Overview
Google is a multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products. These include online advertising technologies, search engine, cloud computing, software, and hardware. It is considered one of the Big Four technology companies, alongside Amazon, Apple, and Facebook.
History
Google was first incorporated as a privately held entity on September 4, 1998, and its initial public offering followed on August 19, 2004. The company's mission statement is "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," and its unofficial slogan is "Don't be evil." In October 2015, Google reorganized as a subsidiary of a conglomerate called Alphabet.
Products and Services
Google's most famous and influential service is its web search service. As of October 2018, it is the most used search engine worldwide, with a 92.3% market share. Google indexes billions of web pages to allow users to search for the information they desire through the use of keywords.
In addition to its search engine, Google offers services designed for work and productivity (Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides), email (Gmail), scheduling and time management (Google Calendar), cloud storage (Google Drive), instant messaging and video chat (Duo, Hangouts), language translation (Google Translate), mapping and navigation (Google Maps, Waze, Google Earth, Street View), video sharing (YouTube), note-taking (Google Keep), and photo organizing and editing (Google Photos).
Criticism and Controversy
Google has faced criticism and controversy over issues such as privacy, tax avoidance, antitrust, censorship, and search neutrality. Google's parent company, Alphabet, has also been criticized for allowing advertisers to target ads to specific racial and ethnic groups, as well as other demographic groups that are legally protected from discrimination.