Before it became the globally recognized search engine we know today, Google was originally called Backrub.
The Genesis: From Backrub to Google
In the mid-1990s, Stanford University Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin began developing a new type of search engine. Unlike existing search engines that ranked results based on how many times a search term appeared on a page, their innovative approach analyzed the relationships between websites. They called this initial search engine Backrub.
Why "Backrub"?
The name "Backrub" was chosen because the system analyzed the "backlinks" (links pointing to a given website) to estimate a site's importance. A higher number of quality backlinks suggested a more relevant and authoritative page.
The Renaming: From Backrub to Google
Soon after its inception, the project underwent a name change to what we now know as Google. This renaming was more than just a change of label; it reflected a grander vision for the search engine's future.
The name "Google" is a clever play on the mathematical term "googol", which represents the number 1 followed by 100 zeros (10^100). This immense number aptly reflected Larry and Sergey's ambitious mission: "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." The new name perfectly encapsulated the vast scale of information they aimed to categorize and make available to everyone.
Key Milestones in Name Evolution
To illustrate the journey, here's a brief look at the primary name phases:
| Phase | Name | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Research Project | Backrub | Named for its method of analyzing "backlinks" to rank web pages. |
| Official Company Name | A play on "googol," symbolizing the immense amount of information the company aimed to organize. |
This transition from a descriptive, technical name like Backrub to the more abstract, yet profoundly meaningful, Google marked a pivotal moment in the history of internet search. For more details on Google's journey, explore their official story here.
