Interesting Facts About Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, and AllTheWeb

Nearly 85% of all knowledge obtained online starts with somebody doing R & D on one or more search engines. Whether a product or a service, search engines are the tool people are using to find what they want. You would benefit greatly to gain an understanding of how search engines can help grow your business.

Search engines are of two basic styles - portal and search box focused. In either search style, results depend on inclusion within the engine’s extensive database, some using human editing and others fully automated, some requiring paid inclusion and others free. Search results listings are called SERP’s or search engine result pages.

Studies have shown that search engines and links are the most effective way to reach Web users. Search engine marketing is tiered, meaning one may promote a Web site on the search engines at various levels of visibility. Each level offers a distinctly different service than the next.

At the most basic level of marketing is search engine listing which is simply registration in any given search database. This doesn’t guarantee or solidify ranking in the top results, but does obtain consideration. The next level is called search engine optimization, or improving a Web site’s ability to gain top rankings in SERP’s.

To rank relevantly within search engine results, Web sites must be considered relevant for a particular search algorithm for that particular keyword or phrase. This is a dynamic and growing strategy based on various tactics aimed to use search algorithms to the marketer’s best advantage. Currently, Web sites rank highest when each page is optimized separately. Metatags are thus developed with appropriate content.

There are countless search engines driving traffic to Web sites. Most of these are small, targeted and growing, while others have a large, broad and loyal audiences. Just a few search engines control the majority of queries on the Internet. These leaders include: Yahoo, Google, Ask Jeeves and AllTheWeb.

Other search sites compile results from multiple search engines into all-encompassing SERP’s. Finally, a one-of-a-kind undertaking, the Open Directory Project or DMOZ is a non-commercial directory focused on human-editing and free inclusion.
Studies also indicate search engines and links are the most effective method to reach users. According to GVU users survey, 85 percent of all new visitors currently arrive from search engines. Other strong marketing venues include word of mouth and printed direct mail advertising.


Traffic Facts:-

The following shows the average reach. For instance, if you sampled a million Internet users, average reach states how many visit each of the follow (Metrics as of February 2005.)

Yahoo
Google
Ask Jeeves
AllTheWeb
Dogpile
DMOZ

301,800 reach per million Internet users
170,650 reach per million Internet users
6,905 reach per million Internet users
1,070 reach per million Internet users
1,485 reach per million Internet users
1,880 reach per million Internet users

Today Yahoo is the top ranked Web site on the Internet. Word of mouth grew into what is now a publicly traded company. A Yahoo listing is as important as one in the phone book.
Google.com opened in a garage in September, 1998 in Menlo Park, California. Google handled more than 100 million search queries a day by the end of 2000.


In February 2002, Google launched AdWords, a self-serve cost-per-click advertising model. In December 2002, Google launched Froogle, a free product search service. 2004 brought Local Search and Gmail, as well as a public offering under the ticker GOOG.
No longer a garage business, Google reaches an average of 148,800 million users each day. Being included in the next Googlebot Internet crawls is as important as drinking milk.

Source: http://www.webreference.com/authoring/seo_facts/

All About Google

We all use Google in some way or the other. The way Google has evolved is a story worth telling.
Here are some of the interesting facts about Google :-

1. The name ‘Google’ was an accident. It was the result of a spelling mistake made by the original founders who thought they were going for ‘Googol’. The domain name “Googol.com” was already taken by the time Google was founded. Google founded

2. The domain Google.com was registered on 15 September 1997.

3. The first operations of Google was started in this garage

google-garage-picture

4. Google (aka Googol) is a mathematical term which means “1 followed by hundred Zeros”. The term ‘Googol’ was coined by Milton Sirotta, nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasne.

5. Google receives daily search requests from all over the world, including Antarctica.

4. Google’s Homepage has 42 validation errors. Check Google Validation

google-w3c-errors

5. Google’s homepage can be accessed in 88 languages including Urdu and Latin.

6. Every day the Google servers receives about a billion search requests . 20 to 25% of Google queries have never been searched before.

7. The main reason why the Google homepage is so simple is because the founders didn’t knew HTML. The submit button was included much later and hitting the return key was the only way to get the search results.

8. The “I am feeling lucky” button is almost never used by the end user. However it was found that removing the button would reduce the Google experience.

9. In the early days of testing Google employees noted people just sitting and looking at the screen. After a minute the tester asked “What are you waiting for ?”. To this the users replied “We are waiting for the page to load”.

To solve this issue the copyright message was added which acted as an end of the page marker.

10. Google has the largest network of translators in the world.

11. All Google employees are encouraged to use 20% of their time working in their own projects. Google news and Orkut are two big examples that grew from this working model.

12. Google consists of over 450,000 servers, racked up in clusters located in data centers around the world.

13. Google started in January, 1996 as a research project at Stanford University, by Ph.D. candidates Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they were 24 years old and 23 years old respectively.The original google project was named backrub.

14. When Google started it indexed 25,000 web pages. Today Google indexes billions of web pages and each time it grows by 10-25%.

15. According to Google “As the web grows search becomes more and more important”. It acts like a library , the bigger the library the more important is the index.

16. The pagerank algorithm uses more than 200 attributes to determine the rank of a given webpage.

17. Google has the largest corporate solar panel installation in the US.

18. The biggest break in search came when Google introduced their improved spell checker seen as “Did you mean ? ”.This feature doubled their traffic and soon the developers discovered that the ideal placement was at the bottom of the search results.

19. Every now and then Google makes small changes and test them with a given set of users. The users aren’t told of this. They are presented with a new interface and the testers observe how the users react to it.

20. Google believe in 20 % – 5% philosophy. According to this, if at least 20% of the users use a feature then it will be included. To make it to the advanced search preferences, at least 5 % of the users need to use a particular feature.

21. In the results found in user testing and design, Google testers found that only a small number of people are typical of the larger user base. Hence,Google labs was born and it monitors how people use each and every service.

22. Gmail – Free email from Google was used internally for nearly 2 years by Google employees before it was launched for public use. The engineers discovered that there are typically 6 types of email users and Gmail was made to satisfy the needs of them.

23. Google’s index of web pages is the largest in the world, comprising of 8 billion web pages. Google searches this immense collection of web pages often in less than half a second.

24. They listen to feedback actively. Emailing Google isn’t emailing a black hole.

25. Google’s first April fool prank went live on April 1st,2000 and was coined “MentalPlex” – Google’s ability to read your mind.

google-april-fool-prank-mentalplex

Some thought the announcement of Gmail in 2004 around April Fool’s Day was a joke. (Thanks Mani Karthik)

26. Google Groups comprises of more than 845 million Usenet messages, which is the world’s largest collection of messages or the equivalent of more than a terabyte of human conversation.

27.In a 2006 report of the world’s richest people, Forbes reported that Sergey Brin was #26 with a net worth of $12.9 billion, and Larry Page was #27 with a net worth of $12.8 billion

28. There isn’t any restriction for proper dress code in the Google office. This may include pajamas and even super hero costumes.

google-dress

29. Tom Vendetta is the youngest google employee ever hired. He was hired by Google when he was 15 years old. Vendetta used to fool his friends by sending fake press releases and news. Vendetta was employed to know the know-how of the teen and to implement them in Gmail security flaws.

30. The first employee that google hired is Craig Silverstein.

Craig-Silverstein-first-google-employee google-baby

31.The first human being named after Google is Oliver google kai. He was born on September 12th 2005 and his parents named him because they wanted Oliver to have as many friends as google has.
10 Things that drive Google Philosophy

According to Larry page “The perfect search engine,” would understand exactly what you mean and give back exactly what you want. Mentioned below are the top principles that guide Google’s action :

1. Focus on the user and all else will follow.

2. It’s best to do one thing really, really well.

3. Fast is better than slow.

4. Democracy on the web works.

5. You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer.

6. You can make money without doing evil.

7. There’s always more information out there.

8. The need for information crosses all borders.

9. You can be serious without a suit.

10. Great just isn’t good enough.
Ten principles that contribute to a Googley user experience

1. Focus on people – their lives, their work, their dreams.

2. Every millisecond counts.

3. Simplicity is powerful.

4. Engage beginners and attract experts.

5. Dare to innovate.

6. Design for the world.

7. Plan for today’s and tomorrow’s business.

8. Delight the eye without distracting the mind.

9. Be worthy of people’s trust.

10. Add a human touch.

Interesting Facts about Google

Googol is the mathematical term for a 1 followed by 100 zeros. Google’s play on the term reflects the company’s mission to organize the immense amount of information available on the web.

Goooooooooo,oooooooooo,oooooooooo,oooooooooo,oooooooooo,
oooooooooo,oooooooooo,oooooooooo,oooooooooo,ooooooooooGle

is indeed derived from Googol

10000000000,0000000000,0000000000,0000000000,0000000000,
0000000000,0000000000,0000000000,0000000000,0000000000.
Yes, that is 100 zeros!

Google started in January, 1996 as a research project at Stanford University, by Ph.D. candidates Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they were 24 years old and 23 years old respectively.

The main reason why the Google homepage is so simple is because the founders didn’t knew HTML. The submit button was included much later and hitting the return key was the only way to get the search results.

Google’s homepage can be accessed in 88 languages including Urdu and Latin.

In a 2006 report of the world's richest people, Forbes reported that Sergey Brin was #26 with a net worth of $12.9 billion, and Larry Page was #27 with a net worth of $12.8 billion.

Interesting thing about Gmail is that it was used internally for nearly 2 years prior to launch to the public. They discovered there was approximately 6 types of email users, and Gmail has been designed to accommodate these 6.

Google have over 450,000 servers, racked up in clusters located in data centers around the world.

The Google search engine receives an amazing one billion search requests per day.

Google's index of web pages is the largest in the world, comprising of 8 billion web pages. Google searches this immense collection of web pages often in less than half a second.

Google receives daily search requests from all over the world, that includes the lonely Antarctica as well.

Google translates billions of HTML web pages into a display format for WAP and i-mode phones and wireless handheld devices.

Google use the unique 20%/5% rules. That is ,if at least 20% of people use a feature, then it will be included. At least 5% of people need to use a particular search preference before it will make it into the 'Advanced Preferences'.

Google Employees are encouraged to use 20% of their time working on their own projects. That's why we have such amazing products like GMail,Google News and Orkut now.

The basis of Google's search technology is called PageRank, and assigns an "importance" value to each page on the web and gives it a rank to determine how useful it is. However, that's not why it's called PageRank. It's actually named after Google co-founder Larry Page.

Googlers are people from different background. One operations manager, who keeps the Google network in good health is a former neurosurgeon. One software engineer is a former rocket scientist. And the company's chef formerly prepared meals for members of The Grateful Dead and funkmeister George Clinton.

Google’s Orkut is most popular in Brazil and India. It was the brainchild of a Google engineer who was given free reign to run with it.

Interesting Facts about Internet

1 billion users around the globe are surfing the Internet every month.

Only 16.6% of world population surf the internet.

80 Percent of all web sites are in English.

Users See Internet as Key Information Source.

In Europe, 38 out of 100 surf the Internet.

In Middle East, 10 out of 100 surf the Internet.

In North America, 70 out of 100 surf the Internet.

In Latin America, 16 out of 100 surf the Internet.

In Australia, 53 out of 100 surf the Internet.

Amount of internet surfers in Asia (389,392,28 mil) is 11 times the population of Australia (34,468,443 mil).

19% of internet users are from United States (210,080,067 mil)

Around 18 countries still doesn’t have Internet connection.