When A Typo Becomes The Biggest Brand! How Google Actually Got Its Name?

Tuesday, August 13, 2024  Read time2 min

SAEDNEWS: Some theorised incorrectly, that Google stands for "Global Organization of Oriented Group Language of Earth"

When A Typo Becomes The Biggest Brand! How Google Actually Got Its Name?

According to SAEDNEWS, You might think of Google as simply a giant in the tech world, a go-to platform for everything from research to shopping to entertainment. But have you ever wondered about the story behind its quirky name? It's a tale filled with misconceptions and a little bit of serendipity.

Recently, a conversation sparked on a popular Q&A platform when someone posed the intriguing question: "Is Google an acronym?" The responses that followed led to several wild theories, one of which inaccurately suggested that Google stands for the “Global Organization of Oriented Group Language of Earth.” While that’s a mouthful, it doesn’t quite hit the mark.

So, how did Google really get its name? The story traces back to its founders, computer scientists Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who launched the company in 1998 while pursuing their PhDs at Stanford University. As the pair brainstormed potential names, they wanted something that reflected the immense scale of the search engine they were creating.

Enter the term "Googol," an arithmetic term that refers to the number 10 raised to the power of 100, or a 1 followed by 100 zeros — an unfathomably large number! The word was introduced in 1920 by then 9-year-old Milton Sirotta, the nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner, who would later highlight it in his 1940 book, “Mathematics and the Imagination.”

As the founding duo considered this fitting name, they wanted to check if the domain name was available. In a twist of fate, a friend helping out accidentally misspelled "Googol," writing it as “Google.” Larry Page liked the sound of it and decided to roll with the mistake, thus giving birth to the now-iconic name we all know.

The vibrant blue, red, yellow, and green colors of the Google logo echo this playful spirit, creating a memorable and approachable brand identity. Today, Google stands not only as a testament to innovation but also as a reminder that sometimes, great things can emerge from simple accidents.

So, the next time you open your browser to search for something, remember this amazing story behind the name that has become synonymous with searching the web — all thanks to a delightful typo!