The name as David Koller of Stanford recalls, was inspired by the engine’s focus on analysing backlinks. Backlinks are hyperlinks that is used in directing users from one site to another. Think of it as the internet’s version of a pub recommendation. But let’s be honest, BackRub belongs in the same hall of shame as Toshiba’s 'Belly-feel' or Nintendo’s 'Wii'.
Before Google became the overlord of search, BackRub was quietly revolutionising how we navigate the web. Unlike 1996’s search engines (which ranked pages based on keyword stuffing like a toddler screaming for attention), BackRub’s PageRank algorithm treated the web as a democracy. The more backlinks a site had (especially from ‘important’ sites), the higher it ranked. Genius, but also a bit meta – ‘We’ll rank pages based on how other pages rank them'. Technically, BackRub was a beast. It ran on a junky setup of Sun Ultra servers and Linux-powered Pentium PCs that was guzzling half of Stanford’s bandwidth. BackRub ran on a Frankenstein setup of Sun Ultra II servers, Linux-powered Pentium PCs and enough cables to knit a jumper for Godzilla.
But let’s be real – The name belonged in a 1990s infomercial next to Chia Pets and the Clapper. It was a name so toe-curdling that it makes ‘Yahoo!’ sound poetic. David Koller who is a Stanford alumnus, recalls the duo’s logic as…
But honestly, BackRub sounded less like tech innovation. BackRub, the digital equivalent of a college roommate who steals your leftovers, was guzzling 50% of Stanford’s bandwidth by 1997. That’s like streaming Stranger Things on every dorm laptop simultaneously and that too in 4K! Stanford’s IT department was less impressed by innovation and more ‘ready to yeet Brin and Page into the sun’.
Unsurprisingly, by 1997, Page and Brin decided even Altavista sounded cooler. They needed a rebrand – something that screamed ‘we handle infinity’ rather than ‘we moonlight as chiropractors’.
Imagine trying to pitch a name like BackRub to American investors at a Silicon Valley cocktail party. Chances are that they’d burst into laughter (or maybe not invest at all). The duo needed a name that could capture the immense potential of their search engine and resonate with a global audience.
Enter Sean Anderson, a Stanford grad student with a knack for typos. During a brainstorming session, Anderson suggested googolplex which is a number even more large it’s a 1 followed by a googol of zeros (a googol being 1 followed by 100 zeros). Page (ever the minimalist) countered with googol. But when Anderson checked domain availability, he fat-fingered ‘google.com’ instead. Fate intervened in a serendipitous twist when Anderson misspelled and ‘Googol’ morphed into ‘Google’. Page chuffed with the error and registered the domain on 15th September 1997. And thus, Google was born – a name so catchy it made Yahoo! sound like a sneeze.
This rebranding wasn’t just a cosmetic change. It signalled a shift in mindset from a research project with an academic name to a company with big ambitions. The name ‘Google’ was memorable, quirky and perfectly aligned with their mission to organise the world’s information. Today, ‘to google’ has become a verb in everyday language which is a testament to the profound impact of that rebrand.
Google.com was registered on September 15th of 1997. For context, that’s the same year, the movie ‘Titanic’ had also hit theatres. Coincidence? Absolutely.
Lego server racks – To save cash, Page built storage unit’s from Lego because why hire an engineer when you’ve got Duplo? Imagine Google’s servers were built from Lego bricks to arrest expenditure!
Ping-Pong diplomacy – The first ‘boardroom’ was a £20 ping-pong table from Argos or Walmart. A ping-pong table was doubling as Google’s conference table and desk.
Tangled Ethernet cables – Self-explanatory.
‘Burning Man’ vibes – The first Google Doodle happened in the year 1998. It featured a stickman at Burning Man which was a nod to Brin’s hippie streak. Because nothing says ‘tech-startup’ like a desert rave.
Another Silicon Valley analyst observed…
Yet another seasoned Silicon Valley analyst quipped…
So next time you Google, remember that greatness often starts with a terrible name, a garage and a knack for Lego. Got a BackRub relic? Please tell.
Recent news even highlights ongoing debates about Google’s market dominance with regulatory bodies scrutinising it’s practices and those antitrust issues making headlines. It’s practices in advertising and search is always under watch. These controversies while challenging, serve as a reminder of the delicate balance between ethical business practices and innovation. Google has been compelled to refine it’s strategies and invest heavily in privacy and security enhancements.
Today, the company is navigating a complex landscape of regulatory pressures, emerging AI technologies and global competition; all while remaining committed to it’s core mission of organising the world’s information.
Garage to global – Born in a humble garage in Menlo Park (California), Google embodies the quintessential American startup story. It’s a narrative of risk-taking, perseverance and a sea of luck that resonates with every entrepreneur from Silicon Valley to main street.
Revolutionising search – Google’s breakthrough in search technology changed how Americans access information by turning ‘googling’ into a verb and fundamentally altering our digital habits. It’s hard to imagine life without a quick Google search whether you are looking for the best burger joint in New York or trying to decipher the latest tech jargon.
Antitrust and beyond – While Google’s dominance has brought remarkable innovation, it has also stirred controversy. American lawmakers and regulators have repeatedly scrutinised the company over antitrust concerns that echo debates on free competition and consumer rights. These controversies though challenging, have sparked vigorous public debate and policy discussions across the nation.
Pioneering AI – The future is now. Today, Google is at the forefront of artificial intelligence with projects like the Gemini AI platform. Gemini is a cutting-edge AI platform that builds on the company’s long-standing expertise in data analysis and search. For a tech-savvy American audience, this represents not just an evolution in search but a revolution in how we interact with technology from smart assistants in our homes to predictive analytics in our smartphones.
Continuous evolution – The company’s relentless drive to adapt and improve is reflected in it’s diverse product ecosystem which includes Android, Google Maps, YouTube and the ever-evolving Google Workspace.
In an era where technology is evolving at breakneck speed, Google’s journey from BackRub to it’s current form is a compelling narrative of reinvention, perseverance and above all, a relentless pursuit of better answers.
The transformation of BackRub into Google is a narrative of rebranding brilliance, innovative engineering and relentless ambition. It is a story that encapsulates the spirit of Silicon Valley. As we look ahead to an era dominated by artificial intelligence and digital connectivity, the humble origins of Google remind us that every great revolution begins with a simple idea. Next time you type a query into Google, take a moment to appreciate the journey from BackRub to Google. It all started with a playful name, a brilliant idea and a tiny spark that ignited a global revolution.
Google’s rise is a masterclass in happy accidents — a typo here, a Lego there! As tech historian Margaret O’Mara says…
Feel free to share your thoughts below or on social media—after all, in today’s digital age, every great idea deserves to be googled!
#backrub #google #story #history #larrypage #sergeybrin #fact #corporate #business #industry #ad #search #backlink #googol
References – Business Insider, Ryte Wiki, Wikipedia, India Times, Stanford.edu, India Today and Times Now.
Before Google became the overlord of search, BackRub was quietly revolutionising how we navigate the web. Unlike 1996’s search engines (which ranked pages based on keyword stuffing like a toddler screaming for attention), BackRub’s PageRank algorithm treated the web as a democracy. The more backlinks a site had (especially from ‘important’ sites), the higher it ranked. Genius, but also a bit meta – ‘We’ll rank pages based on how other pages rank them'. Technically, BackRub was a beast. It ran on a junky setup of Sun Ultra servers and Linux-powered Pentium PCs that was guzzling half of Stanford’s bandwidth. BackRub ran on a Frankenstein setup of Sun Ultra II servers, Linux-powered Pentium PCs and enough cables to knit a jumper for Godzilla.
By 1996, it devoured 50% of Stanford’s bandwidth prompting IT to grumble louder than a Brit in a queue. It had indexed 75 million pages which is a feat akin to cataloguing every book in the British Library using a Tamagotchi. It was revolutionary for an era when Altavista’s idea of innovation was a neon homepage. It’s hard to imagine today that one of the world’s most influential companies began life with a name that sounds more like a spa treatment than a technological titan. Yet before Google became synonymous with innovation and search, it was known as BackRub. How did we go from that to a verb so ubiquitous it’s in the Oxford English Dictionary?
In this in-depth blog post, we’ll delve into the fascinating, quirky and sometimes controversial origins of Google’s original name. Picture this – 2 PhD students, a cringeworthy name and a typo that birthed a verb used by billions. This isn’t just a story about algorithms but a masterclass of embracing chaos.
When BackRub ruled the web with a name that only a mother could love
Year 1996 – Bill Clinton was president, Friends was America’s therapist, and the internet sounded like a fax machine screaming into a cup of noodles. When we rewind to 1996, it was also a phase of awkward adolescence for something called ‘the internet’. The mid’90s were a time of dialup screeches, GeoCities glitter and search engines that ranked pages like a game of bingo.Two brilliant PhD students at the time from Stanford University namely Larry Page and Sergey Brin, embarked on an experiment that would change the face of the internet forever. They were busy tackling the web’s biggest mystery – how to sort through it’s chaotic mess of information. Their solution? A system that analysed ‘backlinks’ to determine the importance and relevance of websites.
Their pioneering search engine (originally nicknamed BackRub) was designed to analyse the backlinks of websites. Backlinking is a method of ranking pages based on how many other pages pointed to them. Essentially, BackRub was built on the idea that the more a webpage was ‘rubbed’ by backlinks, the more important or trustworthy it was.
Their pioneering search engine (originally nicknamed BackRub) was designed to analyse the backlinks of websites. Backlinking is a method of ranking pages based on how many other pages pointed to them. Essentially, BackRub was built on the idea that the more a webpage was ‘rubbed’ by backlinks, the more important or trustworthy it was.
By counting and evaluating the quality of these backlinks, the system determined a page’s importance on the World Wide Web, laying the foundation for what later became known as the PageRank algorithm. This innovative approach was a radical departure from the existing search technologies of the time which largely relied on simple keyword matching. Instead, BackRub’s focus on link analysis laid the groundwork for what would eventually become the famed ‘PageRank’ algorithm.
Designed to rub together vast amounts of backlink data, the project captured the imagination of it’s creators and hinted at the immense potential of organising sense of the web’s sprawling data. As Larry Page once mused (with a hint of humour)…
Larry Page (right of the image) and Sergey Brin (left of the image)
Designed to rub together vast amounts of backlink data, the project captured the imagination of it’s creators and hinted at the immense potential of organising sense of the web’s sprawling data. As Larry Page once mused (with a hint of humour)…
“It wasn’t just about how many pages linked to you but how many pages really cared enough to give you a nod”.
“They wanted to reflect the ‘backlink’ analysis”.
PageRank – An algorithm that made Yahoo! seem a participation trophy
While other ’90s search engines ranked sites by keyword spam, BackRub’s PageRank treated the web like a high school popularity contest. The more backlinks a site had, the higher it was getting ranked. It was genius move unless you were ‘Ask Jeeves’ who probably cried into his virtual bowler hat.Stanford’s digital playground – Why ‘BackRub’?
The name wasn’t chosen because Larry and Sergey were fans of unconventional spa treatments. ‘BackRub’ was a literal reference to the technology’s core functionality of analysing backlinks. It also carried an endearing tongue-in-cheek quality. It was a descriptive moniker for a project that literally rubbed together data from across the internet. Larry Page and Sergey Brin chose a name that was descriptive yet playful. However, while BackRub perfectly captured the algorithm’s technical essence, it lacked the global appeal needed for a burgeoning company aiming to revolutionise information access.Why ‘BackRub’ was doomed...
As the project grew and the team’s ambitions expanded, it became clear that a more marketable name was required. ‘BackRub’ lacked market appeal and the pizzazz. This realisation paved the way for a dramatic rebranding that would eventually birth the name which we all recognise today. Let’s address the elephant in the server room. BackRub was a terrible name. Imagine pitching it today…Investor – “So, what’s your USP?”
Larry Page – “We rub the internet’s back…metaphorically”.
Imagine trying to pitch a name like BackRub to American investors at a Silicon Valley cocktail party. Chances are that they’d burst into laughter (or maybe not invest at all). The duo needed a name that could capture the immense potential of their search engine and resonate with a global audience.
The brainstorm that almost wasn’t!
By 1997, even Brin and Page admitted that the name ‘BackRub’ was a PR nightmare. They realized that the name was going to be a career suicide. The turning point came in the same year during an impromptu brainstorming session in a Stanford office. Amid the coffee-fuelled debates and whiteboard scribbles, one suggestion stood out – the term ‘googol’ that was a mind-blowing mathematical term for 1 followed by 100 zeros. The idea was to reflect the vast amount of data the search engine was designed to handle.This rebranding wasn’t just a cosmetic change. It signalled a shift in mindset from a research project with an academic name to a company with big ambitions. The name ‘Google’ was memorable, quirky and perfectly aligned with their mission to organise the world’s information. Today, ‘to google’ has become a verb in everyday language which is a testament to the profound impact of that rebrand.
The day the domain dropped
Anderson’s typo was worth $1.7 Trillion by 1997 itself. Page swiftly registered google.com for £12 (roughly £23 today). The rest? History. As Anderson later joked…“My typo’s worth £1.7 trillion. You’re welcome, world”.
Google.com was registered on September 15th of 1997. For context, that’s the same year, the movie ‘Titanic’ had also hit theatres. Coincidence? Absolutely.
Silicon Valley’s sacred site – Susan Wojcicki’s garage
By 1998, Google had outgrown Stanford’s servers (and patience). The duo moved operations to the Menlo Park garage of Susan Wojcicki (now a pilgrimage site for techies). Yes, she was going to be the future CEO of YouTube. The setup was peak gloriously chaotic ’90s startup of…The first Google computer at Stanford
Lego server racks – To save cash, Page built storage unit’s from Lego because why hire an engineer when you’ve got Duplo? Imagine Google’s servers were built from Lego bricks to arrest expenditure!
Ping-Pong diplomacy – The first ‘boardroom’ was a £20 ping-pong table from Argos or Walmart. A ping-pong table was doubling as Google’s conference table and desk.
Tangled Ethernet cables – Self-explanatory.
‘Burning Man’ vibes – The first Google Doodle happened in the year 1998. It featured a stickman at Burning Man which was a nod to Brin’s hippie streak. Because nothing says ‘tech-startup’ like a desert rave.
The ‘Don’t Be Evil’ mantra – Iconic or ironic?
Google’s 2004 IPO introduced it’s infamous motto – ‘Don’t be evil’. This is a phrase which is now dripping with irony after controversies like the 2024 EU antitrust ruling. Fast-forward to 2024…the EU fined Google £3.8 billion for antitrust violations. Google was fined £3.8 billion for squashing shopping-search rivals. The DOJ is suing Google for monopolizing search ads and everyone’s side-eyeing them harder than Ross at a Vegas chapel.At Google UK Headquarters
PageRank – Silicon Valley savvy or stolen valour?
PageRank was partly inspired by Robin Li who is the founder of China’s Baidu. Turns out, Larry and Sergey weren’t the only nerds obsessed with backlinks. Robin Li created the RankDex algorithm in 1996 that was later used in China’s Baidu. That is a fact Google quietly glosses over like a Tinder profile hiding a Nickelback obsession. Li, ever the diplomat, remarked in the year 2023 that…Robin Li (in off-white suit)
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Or theft. Depends on the lawyer”.
Link farms – SEO’s wild wild west
BackRub’s obsession with backlinks birthed SEO’s seedy underbelly. Their focus birthed SEO’s golden rule – ‘More links = higher rank’. By the 2000s, ‘link farms’ (bot-generated sites trading links) were everywhere. Google’s 2012 Penguin update nuked spam faster than a Midwestern mom with a coupon for 50% off Tupperware.Lesser-known facts – Google’s greatest hits and misses
While many know that Google’s original name was BackRub, here are some quirky nuggets of trivia that might surprise you.- Larry Page actually liked the typo error made by Anderson so much that the domain was registered immediately on 15th September 1997.
- BackRub was so resource-hungry that it initially ran on Stanford’s servers which eventually took up too much bandwidth. BackRub’s algorithms were so resource-hungry that they quickly overtaxed Stanford’s servers. Imagine trying to run your own computer with dialup speeds. Back then, it was a real struggle.
- Stanford kicked BackRub off it’s servers in 1997 for hogging 50% of it’s bandwidth. This early hiccup foreshadowed the monumental growth challenges that lay ahead.
Stanford University, California (USA)
- After kicking Google out, Stanford trademarked ‘PageRank’ in the year 2011. Petty? Absolutely. Iconic? You bet your Cheetos-stained keyboard.
- Both founders were known for their playful approach to technology. From doodles to offbeat product names, this humour has remained a part of Google’s DNA. For example, Google’s famously quirky motto ‘Don’t be evil’ has it’s roots in the founders’ offbeat sense of humour. It served as a gentle reminder to steer clear of shady business practices even if it did give boardrooms across the USA a chuckle.
- Scott Hassan was BackRub’s lead coder but left before pre-Google incorporated. He is often considered to be the third founder of Google. He now runs a robotics firm called Willow Garage. No hard feelings, mate? His net worth? A cool £400 million. Regrets? “Nah, robots > ads”. Google’s net worth? $1.7 trillion. Moral – Always stay for the stock options.
Scott Hassan | Pic credit - The Daily Beast
- Google almost sold away for £750k. Believe it or not, the founders once flirted with the idea of selling their nascent search engine for a mere $750,000. In 1999, Brin and Page tried to sell Google to Excite for $1 million. Excite’s CEO George Bell said no. Oops. His net worth today? £0. Today, Excite is deader than Blockbuster. It was almost a bargain. Thankfully, American entrepreneurial grit (and a healthy dose of stubbornness) prevailed and paved the way for what we now know as Google.
George Bell | Pic credit - Internet History Podcast
- Google’s parent company ‘Alphabet’ references alpha (investment returns) and bet (…well, betting). Classic Larry and Sergey wordplay.
A parallel universe – What if Google had stayed BackRub?
“I’ll just BackRub it”.…doesn’t have the same ring. Office massages would’ve been very literal. The 2024 EU Antitrust case would’ve been dubbed ‘The BackRub Scandal’. The verb dilemma would’ve been comical. ‘Just BackRub it” lacks the zing of ‘Just Google it’.
“Let me BackRub that for you”.…sounds like a threat at a frat party. Google’s massages would’ve been literal. HR complaints? Through the roof. In pop culture, the social network would’ve been ‘The BackRub Chronicles’ starring Michael Cera as Larry Page.
Expert insights and industry perspectives
Technology experts have long hailed the transition from BackRub to Google as a masterclass in rebranding. Experts across the United States have lauded Google’s transformation As one industry veteran put it…“Changing the name from BackRub to Google wasn’t just a marketing move; it was a strategic pivot that encapsulated the potential of a company that would soon redefine the internet”.
“The evolution from a research project with an unassuming name to a global brand is a testament to the founders’ foresight. Changing the name was not merely about aesthetics—it was about encapsulating the potential to organise a world of data”.
“Transforming BackRub into Google was like upgrading from a tricycle to a rocket ship. Suddenly, you’re not just competing; you’re redefining the game”.
“The shift from a purely academic project to a global brand illustrates the importance of vision and adaptability in tech entrepreneurship”.…noted a leading Silicon Valley analyst. This sentiment is echoed in numerous interviews and retrospectives including insightful YouTube documentaries that explore the early days of the company. These sources emphasise how Google’s founders recognised that innovation sometimes requires shedding old identities to embrace a broader and more ambitious future. Experts argue that the success of Google lies not only in it’s cutting-edge technology but also in it’s ability to reinvent itself continuously.
Accidents, ambition and the art of the typo
Google’s rise from BackRub is a testament to serendipity and Stanford’s tolerance for bandwidth hogs. As tech historian Margaret O’Mara notes…“The best innovations aren’t planned; they’re blundered into”.
Future, hiccups and the road ‘less travelled’
No narrative of innovation is complete without acknowledging the controversies that have dogged Google over the years. In it’s nascent years, Google was almost sold for a fraction of it’s current value at a mere $750,000. It was a decision that could have drastically altered it’s future. Moreover, some critics have argued that the simplistic almost-whimsical branding belied the serious sometimes monopolistic power the company would later wield.Today, the company is navigating a complex landscape of regulatory pressures, emerging AI technologies and global competition; all while remaining committed to it’s core mission of organising the world’s information.
Google today
For citizens on the USA, Google’s story is more than a tech tale. It is a reflection of American ingenuity and the relentless pursuit of innovation. Consider these key milestones that have shaped the nation’s digital landscape…Garage to global – Born in a humble garage in Menlo Park (California), Google embodies the quintessential American startup story. It’s a narrative of risk-taking, perseverance and a sea of luck that resonates with every entrepreneur from Silicon Valley to main street.
Revolutionising search – Google’s breakthrough in search technology changed how Americans access information by turning ‘googling’ into a verb and fundamentally altering our digital habits. It’s hard to imagine life without a quick Google search whether you are looking for the best burger joint in New York or trying to decipher the latest tech jargon.
Pioneering AI – The future is now. Today, Google is at the forefront of artificial intelligence with projects like the Gemini AI platform. Gemini is a cutting-edge AI platform that builds on the company’s long-standing expertise in data analysis and search. For a tech-savvy American audience, this represents not just an evolution in search but a revolution in how we interact with technology from smart assistants in our homes to predictive analytics in our smartphones.
Recent updates – have also seen Google doubling down on privacy measures in response to global regulatory pressures which is an irony not lost on those who remember the company’s humble beginnings as a back-link analyser.
Continuous evolution – The company’s relentless drive to adapt and improve is reflected in it’s diverse product ecosystem which includes Android, Google Maps, YouTube and the ever-evolving Google Workspace.
In an era where technology is evolving at breakneck speed, Google’s journey from BackRub to it’s current form is a compelling narrative of reinvention, perseverance and above all, a relentless pursuit of better answers.
The algorithm that changed the game – Why your SEO strategy owes BackRub a pint
From BackRub’s humble origins to the tech juggernaut that is Google, this journey is of genius and innovation. BackRub didn’t just die but it evolved into the SEO gospel. It’s focus on backlinks became the holy grail of search rankings. For years, webmasters traded links like Pokémon cards leading to The Great Link Farm Epidemic of 2008 (RIP your uncle’s ‘Top 10 Cat Memes’ site). Even today, backlinks remain critical even though Google now penalises dodgy ones faster than ever.The transformation of BackRub into Google is a narrative of rebranding brilliance, innovative engineering and relentless ambition. It is a story that encapsulates the spirit of Silicon Valley. As we look ahead to an era dominated by artificial intelligence and digital connectivity, the humble origins of Google remind us that every great revolution begins with a simple idea. Next time you type a query into Google, take a moment to appreciate the journey from BackRub to Google. It all started with a playful name, a brilliant idea and a tiny spark that ignited a global revolution.
Margaret O’Mara
Google’s rise is a masterclass in happy accidents — a typo here, a Lego there! As tech historian Margaret O’Mara says…
“Silicon Valley runs on caffeine, ego and typos”.
So next time you Google ‘why is my cat judging me?’, tip your hat to BackRub which wasthe gloriously awkward teen phase of America’s favourite verb. Got a hot take? Drop it below! (But if you say 'Ask Jeeves did it better', 😂 you will be muted).
From cringe to dominance
As we move forward into an era dominated by artificial intelligence and ever-growing digital ecosystems, it’s worth remembering that every giant company starts with a spark or a quirky humble idea that, with the right blend of creativity and determination, can change the world. Google’s journey from BackRub to Alphabet is a masterclass in embracing accidents. That typo? A £1.7 trillion lesson in serendipity. So next time you “Google” something, Spare a thought for the BackRub days when the internet’s future hinged on a dodgy name, a garage and some legos.Backview of that first Google computer at Stanford
Feel free to share your thoughts below or on social media—after all, in today’s digital age, every great idea deserves to be googled!
#backrub #google #story #history #larrypage #sergeybrin #fact #corporate #business #industry #ad #search #backlink #googol
References – Business Insider, Ryte Wiki, Wikipedia, India Times, Stanford.edu, India Today and Times Now.
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