In 1996, when the Internet was still in its infancy, Larry Page and Sergey Brin discovered an algorithm called "PageRank" in their research at Stanford University. This algorithm overturned the operating logic of search engines at the time. , which eventually gave rise to today's Google search engine. PageRank used the links between web pages to determine the importance of a web page, which was a groundbreaking idea at the time.
PageRank is the assumption that links from well-known web pages mean that the page is more valuable, which makes Google stand out from many other search engines.
The core concept of Google search engine is not only the algorithm it is built on, but also the emphasis on user needs. Page and Brin focused on the user experience, not just the keyword matching results. Their goal was to make it easy for users to find the information they needed, a philosophy that still drives Google today.
Many users don't expect Google to simply answer their questions; they want Google to tell them what to do.
Google continues to introduce new features as its technology advances. In 2011, Google introduced "Google Voice Search", allowing users to search by voice. This innovation further enhanced the user's search experience. In addition, with the development of technology, Google developed the semantic search function "Knowledge Graph" in 2012 to help users obtain information more intuitively.
Many economic, social and health trends can be analyzed by the frequency of search terms, and Google Trends data often outperforms traditional reporting methods.
However, over time, Google's market dominance has also caused some controversy. In 2024, a judge in Virginia, USA, ruled that Google's search engine had engaged in illegal monopolistic behavior because, in order to maintain its market dominance, Google paid huge returns to mobile phone manufacturers and browser developers to make Google the default search engine.
This ruling makes us re-examine Google's development history and future direction. From its origins to today, Google's influence is undoubtedly huge. Especially in terms of search ranking algorithms, such as the launch of "Caffeine" and "Hummingbird", Google's search results are not only faster but also more accurate.
The launch of the "Hummingbird" algorithm has made Google pay more attention to natural language queries and improved the relevance of search results.
Search engine optimization (SEO) has become an essential skill for website owners and developers. Countless consulting firms focus on improving the ranking of websites on Google, because this not only affects traffic, but also directly affects the company's profit situation.
In 2023, in an antitrust case with Google, internal documents about the "expansion and excessive profits" of Google's search engine were exposed, which sparked widespread discussion in the industry, especially about its search query Criticism of the commercial operations and quality of results. 」
In a way, Google's search results are increasingly designed to be advertising rather than a pure user experience.
Although many people rely on Google to obtain information, the changes in recent years remind us that Google still has not solved all problems. With the promotion of fierce competition and technological innovation, how will our search methods change in the future?