Googled: The End Of The World As We Know IT

Google's homepage is notable for its complete lack of advertising, yet the company is very much in the thick of the web advertising world - not as a host, but as a provider. In 2002, the company developed AdSense, a program that uses Google's keyword algorithms to strategically place ads on others' web sites, from which Google pockets a share of the revenue. Since 2004, AdSense has accounted for more than half of the companies total revenues.

An early advocate of the internet, Gore has played a key role at Google for years. It was the first company he visited after leaving office in 2001 and was one over by the company's culture and sense of social purpose, telling Auletta that the company's success "has to do with their alignment with community values, with trying to make the world a better place."

As Aluetta lays out, Google did not get where it is by staying focused. According to its IPO: "We began as a technology company and have evolved into a software, technology, Internet, advertising and media company, all rolled into one." The breadth of Google world has led to accusations that it has become an "evil empire."

Brin and Page came up with the idea for their revolutionary search engine while PhD candidates at Stanford. The setting had an impact on the budding company in many ways. Not only did the two benefit from the mentorship of certain professors, but they would adopt some of the school's cultural tenets, such as an emphasis on time for intellectual exploration. Google engineers are afforded 20% of their time to work on whatever they wish, which has resulted in some of the company's most compelling products.

While an undisputed profit machine, Google has always thought of itself as serving a social mission: to make information freer and more useful for the public at large. That conscientious outlook is embodied in the company's now famous motto, which aims to remind employees that their ingenuity should always be used for good.

Perhaps more than on any other issue, Google has drawn public criticism for its compliance with Chinese censorship laws. Certain search results are filtered out by Google from queries at the government's request. Users will see a brief message at the bottom of their screen notifying them that their search has been censored.

Google is known for many things, not least among those its insular corporate nature. The answers to many seemingly basic questions are shrouded in secrecy, including this one, which Google declines to reveal for competitive reasons.

Though Google did not invent the search engine, and many of its features have been adopted by others, the company's self-acknowledged distinguishing feature lies in the tremendous amounts of data it collects. By default, all of a registered user's searches are tracked and cataloged, and their web activity is used to tailor the search results they receive in the future. Google claims this as an achievement, but privacy advocates are less impressed. Many see Google's data-keeping as an intrusion and complain its custom privacy settings are too complicated for many users navigate.

Since its launch in 2002, Google News has been a source of contention for traditional news outlets, who claim Google effectively swipes their content and presents it as its own. One of the most vocal critics was the Associated Press, who for years threatened Google with lawsuits. Seeking to smooth things over and perhaps send a signal to traditional media, Google agreed in 2004 to pay an undisclosed licensing fee to the AP and three other wire services for use of their news stories.

While it may not extend to free cocktails, Google employees are often envied for the plush benefits they receive from their employer. While the perks began as a way to cultivate company loyalty, co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have reportedly grumbled privately that some employees have developed a sense of entitlement.

As an extension of its social mores, Google has made an effort to downplay any notion of corporate hierarchy among its employees, and its salaries are in turn modest compared to other Silicon Valley big dogs. Not that employees don't rake it in. Google's generous stock options are a major boon for those who take advantage and have made billionaires out of several early employees.

Though much of Google's growth has come from within, the company has benefited from the acquisition of other dot-coms. Among the more prominent buys was YouTube, which was bought for $1.65 billion in 2006.