Google at 25: Here are 25 biggest moments in Google Search history

Google is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month, marking a quarter-century of innovations that have transformed the way we search for information online. From humble beginnings as just another search engine to becoming a global tech giant, Google has come a long way.

In a press release, the tech giant reminisced on its contribution to society, especially with Google Search. It said:

Over the years, we’ve continued to innovate and make Google Search better every day. From creating entirely new ways to search to helping millions of businesses connect with customers through search listings and ads (starting with a local lobster business advertising via AdWords in 2001), to having some fun with Doodles and easter eggs — it’s been quite a journey.

In this article, we’ll take a look at 25 of the most significant moments in the evolution of the tech giant.

Read Also: Here are 5 ways the tech giant is improving Search in Africa

25 biggest moments for Google

2001: Google Images

Jennifer Lopez’s iconic Versace dress at the 2000 Grammy Awards led to the creation of Google Images. Before this, search results were only text-based, making it challenging to find specific images. Google Images changed that by allowing users to search for images directly i.e. there is a page just for image search.

2001: “Did you mean?”

The tech giant introduced “Did you mean?” with spelling suggestions. This marked one of Google’s earliest applications of machine learning, helping users find relevant results even with spelling mistakes in their queries.

2002: Google News

In response to the need for real-time news during the 9/11 attacks, Google launched Google News. This feature aggregated news from diverse sources, providing timely information during critical events.

2003: Easter Eggs

Google introduced playful Easter eggs, adding a touch of fun to Search. These hidden surprises, such as the answer to the meaning of life, have entertained millions of users.

2004: Autocomplete

Autocomplete, initially called “Google Suggest,” revolutionized searching by predicting queries as users typed. This feature saves time and effort by reducing typing and has become an integral part of Google Search.

2004: Local Information

Google Local enriched business listings with maps, directions, and reviews, changing how users discover local businesses. It has become essential for millions of users seeking information on nearby services.

2006: Google Translate

Google Translate began in 2006, breaking down language barriers by offering text translations between languages. Today, it supports over 100 languages, fostering global communication.

2006: Google Trends

Google Trends provides insights into search trends over time. It has become a valuable resource for journalists, researchers, and brands, offering data on how searches evolve.

2007: Universal Search

It introduced Universal Search, blending various content types—links, images, videos, and local results—into a single, intuitive search experience.

2008: Google Mobile App

The Google Mobile App, launched on iPhones, made searching on mobile devices more efficient with features like Autocomplete and location-based results. Now it is also available on Android and can help users provide solutions from math homework with Lens to accessing visual translation tools.

2008: Voice Search

The tech giant introduced Voice Search, allowing users to search by voice. It has since gained popularity, especially in India.

2009: Emergency Hotlines

In 2009, it elevated the visibility of emergency hotlines, helping users find critical information during emergencies. Since this launch, there have been new features including emergency hotlines for critical moments in need like suicide prevention.

2011: Search by Image

Search by Image enabled users to search with pictures, making it easier to find information about visually identifiable objects. With this, users can search by uploading any picture or image URL, to find out what it is, and where else that image is on the web. This also made way for Lens, another search feature.

2012: Knowledge Graph

The Knowledge Graph provided quick answers by connecting people, places, and things, enhancing the depth of search results. It offers a vast collection of people, places, and things in the world and how they’re related to one another, to make it easier to get quick answers.

2015: Popular Times

In 2015, it introduced Popular Times in Search and Maps, helping users identify the busiest hours for places like restaurants and stores.

2016: Discover

Discover a personalized feed, allows users to explore content tailored to their interests directly within the Google app.

2017: Lens

Google Lens turned the camera into a search tool, enabling visual searches based on images. With it, you just need to turn on your camera, and you will be able to look at objects in a picture, compare them to other images, and rank those other images based on their similarity and relevance to the original picture. Today, Lens sees more than 12 billion visual searches per month.

2018: Flood Forecasting

The tech giant introduced this feature in 2018, This uses forecasting models AI to predict flooding, providing vital information to communities in flood-prone areas.

2019: BERT

It launched an open-sourced neural network-based technique to train our language understanding models i.e. BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers). This is to improve language understanding in Search while considering context to deliver more accurate results in over 70 languages.

2020: Shopping Graph

Google made online shopping comprehensive by offering retailers and brands the opportunity to showcase their products. The Shopping Graph, an AI-powered dataset, was introduced. This is an AI-powered dataset of constantly updating products, sellers, brands, reviews, and local inventory that today consists of 35 billion product listings.

2020: Hum to Search

Hum to Search allowed users to find songs by humming or singing a melody, making music discovery easier. You can then explore information on the song and artist.

2021: About this Result

“About this result” was added to provide users with information about search results, helping them make informed decisions. It explains why a result is being shown to you and gives more context about the content and its source, based on best practices from information literacy experts. It is currently available in all languages Search is available.

2022: Multisearch

Google introduced Multisearch. a new way to search using both text and images simultaneously, enhancing search capabilities. First launched in the U.S., Multisearch is now available globally on mobile, in all languages and countries where Lens is available.

2023: Search Labs & Search Generative Experience (SGE)

Google’s Search Labs and SGE brought generative AI into search, enabling users to explore topics with AI-powered overviews and natural follow-up questions. With Search Labs, users can test early-stage experiments and share feedback directly with the teams working on them.

Finally,

As Google celebrates its 25th anniversary, these milestones reflect the company’s commitment to making search more accessible, informative, and enjoyable for users around the world. From text-based results to visual searches and AI-powered features,