You'd probably feel old today.
The Google search engine was registered as a domain 20 years ago today, the company noted in a tweet. The domain went live a year later on September 27, 1998. In its 19 years of active operation, Google has changed a lot, both aesthetically and the way it functions.
Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin registered the domain Google.com with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number (ICANN), while they were still Ph.D. students. Started from the garage of a friend in Menlo Park, the company has now spread its roots in various verticals of business. These include online advertising technologies, cloud computing, software (Android, Chrome OS, and other), hardware (Pixel, Nexus, Chromebooks, Google Home speaker and others) and even autonomous vehicles.
Happy domain-iversary! Celebrating 20 years since we registered https://t.co/ePnBWEpWpj with a whooole lot of o's. pic.twitter.com/FQh30rSDDk
— Google (@Google) September 15, 2017
If you were around 20 years ago, you’d recall a “whooole lot of o’s”, which made Google what it’s become. In case you don’t remember how the initial homepage looked like, check out the image below.
The initial Google logo included an exclamation mark! Google’s present-day homepage looks significantly different from what it looked then. The homepage now is more intuitive, minimal and interactive with a host of functionalities. According to Android Police, Google.com domain is currently registered with MarkMonitor, and is already renewed till September 2020. ALSO READ: Google parent Alphabet could invest about $1 billion in Lyft: Report
Interestingly, the founders almost had the domain name slip out of their hand when a former Google employee notice that the domain had expired and bought it at the first drop. However, Google Domains canceled his purchase and the domain ownership was returned to them. Google is currently led by CEO Sundar Pichai. Page and Brin moved to drive other businesses at Google parent, Alphabet Inc. as CEO and President, respectively.