The Google Empire

Backgrounds.
Exciting details.

Google is (without exaggeration) one of the most exciting companies in the world: Google does not produce anything and yet is omnipresent and firmly anchored in our (digital) lives. When we start the computer, Google is already there, usually as the home page. If we want to know something, Google is the answer. And if we’re going to found ourselves, we hope that Google likes us very much and ranks us at the top (keyword SEO). How did this happen …?

A good mission
Google’s corporate mission doesn’t sound modest: “To organize the information around the world and make it universally accessible and usable.” (The Google credo “Don’t be evil” is, unfortunately, drowning in the current expansion course.) Also, one must know that in the Google year of foundation 1998, the Internet and its sides were still very unclearly indicated. Those who attached importance to it at that time could enter their domain and page in catalogs and hope that the users would find the entry via the search in the corresponding topic rubric. Google was not frightened to go the seemingly impossible way of automating the search in the exponentially growing Internet. A self-developed catalog system should bring order to the chaos.

New algorithm
While it was common for the first search engines to rank results according to the frequency of keywords (which opened the door to abuse), Google went a new way. The preferred sites were those that were linked by others (backlinks) or that were clicked most frequently in connection with the keywords. These pages might have been the most target-oriented. However, this also means that the mainstream sets the direction, which is not always in the sense of quality assurance.

Google’s mission: “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and usable.”

Money by Ads
The Google search was and is free! While conventional business models demand cash for results, Google opens up the whole world of the Internet to users for free. Behind the scenes, however, Google Ads, the low-cost classified ads in the middle of search results, generate billions in revenue. About 97 % of the turnover is generated with advertising. It enables companies to place extremely targeted advertising almost without wastage. What’s unique about this is that, unlike traditional media, small advertising spaces only have to be paid for once they have clicked – there is no charge for advertising itself.

Weird investments
With the economic growth and sufficient capital, Google (here especially the two Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin) starts into new areas of everyday life. Using “loons,” giant balloons floating about 30 km above the earth, Google wants to secure the worldwide internet supply. With the economic growth and sufficient capital, Google (here especially the two Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin) starts into new areas of everyday life. Using “loons,” giant balloons floating about 30 km above the earth, Google wants to secure the worldwide internet supply.

Where is Google going?
It also goes without saying that this market position is not accepted without criticism everywhere. In addition to international publishing houses and the EU Commission, US President Donald Trump has recently also opposed Google. The reason: He googled his own name and found mainly negative headlines about himself. Now he thinks that Google would deliberately make the selection to his disadvantage – that would have consequences. As already mentioned, however, the algorithm is responsible for this: apparently the negative reports are in the majority and are linked especially gladly and often.

DeSight Studio GmbH | Wolfgang Zdimal

Journalist and professional copywriter Wolfgang Zdimal wrote this article on behalf of DeSight Studio GmbH and published by DeSight Studio GmbH. Wolfgang Zdimal, who manages his business from Vienna, Austria, has more than 20 years of professional experience and writes for the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, BAWAG P.S.K. Bank or just for DeSight Studio GmbH.