The Google Story: For Google's 10th Birthday [Hardcover]

David A. Vise (Author), Mark Malseed (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 23, 2008

Here is the story behind one of the most remarkable Internet successes of our time. Based on scrupulous research and extraordinary access to Google, the book takes you inside the creation and growth of a company whose name is a favorite brand and a standard verb recognized around the world. Its stock is worth more than Disney's, McDonald's and General Motors' combined, its staff enjoys free meals inspired by a former chef for the Grateful Dead, and its employees traverse the firm's colorful Silicon Valley campus on scooters and inline skates.

The Google Story is the definitive account of the populist media company powered by the world's most advanced technology that in a few short years has revolutionized access to information about everything for everybody everywhere.

In 1998, Moscow-born Sergey Brin and Midwest-born Larry Page dropped out of graduate school at Stanford University to, in their own words, "change the world" through a search engine that would organize every bit of information on the web for free.

While the company has done exactly that in more than one hundred languages, Google's quest continues as it seeks to add millions of books, videos, personal genetic records and more to its searchable database.

Readers will learn about the amazing business acumen and computer wizardry that started the company on its astonishing course; the secret network of computers delivering lightning-fast search results; the unorthodox approach that has enabled it to shake up Wall Street, scoop up YouTube, and challenge Microsoft's dominance at every turn. Not afraid of controversy, Google is looking to expand in Communist China and pursuing other projects that may come to test the founders' mantra: DON'T BE EVIL.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“[The authors] do a fine job of recounting Google’s rapid rise and explaining its search business.”—New York Times

“An intriguing insider view of the Google culture.”—Harvard Business Review

“Fascinating…meticulous…never bogs down…Even if you think you’ve heard about Google ad nauseam, you will find new items about this important company.”—Houston Chronicle

“An interesting read on a powerhouse company…if you haven’t read anything about one of today’s most influential companies, you should. If you don’t read The Google Story, you’re missing a few extra treats.—USA Today

About the Author

David A. Vise, formerly a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter for The Washington Post, is a Senior Advisor to New Mountain Capital, a New York-based private equity firm, and to New Mountain Vantage, the firm's public equity fund. He is the author of three previous books, including the New York Times bestseller, The Bureau and the Mole.

Mark Malseed has contributed to The Washington Post, Boston Herald, Moment, and other publications. The former researcher to Bob Woodward, he is a consultant to ChaCha and cofounder of OhMyGov.com.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press; Updated edition (September 23, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385342721
• ISBN-13: 978-0385342728
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.1 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,907,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Enthusiastic and inaccurate, December 15, 2008

By 

E. Ribeiro "Avid reader" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Google Story: For Google's 10th Birthday (Paperback)

Well, this book was quite disappointing.

At first, I liked how the author was able to tell the story and how he has connected the pieces together, but he has perpetrated huge mistakes like, for example, forgetting how some first generation googlers were vital to the success of the company.

I am talking of people like Eric Veach, who created the algorithms for AdWords, Jeff Dean, who created important infrastructure tools, Paul Buchheit, the Gmail creator and many, many other googlers. Fortunately, Craig Silverstein and Craig Nevill-Manning were not forgotten but the author barely mention their names.

Did you know that the "Don't be evil" motto was created by Paul Buchheit and Avid Pattel? Well, this fact is totally ignored by the author! If you read the book it will look like it was created by Brin and Page. Even Wikipedia is more accurate than this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Outdated Collection of Anecdotes, December 27, 2009

By 

Charles D. Badics - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Google Story: For Google's 10th Birthday (Paperback)

The first few chapters provide a high-level description of the early days of Google. This reader was left wanting more detail. Subsequent chapters are disjointed descriptions of the origins of other Google services like Google News and Google Shopping. For the Internet-savvy reader in 2009, I'm afraid this book is obsolete because most of us understand the importance of Internet search, blogging and other Google services. When this book was written, those services were new and not yet widely understood. The hand-holding that the book provides to describe simple concepts like Google Shopping is not necessary and comes across as borderline insulting.

This book provides precious little detail about Google. This book is good for skimming only. Readers looking for an in-depth account of the founding and inner-workings of Google will be left wanting more.

Skip It.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars nothing new but still fascinating, November 28, 2008

By 

Robert J. Morrow "HamiltonHomeReview.com" (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Google Story: For Google's 10th Birthday (Paperback)

The updated version for 2008 doesn't supply anything new other than a chapter on how much richer Brin and Page are, and a more useful chapter on future endeavours.

However, if you didn't read the first edition, this is a must read story--especially ten years after the company's debut. As an avid business user of Google, I enjoyed reliving the memories of how simple concepts created millionairs of people like you and me...and how it still does if you just follow the simple plan the boys envisioned. Even this time around, I still found a couple of things I had forgotten that I immediately incorporated into my current webpage to ensure the googlebot liked me even more. And like clockwork, it worked immediately.

If you're new to adwords or adsense, be sure to read the chapters on SEO; it's not as complicated as it seems. If you spend the time and build it properly...they will come!

If nothing else, the updated release (as I'm sure it was intended) reminds the online businessperson that this is mandatory reading.