Fun facts about Google you may not know

Google facts: There’s more to Google than you know

1. Fun fact about Google number one

1.1 A meeting of fate

The first fun fact about Google is that in 1995 Larry Page met Sergey Brin while visiting Stanford as a potential student. Shortly afterwards, they started working from their dorm room and developed a search engine called Backrub. Backrub was renamed Google. 

Stanford University

1.2 The founding of Google

Google was founded on 4th September 1998 and went public in 2004 at $85 a share. As of June 2022, that same share is worth $2 336,41. That would be a fun fact about Google if you invested in 2004.

2. A fun fact about the Google name

Google’s name was developed from a mathematical expression for the number one, followed by one hundred zeros (Googol). Google is currently located in Mountain View, California, in their US premises known as The Googleplex. Google has offices in 170 cities and 60 countries around the world. Another fun fact about the name is that Google is a subsidiary of a company called Alphabet. 

Google offices

3. The first Google doodle 

The two founders of Google created an out of the office message in 1998 that was a Burning Man stick figure. The announcement was used to inform people trying to get hold of them that they had left for the Burning Man Festival. You can view the design here.

4. No jokes, Google loves April fool’s day

Keep searching, ha, ha.

Another fun Google fact is they love April Fool’s Day jokes. Their first joke, named the MentalPlex hoax, was to convince users they could search for anything mentally while staring at a GIF on the screen. Then an error message would appear like ‘Error: Insufficient conviction. Please clap hands three times while chanting “I believe” and try again’.

5. Google has developed 271 products

Google is more than a web browser, having developed various products over many years. Many users of Google are not aware these products exist, so we’ve listed five fun facts about some of the lesser-known Google products. 

5. 1 Android Auto

Android Auto allows users to connect their phone to the dashboard display in their car. The product facilitates navigation and converting speech to a text message to send while driving. A funGoogle fact about this product is it integrates with Google assistant and entertainment services.

5.2 Cardboard

It’s a fun fact that Google Cardboard brings virtual reality into your home simply and affordably. It is a VR viewer that a user can build at home or buy online. Once you have selected the viewer of choice, simply slide your phone into the front of it and download the compatible apps for an immersive VR experience.

Cardboard VR

5.3 Exposure Notification

Maybe not a fun fact about Google, but the tech giant partnered with Apple and developed Exposure Notifications to fight Covid-19. The technology works using contact tracing. Contact tracing is used by public health authorities to notify and guide anyone who may have been exposed to the virus.

A user downloads the app onto their phone and opts into the notification system, which generates a random ID for their device. The ID randomly changes every ten to twenty minutes to keep users safe from tracking their location and personal details.

Other phones with the same app exchange these random IDs via Bluetooth. Your phone will check the IDs associated with positive Covid-19 cases against its list. If there is a match, you will receive a notification with further instructions. No one else can view information on who you are, and only public health authorities use this system.

5.4 Google Expeditions

Google Expeditions

By learning fun facts about the world around us, users can take virtual tours in space, underwater, and in other countries. Explore and learn about the theory of relativity and famous artefacts or visit the new seven wonders of the world from the comfort of your home.

5.5 Tilt Brush

Another fun fact about Google’s virtual reality products is that they allow you to paint in 3-D and walk around your artwork as you do so. Paint with ink or smoke and fire and turn your bedroom into a canvas where your imagination can run wild. You will need a compatible VR headset to use this product.

6. Google fun fact about employee number 16

Susan Wojcicki was Google’s first marketing manager and is now the CEO of YouTube. The fun fact is that her garage in Menlo Park, California was the first office space for the business start-up in 1998.