Google turns 20: jaw-dropping stats about the search engine giant
Today marks 20 years since Google first hit the internet in 1998. To celebrate, we've rounded up some fun facts about the globe's most popular search engine
Image: 123RF/kesu87
100
That's the number of zeros following 1 in the number googol.
Google's name is a play on this incredibly large number because the search engine hoped it would make it easier to access the vast amount of information on the internet. Apparently the company was originally called BackRub (yikes!).
25 MILLION
That's the number of web pages that existed when Google first started in 1998. Today there are billions of web pages on the internet.
OVER 2,000
That's the number of Google Doodles that have been created over the years. Appearing on the search engine's homepage, these Doodles re-imagine the company's logo turning it into a whimsical illustration or animation celebrating a holiday or famous person.
Some of the Doodles created especially for South Africa include ones marking Nelson Mandela's 96th Birthday (2014), the 60th Anniversary of the Women's March (2016) and Freedom Day (2018).
To celebrate Google's 20th birthday, today's Doodle is inspired by some of the most popular search queries it's had over the last two decades including 'show me pictures of cute animals' and 'is Pluto still a planet?'.
CHECK OUT | The Google Doodle celebrating the company's 20th Birthday
The video could not be loaded.
MORE THAN 143 BILLION
That's the number of words translated using Google Translate each day. There are over 100 languages to choose from including Zulu, Xhosa, Sesotho and Afrikaans.
OVER 200 YEARS
That's the amount of time Google estimates its Autocomplete search function helps to save people around the world every day. The suggestions Autocomplete offers to finish your sentence whenever you start typing in the Google search box are based on popular searches.
Wired Magazine's used this handy feature to create a series of hilarious celebrity interviews; the A-listers answer questions that pop up after they type their name into Google.
WATCH | Anna Kendrick and Black Lively's Autocomplete Interview
The video could not be loaded.
132.1 BILLION
That's the amount in dollars that Forbes estimates the Google brand is worth. That's a jaw-dropping R1,866,769,505,831!