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Google’s success story has a few forgettable chapters
In its 20-year history, Google has given, and Google has taken away. Companies of its size often dabble with new projects to see if the public will take them to their hearts. Sadly, for every Gmail and Maps, there are ten projects that felt the swing of the Mountain View ax. Sometimes these doomed projects have outlived their usefulness, didn't catch on with the public, or just didn't work as they should have. But while everyone celebrates Google's long life, let's spare a moment to remember the ones that didn't make it this far, and what happened next.
Google's best Doodles of the last 20 years
It's hard to believe Google is about to turn 20 years old. And while the company has changed drastically in the past two decades, going from being a simple search engine to a global tech titan, there's one thing that's been there from the very first day: the homepage Doodle. Since 1998, Google has kept its site looking fresh by creating different variations of its logo, inspired by cultural icons, events and phenomenons such as Pac-Man, the birth of hip-hop and more. More than 2,000 Doodles have adorned Google's homepage, each with a unique charm. But there are some that have stood out from the rest and will forever be embedded in people's memories. Let's take a look at the best and most important Google Doodles from the past 20 years.
The Google graveyard: Remembering three dead search engines
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the first show on American television to use the word "Google" as a transitive verb. It was 2002, in the fourth episode of the show's seventh and final season. Buffy, Willow, Xander and the gang are trying to help Cassie, a high school student who cryptically says she's going to die next week. In Buffy's dining room, they search through hard copies of Cassie's medical records and find nothing noteworthy. Willow, tapping away on a thick white iBook, turns to Buffy and asks, "Have you Googled her yet?" Xander replies, jokingly, "Willow, she's 17." "It's a search engine," Willow explains, because that's something that had to be done in 2002.
Google Lens is coming to Image search results
Google is celebrating the twentieth birthday of its search engine, and is continuing to make changes to the way we find information. Searches are getting more visual, and the results that Google delivers need to cater to what we're looking for -- like a stunning gown Jennifer Lopez wore at a red carpet, for example. Google will launch Featured Videos and further emphasize its existing AMP Stories in search. It'll also bring Google Lens to its image results so you can do more with the photos you find on the search engine.
Google Feed gets renamed Discover, will appear on mobile homepage
Last year, Google announced Feed, a personalized news feed that lives under the Google search box in the mobile app. Today, however, the company is rebranding Feed to Discover. You'll still get the same listing of current topics and upcoming events, but it'll be even more tailored to your interests. But what's especially intriguing, however, is that Discover will now no longer live just in the app; it'll appear in the Google mobile homepage as well.
Google's new activity cards will save your previous searches
It's been twenty years since Google launched its search engine, and today it's hard to imagine a world without it. At an event in San Francisco today, the company announced new features to Search that would change the way we use the internet in the decades to come. The next chapter of search, according to the company, will be powered by AI, and starts with a new "activity card" and collections of results. It will use information from your previous searches to show you what you've already found, and surface relevant data for activities it looks like you're about to start.
What will Android look like in the next ten years?
A decade ago, Android launched... to a world of challenges. But back in 2008, Google wasn't worried about artificial intelligence, it was just trying to make a stable mobile operating system. One that stood out in a very crowded playing field. Back then, the competition was Apple, BlackBerry, Nokia/Symbian, Palm and Windows Mobile. By 2009, however, Android's market share was steadily climbing, and by early 2010, sales inched past that of iOS devices (according to Statista). Android's upward trajectory hasn't stopped since. Now, Statista reports 88 percent of all smartphones sold run Google's mobile operating system, with iOS devices making up around 12 percent (based on total sales). What started as an alternative mobile experience for nerds has gone full mainstream. But what does that mean for the future of Android?
Android at 10: Google's mobile OS has come a long way
The mobile world is celebrating a momentous anniversary today: Android is ten years old. The T-Mobile G1 (and Android 1.0) made its debut on September 23rd, 2008, launching both a new operating system and a new era. It didn't look like much in those early days, but it eventually became the dominant mobile platform and set the baseline for what many people expect in a smartphone. It also helped topple more than a few giants -- the story of Android is as much about a sea change in the industry as Google's own development.
