Google LLC is an American multinational modern technology firm that specializes in Internet-related product and services, that include online advertising modern technologies, an internet search engine, cloud computing, software program, as well as hardware. It is considered among the Big 4 innovation companies along with Amazon, Apple, and also Microsoft.

Google was founded in September 1998 by Larry Page and also Sergey Brin while they were Ph.D. trainees at Stanford University in California. With each other they possess around 14 percent of its shares and control 56 percent of the shareholder ballot power through supervoting supply. They included Google as a California privately held business on September 4, 1998, in California. Google was then reincorporated in Delaware on October 22, 2002. A going public (IPO) took place on August 19, 2004, as well as Google transferred to its headquarters in Mountain View, California, nicknamed the Googleplex. In August 2015, Google revealed strategies to restructure its different interests as an empire called Alphabet Inc. Google is Alphabet's leading subsidiary and will certainly remain to be the umbrella company for Alphabet's Internet rate of interests. Sundar Pichai was designated CEO of Google, changing Larry Page who ended up being the CEO of Alphabet.

The firm's rapid development because consolidation has actually activated a chain of products, acquisitions, and partnerships beyond Google's core internet search engine (Google Browse). It supplies solutions developed for job and efficiency (Google Docs, Google Sheets, and also Google Slides), email (Gmail), scheduling as well as time monitoring (Google Schedule), cloud storage (Google Drive), immediate messaging and also video clip chat (Duo, Hangouts, Meet), language translation (Google Translate), mapping as well as navigating (Google Maps, Waze, Google Earth, Road View), video clip sharing (YouTube), note-taking (Google Keep), and also photo organizing and also editing (Google Photos). The business leads the advancement of the Android mobile operating system, the Google Chrome web browser, and Chrome OS, a lightweight operating system based on the Chrome internet browser. Google has moved increasingly into equipment; from 2010 to 2015, it partnered with major electronics suppliers in the manufacturing of its Nexus gadgets, as well as it released multiple hardware items in October 2016, including the Google Pixel mobile phone, Google Home clever audio speaker, Google Wi-fi fit together cordless router, and Google Musing virtual reality headset. Google has actually also experimented with coming to be a Web carrier (Google Fiber, Google Fi, and also Google Terminal). Google.com is one of the most seen web site in the world.Several other Google services likewise figure in the top 100 most visited websites, consisting of YouTube and also Blog writer. Google was the most useful brand name on the planet in 2017 (exceeded by Amazon.com), however has gotten considerable criticism including concerns such as personal privacy issues, tax avoidance, antitrust, censorship, and also search neutrality.