Google's history Google's history is a fascinating journey from a university research project to one of the most influential companies in the world. Here's an overview of its key milestones: 1. Founding and Early Years (1996-1998) **1996**: Google began as a research project by **Larry Page** and **Sergey Brin**, Ph.D. students at Stanford University. Initially, it was called **BackRub** due to its use of backlinks to determine site importance. **1997**: The project was renamed **Google**, a play on the mathematical term "googol," which refers to the number 1 followed by 100 zeros, symbolizing the goal to organize vast amounts of information. **1998**: Google was officially founded on September 4, 1998. The company was initially run out of a garage in Menlo Park, California, with the help of Sun Microsystems co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim, who provided the first investment of $100,000. 2. Rapid Growth and Innovation (1999-2004) **1999**: Goo