If you are even a casual browser on the internet, it is certain that you have noticed the prevalence of the corporation known as Google. Although their name is essentially synonymous with the search engine's ability to pull up information from the internet, Google is actually involved in a very wide variety of different things online. Most people, in the course of their daily online activities, will use two or three Google-developed and Google-controlled programs, and many will use even more. Whether you're hoping to map out a road trip or you are just looking to do some shopping online, it is impossible not to notice how prevalent Google is to our online culture.



"Googling" has become a commonly accepted verb, meaning to use the Google search engine to find something and it is easy to see why Google has become the number one search method that people employ when they are exploring the internet. Current estimates hold that the number of servers that Google has at its disposal number more than 45,000 located at twenty-five locations throughout the world. With this sort of power and search capability at their disposal and with the immense amounts of capital that they have earned from offering advertising to their audience, it is clear that Google's presence on the internet is a permanent and all encompassing one.

With the advent of Google Mail, Google has offered email to a number of people surpassing the amount of people who use Hotmail or Yahoo. This is not the only web service that Google offers; Orkut is another Google brainchild, as is AdSense. Google is well and truly on its way to becoming an essential part of the internet, if it is not already there. Google can be used to meet many of your internet needs, if not all of them. From Google Maps, which can tell you how to get where you are going to Google Translate, which can translate text to and from its original language, it is clear to see that Google has sunk deeply into the online landscape.

The real star of the show, however, is the Google search engine. This search engine was what brought the company to its original, indispensable place online and it is where much of the money that Google makes from advertising comes from. A recent survey showed that 95 percent of all traffic on the internet was conducted with the use of search engines and that out of that 95 percent, the vast majority of it was conducted through Google. Couple this with the fact that more than 50 percent of all purchases made online went through the Google search engine first, and it is easy to see how Google became an advertising giant.

Through it all, part of Google's charm is that is corporate policy is well known, that is, that Google believes that it is possible to be profitable without being evil, and that a collaborative environment is much more useful than a hierarchy. Google exists as a sign post for the internet, taking you where you want to go, while still managing to provide many of the answers to the questions that you have been asking.