One of the world’s largest technology companies, Google specializes in Internet-based technologies and is best known for the Google search engine.
Google is the most popular search engine. It uses software programs called spiders that scour the Internet, analyzing billions of web pages, group and blog postings, and indexing all of the words. It also indexes audio and video.
Indexes like Google identify the text on individual pages of a website that match your search criteria, even if the site itself has nothing to do with what you are looking for. You can often find unexpected gems of information this way.
Search results are ranked in order of relevancy–the number of times your search term appears in a document–or how closely the document appears to match a concept you have entered.
In addition to their search engine, Google owns many of the most widely used Internet products and services, including:
- Android Operating System – This most popular mobile operating system in the world.
- Chrome Browser – The world’s most popular web browser.
- Gmail – A free, web-based email client.
- Google Docs – A free, web-based office suite for creating and editing documents, spreadsheets, and presentation.
- Google Drive – A cloud storage service that allows users to sync files across multiple devices and online.
- Nexus Smartphones and Tablets – Android-based mobile devices.
- YouTube – The world’s most popular video-sharing site, which receives over 1 billion unique visitors each month.
In addition to these, Google manages an enormous number of other Internet and technology projects, including the Picasa photo editing program, Google Talk Instant Messaging, the Google+ social networking site, Chrome OS, Chromecast, Google Maps, Google Wallet, and the driverless Google Car, as well as many other ongoing projects. One of the cornerstones of Google’s business is its integration of services across all platforms and devices, allowing users to manage all of their Google accounts and services from one location and share their information across any device.
Frequently Asked Questions
With so many free products, how does Google make money?
Most of Google’s profits come from advertising. Many of Google’s web-based services, including their search engine and Gmail service, are supported through advertisements. In addition, Google provides one of the largest advertising platforms for both companies and individual website owners looking to generate money from their site. Using Google AdWords, companies pay to have their advertisements displayed on the Google network, while website owners use Google AdSense to feature these ads on their websites.
Does Google offer paid services?
Google offers enterprise versions of many of its products, allowing companies to provide domain-specific versions of popular services, such as Gmail and Google Docs, to its employees, while providing a higher level of security and administrative privileges than free users receive. Businesses can also utilize Google’s search technology on their own website, via Google Site Search. Google Play Store, an app store for Android devices, sells mobile apps, games, music, movies, and books. Google Play Music is both an online music store and paid subscription service. Google also sells a number of devices, including Nexus phones and tablets, smart watches, Chromebook laptops, and more.