ to determine the importance and relevance of websites. This system could then make search results appear faster and correctly too.

Their pioneering search engine (originally nicknamed BackRub) was designed to analyse the backlinks of websites. They were the most resourceful tool available to get somewhat credible information on the net. Backlinking is a method of ranking pages based on how many other pages pointed to them. You gave your URL to another website and if they liked it, they would feature your URL on their articles. Essentially, BackRub was built on the idea that the more a webpage was ‘rubbed’ by backlinks, the more important or trustworthy it was. Meaning, the more number of websites out there on the internet that had your URLs on their content, the more traffic you were going to get.

By counting and evaluating the quality of these backlinks, the system determined a page’s importance on the World Wide Web. That would even build trust for the page and it's website. Hence it was laying the foundation for what later became known as the PageRank algorithm. The algorith made sense and provided efficient navigation possibility on the internet back then. This innovative approach was a radical departure from the existing search technologies of the time which largely relied on simple keyword matching. If you typed in a keyword, the search engine would give you a list of pages and websites with that keyword in their content. Instead, BackRub’s focus on link analysis laid the groundwork for what would eventually become the famed ‘PageRank’ algorithm. BackRub was reliant on backlinks instead of keywords which was supremely efficient than keyword searches.

Larry Page (right of the image) and Sergey Brin (left of the image)

Designed to rub together vast amounts of backlink data, the project captured the imagination of it’s creators and hinted at the immense potential of organising sense of the web’s sprawling data. This was an opportunity that no one else had discovered as of yet. As Larry Page once mused (with a hint of humour)…

“It wasn’t just about how many pages linked to you but how many pages really cared enough to give you a nod”.

But let’s be real – The name belonged in a 1990s infomercial next to Chia Pets and the Clapper. The name BackRub is unfitting for the tech world. It was a name so toe-curdling that it makes ‘Yahoo!’ sound poetic. It made no sense to the generic users or the public when they heard it for the first time. David Koller who is a Stanford alumnus, recalls the duo’s logic as…

“They wanted to reflect the ‘backlink’ analysis”.

But honestly, BackRub sounded less like tech innovation. It could only mean something within the circles. BackRub, the digital equivalent of a college roommate who steals your leftovers, was guzzling 50% of Stanford’s bandwidth by 1997. To index the billions of pages on the internet took much energy, which was not in ample supply for those times. That is like streaming Stranger Things on every dorm laptop simultaneously and that too in 4K! Soon, the University began to take notice where all their bandwith was going. Stanford’s IT department was less impressed by innovation and more ‘ready to yeet Brin and Page into the sun’. They made the founders of BackRub aware of it too.

PageRank – An algorithm that made Yahoo! seem a participation trophy

While other ’90s search engines ranked sites by keyword spam, BackRub’s PageRank treated the web like a high school popularity contest. They were indexing internet pages for the backlinks that websites were holding. The more backlinks a site had, the higher it was getting ranked. This kind of arrangement made search results better for the 1990s era. It was genius move unless you were ‘Ask Jeeves’ who probably cried into his virtual bowler hat. It was a loophole that the 2 students found out in the internet world and cashed in on it immediately.

Stanford’s digital playground – Why ‘BackRub’?

The name wasn’t chosen because Larry and Sergey were fans of unconventional spa treatments. In layman terms, the name would give you a chuckle. ‘BackRub’ was a literal reference to the technology’s core functionality of analysing backlinks. By adding the word Rub, they tried to make the company name appealing as well as relevant to their business. It also carried an endearing tongue-in-cheek quality. So, Back (for backlinks) and Rub (for perusing or shuffling through the internet) came together. It was a descriptive moniker for a project that literally rubbed together data from all across the internet. For the time, it looked like a high-quality name but only if you understood. Larry Page and Sergey Brin chose a name that was descriptive yet playful. They believed that it would take off real quick.

However, while BackRub perfectly captured the algorithm’s technical essence, it lacked the global appeal needed for a burgeoning company aiming to revolutionise information access. It was a business in the end and had to have proper impact on consumers of the internet. BackRub wasn't achieving the marketing part.

Why ‘BackRub’ was doomed...

As the project grew and the team’s ambitions expanded, it became clear that a more marketable name was required. The current name seemed awkward and the pressures for a change was implicitly looming overhead. ‘BackRub’ lacked market appeal and the pizzazz. It lacked that corporate punch if you know what I mean. This realisation paved the way for a dramatic rebranding that would eventually birth the name which we all recognise today. BackRub had to be ridden somehow. Let us address the elephant in the server room. Who are we kidding? BackRub was a terrible name. Not just for a tech company but for any company, it is so misfitting. Imagine pitching it today…

Investor – “So, what’s your USP?”
Larry Page – “We rub the internet’s back…metaphorically”.

Unsurprisingly, by 1997, Page and Brin decided even Altavista sounded cooler than BackRub. Finally, they made up their mind to rename the company. They needed a rebrand – something that screamed ‘we handle infinity!’ rather than ‘we moonlight as chiropractors’. The wheels started rolling towards Google.

Imagine trying to pitch a name like BackRub to American investors at a Silicon Valley cocktail party. It would be a terrible decision. Chances are that they would burst into laughter (or maybe not invest at all). That name is also going to create goofy stories about the company. The duo needed a name that could capture the immense potential of their search engine and resonate with a global audience. The new name had to be catchy, short and omnipotent.

The brainstorm that almost wasn’t!

By the year 1997, even Brin and Page admitted that the name ‘BackRub’ was a PR nightmare. It was like a baggage and weighing them down. They realized that the name was going to be a career suicide. Something had to be immediately done or the company was doomed. The turning point came in the same year during an impromptu brainstorming session in a Stanford office. They all sat down for the renaming discussions. Amid the coffee-fuelled debates and whiteboard scribbles, one suggestion stood out – the term ‘googol’ that was a mind-blowing mathematical term for 1 followed by 100 zeros. This term was good since the internet was an infinite universe and BackRub's business to map out that entire infinity. The idea was to reflect the vast amount of data the search engine was designed to handle. Googol made it relatable.

Enter Sean Anderson, a Stanford grad student with a knack for typos. The guy was bad in typing out sentences and words. During a brainstorming session, Anderson suggested googolplex which is a number even more large it’s a 1 followed by a googol of zeros (a googol being 1 followed by 100 zeros). Page (ever the minimalist) countered with googol. He suggested pushing it. But when Anderson checked domain availability, he fat-fingered ‘google.com’ instead. Oops, that wasn't supposed to happen. Fate intervened in a serendipitous twist when Anderson misspelled and ‘Googol’ morphed into ‘Google’. But this seemed like a better wordplay than the using the literal term itself. Page chuffed with the error and registered the domain on 15th September 1997. He never had to regret doing that ever since. And thus, Google was born – a name so catchy it made Yahoo! sound like a sneeze. Today, that name has garnered greatest powers ever possible.

This rebranding wasn’t just a cosmetic change. It was going to make highways for the company soon. It also signalled a shift in mindset from a research project with an academic name to a company with big ambitions. If there was the best corporate move of the century, it was BackRub's name change. The name ‘Google’ was memorable, quirky and perfectly aligned with their mission to organise the world’s information. BackRub founders had zero idea about the monster returns that the new name was about to fetch. Today, ‘to google’ has become a verb in everyday language which is a testament to the profound impact of that rebrand. Even in the least privilaged areas of the world, the name is well-known and well-understood today. The name has become one of the most globally reached titles.

The day the domain dropped

Anderson’s typo was worth $1.7 Trillion by the year 1997 itself. It was an incredible mistake that had value like no other! Page swiftly registered google.com for £12 (roughly £23 today). They never looked back after that. The rest? History. Today, everybody in the world knows the weightage of that name or in this case, Anderson's typo. As Anderson later joked…

“My typo’s worth £1.7 trillion. You’re welcome, world”.

Google.com was registered on September 15th of 1997. It was the best opportunistic move for BackRub founders. For context, that’s the same year, the movie ‘Titanic’ had also hit theatres. Coincidence? Absolutely.

Silicon Valley’s sacred site – Susan Wojcicki’s garage

By 1998, Google had outgrown Stanford’s servers (and patience). Google was expanding in business and the technical requirements to meet the daily operations were increasing very rapidly. The duo moved operations to the Menlo Park garage of Susan Wojcicki (now a pilgrimage site for techies). You know her, right? Yes, she was going to be the future CEO of YouTube. Google had a very humble beginning indeed. The setup was peak gloriously chaotic ’90s startup of…

The first Google computer at Stanford

Lego server racks – To save cash, Page built storage unit’s from Lego because why hire an engineer when you’ve got Duplo? You can see the Lego setup from the image above. Imagine Google’s servers were built from Lego bricks to arrest expenditure. Today's greatest company had cash-crunch once, wow!

Ping-Pong diplomacy – The first ‘boardroom’ was a £20 ping-pong table from Argos or Walmart. A ping-pong table was doubling as Google’s conference table and desk. Today's generation might not fully comprehend the struggles in the 90s when resources weren't available quite easily for new businesses.

Tangled ethernet cables – Self-explanatory.

‘Burning Man’ vibes – The first Google Doodle happened in the year 1998. The feat demonstrates how fast the company was growing. It featured a stickman at Burning Man which was a nod to Brin’s hippie streak. Because nothing says ‘tech-startup’ like a desert rave.

The ‘Don’t Be Evil’ mantra – Iconic or ironic?

Google’s 2004 IPO introduced it’s infamous motto – ‘Don’t be evil’. The phrase was in many spots inside Google offices. This is a phrase which is now dripping with irony after controversies like the 2024 EU antitrust ruling. It made the phrase somewhat comical by then. Fast-forward to 2024…the EU fined Google £3.8 billion for antitrust violations. They were monopolising the European market with respect to shopping. Google was fined £3.8 billion for squashing shopping-search rivals. Hence, the big billing but by then, it was just a minor dent on the company. The DOJ is suing Google for monopolizing search ads and everyone’s side-eyeing them harder than Ross at a Vegas chapel. Things are happening inside Google which might not truly correspond to it's own phrase.

At Google UK Headquarters

PageRank – Silicon Valley savvy or stolen valour?

PageRank was partly inspired by Robin Li who is the founder of China’s Baidu. Baidu is a tech company that is engaged in artificial intelligence and internet services. Turns out, Larry and Sergey weren’t the only nerds obsessed with backlinks. He was also aware of the opportunity lying in backlinks. Robin Li created the RankDex algorithm in 1996 that was later used in China’s Baidu. BackRub founders might have received wind of Robin's works and cashed in. That is a fact Google quietly glosses over like a Tinder profile hiding a Nickelback obsession. There must be a story after all this because there is no elaboration and no one is talking about it. Li, ever the diplomat, remarked in the year 2023 that…

Robin Li (in off-white suit)

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Or theft. Depends on the lawyer”.

Link farms – SEO’s wild wild west

BackRub’s obsession with backlinks birthed SEO’s seedy underbelly. Search Engine Optimisation started gaining greater momentum since Google came around. BackRub's focus birthed SEO’s golden rule – ‘More links = higher rank’. By the 2000s, ‘link farms’ (bot-generated sites trading links) were everywhere. Soon, SEO took over the internet by storm. Google’s 2012 Penguin update nuked spam faster than a Midwestern mom with a coupon for 50% off Tupperware. All for the glory from SEO-oriented results powered by backlinks.

Lesser-known facts – Google’s greatest hits and misses

While many know that Google’s original name was BackRub, here are some quirky nuggets of trivia that might surprise you.

Larry Page actually liked the typo error made by Anderson so much that the domain was registered immediately on 15th September 1997. He loved the wordplay that the typo had made.

BackRub was so resource-hungry that it initially ran on Stanford’s servers which eventually took up too much bandwidth. It was consuming most of the university's internet use. They quickly overtaxed Stanford’s servers. The university simply couldn't keep up. Imagine trying to run your own computer with dialup speeds. Unlike today, the internet wasn't unlimited back then. It was a real struggle. The early internet days were fraught with so many technical difficulties everywhere.

Stanford kicked BackRub off from it’s servers in the year 1997 for hogging 50% of it’s bandwidth. With steadily rising consumption, a termination was definitely coming. This early hiccup foreshadowed the monumental growth challenges that lay ahead. BackRub had to quickly find alternative to meet the rising demands.

Stanford University, California (USA)

After kicking Google out, Stanford trademarked ‘PageRank’ in the year 2011. Even though it wasn't theirs, they did that. Petty? Absolutely. Iconic? You bet your Cheetos-stained keyboard.

Both founders were known for their playful approach to technology. They loved to infuse relaxed mindset into their work too. From doodles to offbeat product names, this humour has remained a part of Google’s DNA. It is a fun place to work at today. For example, Google’s famously quirky motto ‘Don’t be evil’ has it’s roots in the founders’ offbeat sense of humour. They love to keep their work environment free of tension. It served as a gentle reminder to steer clear of shady business practices even if it did give boardrooms across the USA a chuckle. What do you think about Google's work culture?

Scott Hassan was BackRub’s lead coder but left before the company could be incorporated as Google. He also played vital role in BackRub's development until leaving office. He is often considered to be the third founder of Google. Post-BackRub, he had built up his own corporate road. He now runs a robotics firm called Willow Garage. This company is large too but nowhere near his previous company. No hard feelings, mate? His net worth? A cool £400 million. Regrets? “Nah, robots > ads”. Google’s net worth? $1.7 trillion. There are lessons to learn from this story. It shows how life operates in unpredictable ways. Moral – Always stay for the stock options.

Scott Hassan | Pic credit - The Daily Beast

Google almost sold away for £750,000 once! It would have been no more today. Believe it or not, the founders once flirted with the idea of selling their nascent search engine for a mere $750,000. They weren't performing well in certain areas and had considered passing it on to someone else. In the year 1999, Brin and Page tried to sell Google to Excite for $1 million. Since Google wasn't doing well, it gave the CEO apprehensions about the trade. Excite’s CEO George Bell said no. Oops? By now, he might be living in a world of regret. His net worth today? £0. Excite would run out of business wind up in the future due to bankruptcy. Today, Excite is deader than Blockbuster. A really unfortunate flipping of events. It was almost a bargain when Google's offer was made. One can't blame anyone because markets are totally unpredictable. Thankfully, American entrepreneurial grit (and a healthy dose of stubbornness) prevailed and paved the way for what we now know as Google. They really made a come around.

George Bell | Pic credit - Internet History Podcast

Google’s parent company ‘Alphabet’ references alpha (investment returns) and bet (…well, betting). They love coming up with such names, don't they? Classic Larry and Sergey wordplay.

A parallel universe – What if Google had stayed BackRub?

“I’ll just BackRub it”.

…doesn’t have the same ring of Google, does it? It sounds like some comedy. Office massages would have been very literal. No one could take backrubbing seriously. The 2024 EU Antitrust case would’ve been dubbed ‘The BackRub Scandal’. Wahahahah! The verb dilemma would’ve been insanely laughable. ‘Just BackRub it” lacks the zing of ‘Just Google it’. My hats off to Brin and Sergey for renaming their company proactively.

“Let me BackRub that for you”.

…sounds like a threat at a frat party. Not at all even remotely cool that. Google’s massages would’ve been "for real" real. HR complaints? No, don't even go there! Through the roof. He tried to backrub me, she tried to rub my back...my goodness! In pop culture, the social network would’ve been ‘The BackRub Chronicles’ starring Michael Cera as Larry Page. Given the potential of comedies that netizens could come up with, these are just the scratch.

Expert insights and industry perspectives

Technology experts have long hailed the transition from BackRub to Google as a masterclass in rebranding. It was a well-executed corporate decision. Experts across the United States have lauded Google’s transformation. That timing was just right with all that typo coming in conveniently for Google. As one industry veteran put it…

“Changing the name from BackRub to Google wasn’t just a marketing move; it was a strategic pivot that encapsulated the potential of a company that would soon redefine the internet”.

Another Silicon Valley analyst observed…

“The evolution from a research project with an unassuming name to a global brand is a testament to the founders’ foresight. Changing the name was not merely about aesthetics—it was about encapsulating the potential to organise a world of data”.

Yet another seasoned Silicon Valley analyst quipped…

“Transforming BackRub into Google was like upgrading from a tricycle to a rocket ship. Suddenly, you’re not just competing; you’re redefining the game”.

“The shift from a purely academic project to a global brand illustrates the importance of vision and adaptability in tech entrepreneurship”.

…noted a leading Silicon Valley analyst. Everyone who learn of Google's origins have the similar thoughts on the subject. This sentiment is echoed in numerous interviews and retrospectives including insightful YouTube documentaries that explore the early days of the company. To be named Google and not Googol or Googleplex was bull's eye in business. These sources emphasise how Google’s founders recognised that innovation sometimes requires shedding old identities to embrace a broader and more ambitious future. Their story taught a lesson on embracing the odds. Experts argue that the success of Google lies not only in it’s cutting-edge technology but also in it’s ability to reinvent itself continuously. Their work was still the core of it all and they had to constantly deliver because a perfect corporate name does not translate to consistency in business development.

Accidents, ambition and the art of the typo

Google’s rise from BackRub is a testament to serendipity and Stanford’s tolerance for bandwidth hogs. It remains a phenomenal corporate reality. As tech historian Margaret O’Mara notes…

“The best innovations aren’t planned; they’re blundered into”.

So next time you Google, remember that greatness often starts with a terrible name, a garage and a knack for Lego. You can make it if you look for the signs and adapt. Got a BackRub relic? Please tell.

Future, hiccups and the road ‘less travelled’

No narrative of innovation is incomplete without acknowledging the controversies that have dogged Google over the years. The company is highly successful today but it had journeyed through the fog. In it’s nascent years, Google was almost sold for a fraction of it’s current value at a mere $750,000. Had it gone through, there might have been no more Google. It was a decision that could have drastically altered the company's future. Fortunately, it never materialized. Moreover, some critics have argued that the simplistic almost-whimsical branding belied the serious sometimes monopolistic power the company would later wield. Hmmm, interesting point.

Recent news even highlights ongoing debates about Google’s market dominance with regulatory bodies scrutinising it’s practices and those antitrust issues making headlines. Somehow, becoming the market leader is causing difficulties. It’s practices in advertising and search is always under watch. The watchdogs ensure that everyone in the market gets something. These controversies while challenging, serve as a reminder of the delicate balance between ethical business practices and innovation. They are not meant to cripple you down but to fine-tune the market. Google has been compelled to refine it’s strategies and invest heavily in privacy and security enhancements. That way, it would be easier for them to avoid conflicts with authorities.

Today, the company is navigating a complex landscape of regulatory pressures, emerging AI technologies and global competition; all while remaining committed to it’s core mission of organising the world’s information. Come to think of it, if Google collapses, the world might actually go haywire.

Google today

For citizens of the USA, Google’s story is more than a tech tale. Their own life is metaphorically projected onto the journey of Google. It is a reflection of American ingenuity and the relentless pursuit of innovation. The country is all about freedom and progress anyway. Consider these key milestones that have shaped the nation’s digital landscape…

Garage to global – Born in a humble garage in Menlo Park (California), Google embodies the quintessential American startup story. Few of it's highly successful businesses had started in some home's backyard or their residence's garages. Through trial and errors, they have risen up to be giant corporations today. It’s a narrative of risk-taking, perseverance and a sea of luck that resonates with every entrepreneur from Silicon Valley to main street. Google's life is a mirror of dedication that the Americans put into their work.

Revolutionising search – Google’s breakthrough in search technology changed how Americans access information by turning ‘googling’ into a verb and fundamentally overhauling all of our digital habits. The skip from simple keyword searches to backlinks was brilliant. It’s hard to imagine life without a quick Google search whether you are looking for the best burger joint in New York or trying to decipher the latest tech jargon. Forget America, Google is available in some of the least developed cities of the world too. Google is the only source of anything for them even today.

Antitrust and beyond – While Google’s dominance has brought remarkable innovation, it has also stirred controversy. Nothing in life comes easy and without hurdles. American lawmakers and regulators have repeatedly scrutinised the company over antitrust concerns that echo debates on consumer rights and free competition. It is really complicated when it comes to a tech giant like Google. These controversies, though challenging, have sparked vigorous public debate and policy discussions across the nation. The world continues to keep track on all this.

Pioneering AI – The future is now. It is unstoppably early because of the alarming progress of technology. Today, Google is at the forefront of artificial intelligence with projects like the Gemini AI platform. Gone are the days of being merely a search engine. Gemini is a cutting-edge AI platform that builds on the company’s long-standing expertise in data analysis and search. With the AI, Google is able to provide it's users futuristic tools. For a tech-savvy American audience, this represents not just an evolution in search but a revolution in how we interact with technology from smart assistants in our homes to predictive analytics in our smartphones. Everyone is on the edge with anticipation for the next incredible product from Google.

Recent updates – have also seen Google doubling down on privacy measures in response to global regulatory pressures which is an irony not lost on those who remember the company’s humble beginnings as a back-link analyzer. The company is actively engaged in doing what is best for all consumers throughout the world.

Continuous evolution – The company’s relentless drive to adapt and improve is reflected in it’s diverse product ecosystem which includes Android, Google Maps, YouTube and the ever-evolving Google Workspace. Today, there are so many Google products in the market to make business and life convenient.

In an era where technology is evolving at breakneck speed, Google’s journey from BackRub to it’s current form is a compelling narrative of reinvention, perseverance and above all, a relentless pursuit of better answers. Let it's existence inspire you to change your life for the best too, my friend.

The algorithm that changed the game – Why your SEO strategy owes BackRub a pint

From BackRub’s humble origins to the tech juggernaut that is Google, this journey is of genius and innovation. Without smart minds steering it, it would have ended up nowhere. BackRub didn’t just die but it evolved into the SEO gospel. They identified opportunities and quickly got to subduing them. It’s focus on backlinks became the holy grail of search rankings. What Google did became coveted in the tech world. For years, webmasters traded links like Pokémon cards leading to The Great Link Farm Epidemic of 2008 (RIP your uncle’s ‘Top 10 Cat Memes’ site). Don't, however, assume that backlinks are out of action. Even today, backlinks remain critical even though Google now penalises dodgy ones faster than ever. Once you start playing the game, you will get the hang of it.

The transformation of BackRub into Google is a narrative of rebranding brilliance, innovative engineering and relentless ambition. There might be no other captivating tech story like Google. It is a story that encapsulates the spirit of Silicon Valley. The sharpness of the mind needed here is not just technical only. As we look ahead to an era dominated by artificial intelligence and digital connectivity, the humble origins of Google remind us that every great revolution begins with a simple idea. Tell you what? It can become your story too. Next time you type a query into Google, take a moment to appreciate the journey from BackRub to Google. You are watching years of marvel at work in microseconds now. It all started with a playful name, a brilliant idea and a tiny spark that ignited a global revolution. Today, it has almost no equal rival.

Margaret O’Mara

Google’s rise is a masterclass in happy accidents — a typo here, a Lego there! Weirdly, it all worked out just fine. As tech historian Margaret O’Mara says…

“Silicon Valley runs on caffeine, ego and typos”.

So next time you Google ‘why is my cat judging me?’, tip your hat to BackRub which was the gloriously awkward teen phase of America’s favourite verb. Got a hot take? Drop it below! (But if you say 'Ask Jeeves did it better', 😂 you will be muted).

From cringe to dominance

As we move forward into an era dominated by artificial intelligence and ever-growing digital ecosystems, it’s worth remembering that every giant company had a spark or a quirky humble idea that, with the right blend of creativity and determination, changed the world. Never look down on the impossibilities like the one Excite did. Google’s journey from BackRub to Alphabet is a masterclass in embracing accidents. That typo? A £1.7 trillion lesson in serendipity. Whenever you “Google” something, spare a thought for the BackRub days when the internet’s future hinged on a dodgy name, a garage and some legos. Also, marvel at how it is operating today by carrying the entire Earth's e-weight!