Some Interesting Google Facts

Interesting facts about the search engine giant:

• It would take 5,707 years to do a manual search of Google's 3 billion Web pages, at one minute a page.
• How long it usually takes Google to search its database? Just 0.5 seconds.
• The prime reason the Google home page is so bare is due to the fact that the founders didn’t know HTML and just wanted a quick interface. In fact it was noted that the submit button was a long time coming and hitting the RETURN key was the only way to burst Google into life.
• Due to the plain nature of the homepage, in early user tests the testers noticed people just sitting looking at the screen. After a minute of nothingness, the tester intervened and asked ‘What is happening?’ to which they replied “We are waiting for the rest of it”. To solve that particular problem the Google Copyright message was inserted to announce the end of the page.
• The infamous "I feel lucky" is nearly never used. However, in trials it was found that removing it would somehow reduce the Google experience. Users wanted it kept. It was a comfort button.
• Orkut is very popular in Brazil. Orkut was the brainchild of a very intelligent Google engineer who was pretty much given free reign to run with it, without having to go through the normal Google UI procedures, hence the reason it doesn't look or feel like a Google application. They are looking at improving Orkut to cope with the loads it places on the system.
• The name 'Google' was an accident. A spelling mistake made by the original founders who thought they were going for 'Googol'
• Gmail was used internally for nearly 2years prior to launch to the public. They discovered there was approximately 6 types of email users, and Gmail has been designed to accommodate these 6.

Source: An evening with Google's Marissa Mayer


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