The most unknown secrets of Google

The great service offered by this search engine has definitely changed the world of information. Before it, it was not possible to find it so quickly, or else it was impossible to find it, from a piece of information, an address, a special store, etc. Now the search is instantaneous and, on average, more than 40,000 searches are performed every second worldwide, that is, 3.5 billion every day. But there are many things that after several years of using it, we do not know about Google. Let’s take a look at its most unknown secrets:

The origin of its name

It is something very curious: it was derived from a spelling mistake. One of the engineers involved in the project misspelled the word “googol”, a mathematical term that designates a 1, continued by 100 zeros. But the managers liked this mistake because it looked very good and original, so it became institutionalized.

However, before all this, Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page first called it “Backrub”, which translates to “brief shoulder and back rub”, but refers metaphorically, of course, to the facility given to a person to search and sort the web pages in which the desired information is located.

Strange commands

Strange things happen on the world’s most important search platform, such as that in Google Translator appeared since 2017, encrypted messages related to the end of the world, the new world order, etc. But it also happens, that when typing the word “askew” and hitting Enter, the screen is tilted; those, among other mysteries.

Goats for technology, or technology for goats?

A peculiar campaign proposed by the company has exchanged some lawn mowers for numerous goats in large gardens, such as the one at the Googleplex in Mountain View, California, whose lawn is mowed by more than two hundred hungry goats.

A rounded business

All these years, social networks and the web have been led by Facebook and Google, the biggest owners of them. Google has Gmail, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Sky, Google Drive, among others. Millions and millions of dollars are billed in this emporium, which acquires about one company a week, since it positioned itself so well in 2010. Giant companies such as YouTube, Waze, Android, AdSense, among 70 others, belong exclusively to Google.

An unforgettable multi-million dollar bargain

In the late 90’s, the co-founders wanted to sell the company completely, for a million dollars, excited by the normal growth. However, no one wanted to take advantage of such a great bargain and not enough, they went as low as 800 thousand dollars and not even then, someone bought it. Today it is over 300 billion dollars and growing.

Food is of vital importance

By Sergey Brin’s express orders, there should not be a single office in Google’s facilities where there is not a good meal or, at least, a delicious chocolate. For the father of the company, it is very important to keep his employees energetic and happy. It has been a policy since the beginning, when the company’s favorite food was fish-shaped sweets, but there are not only candies and sweets, but a whole variety of coffees and gourmet food.

Dogs are welcome

Like no other mega-company, googlers, as employees are called, are allowed to bring their dogs to work. But only on the condition that they are well trained and do not cause messes and messes.

Super speed in accelerated expansion

There is no comparison with the capacity of the portal to add pages, from 1999 to the present, as it exceeds more than ten thousand times that of that time.

Make a Barrel Roll

This is another of the search engine’s hidden commands. If you put “do a barrel roll” in the bar, plus the Enter key, this screen roll is produced. What is its purpose? Other than to amuse a little, it is not known.

Thanks to the ease of finding information at great speed, the world today is advancing faster and the levels of education are directly proportional, since students are among the most favored, but also trade, entertainment and all.

Google Doodles: the story behind Google’s custom logos

Google’s custom logos that appear on its homepage on the occasion of special dates or historical events are known as Google Doodles. These creative and fun designs aim to celebrate culture, art, science and the diversity of the world. The first Google Doodle was created in 1998 by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to indicate that they were out of the office attending the Burning Man festival.

Since then, Google Doodles have become a tradition involving a team of artists and engineers called doodlers. The doodlers take suggestions from the public and also research interesting topics to create the custom logos.

Some of the most popular Google Doodles have been interactive, such as the Pac-Man game, Robert Moog’s synthesizer or the homage to Beethoven. Google Doodles are a way to express Google’s personality and values, as well as to surprise and delight its users.

What is Googlebot? Google’s web crawler and how it affects search results

Googlebot is the name given to the robot or spider that Google uses to scan web pages on the Internet and add them to its index. The index is the database where Google stores all the information it collects from websites and then uses to display the most relevant search results for users.

It works through an algorithmic process, that is, it follows a series of rules and criteria to determine which pages to visit, how often, how deep, and what content to extract and index. To do this, it relies on several factors, such as popularity, authority, quality, up-to-dateness and accessibility of web pages.

Googlebot can not only read and index web pages in HTML format, but also other file types such as PDF, DOC, XLS or PS. In addition, it can interpret some dynamic elements such as JavaScript or CSS, as long as they are not blocked or make access difficult.

Googlebot’s goal is to crawl and index as many web pages as possible without saturating or collapsing the servers where they are hosted or the available bandwidth. In this way, it can offer users a fast, accurate and satisfying search experience.

This system affects search results because it is responsible for finding and ranking web pages according to their relevance to users’ queries. Therefore, it is important to optimize the website to facilitate the work of Googlebot and improve SEO positioning. Some ways to do this are:

• Create a sitemap that tells Googlebot the most important pages of the website and how they are structured.
• Use appropriate meta tags that describe the content and purpose of each page.
• Avoid duplicate or unoriginal content that may penalize the ranking of the website.
• Keep the website updated and with fresh and useful content for users.
• Use internal and external links that improve the navigation and authority of the website.
• Correctly implement dynamic technologies such as AJAX or JavaScript without impeding access to Googlebot.

The ethics of Google’s data collection: is Google collecting too much personal data?

Google is one of the most influential companies in the world, offering a wide range of digital services and products to millions of users. However, in order to provide these services and personalize the user experience, Google collects a large amount of personal data, which can include information about location, searches, browsing habits, preferences, contacts, photos and more.

Is it ethical for Google to collect so much personal data? What are the risks to users’ privacy and rights? What are the benefits of analyzing this data for society? These are some of the questions raised in the debate about the ethics of Google’s data collection.

On the one hand, it can be argued that Google collects too much personal data and does not respect the data minimization principle, which states that only data strictly necessary to fulfill the specific purpose for which they are requested should be collected.

It can also be questioned whether Google adequately informs users about what data it collects, how it uses it and with whom it shares it. It can also be criticized that Google does not provide sufficient options for users to control their data and exercise their rights of access, rectification, cancellation or opposition.

On the other hand, it can be argued that Google collects so much personal data because it is necessary to provide innovative and useful services to users and to constantly improve their quality and security.

In addition to the above, it can be emphasized that Google complies with current regulations on data protection and that it applies technical and organizational measures to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the data. It should also be noted that Google contributes to the advancement of knowledge and social welfare through the responsible and ethical use of data for scientific, educational or humanitarian purposes.

Google Experiments: Innovative and experimental Google Labs projects

Google Experiments are a way to explore the possibilities of technology and creativity through innovative and experimental projects created by developers from around the world. Some of these projects use tools such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, machine learning or webXR to create interactive, educational and fun experiences that can be tested with your mobile or computer.

Google experiments can be found on the Experiments with Google website, where there are more than 1500 projects grouped in different thematic collections. For example, you can play at drawing with a neural network that tries to guess what you draw, create a dance choreography with a professional choreographer, use paper wrappers to reduce mobile usage time or travel the world with images captured by satellite.

Google’s experiments are a way to showcase the potential of new technologies and inspire others to create their own projects. In addition, many of them are open source and available on GitHub. Google Experiments are heirs to the former Google Labs, a website that closed in 2011 and served as a testing ground for new services and features that Google was developing.