The Google Story: Inside the Hottest Business, Media, and Technology Success of Our Time [Paperback]

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

Book Description

Release date: August 29, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0553383663 | ISBN-13: 978-0553383669

"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 General Motors’ and Ford’s combined, its staff eats for free in a dining room that used to be run by the Grateful Dead’s former chef, 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 library books, television broadcasts, 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 challenge Microsoft’s dominance and shake up Wall Street. Even as it rides high, Google wrestles with difficult choices that will enable it to continue expanding while sustaining the guiding vision of its founders’ mantra: DO NO EVIL."

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Social phenomena happen, and the historians follow. So it goes with Google, the latest star shooting through the universe of trend-setting businesses. This company has even entered our popular lexicon: as many note, "Google" has moved beyond noun to verb, becoming an action which most tech-savvy citizens at the turn of the twenty-first century recognize and in fact do, on a daily basis. It's this wide societal impact that fascinated authors David Vise and Mark Malseed, who came to the book with well-established reputations in investigative reporting. Vise authored the bestselling The Bureau and the Mole, and Malseed contributed significantly to two Bob Woodward books, Bush at War and Plan of Attack. The kind of voluminous research and behind-the-scenes insight in which both writers specialize, and on which their earlier books rested, comes through in The Google Story.

The strength of the book comes from its command of many small details, and its focus on the human side of the Google story, as opposed to the merely academic one. Some may prefer a dryer, more analytic approach to Google's impact on the Internet, like The Search or books that tilt more heavily towards bits and bytes on the spectrum between technology and business, like The Singularity is Near. Those wanting to understand the motivations and personal growth of founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and CEO Eric Schmidt, however, will enjoy this book. Vise and Malseed interviewed over 150 people, including numerous Google employees, Wall Street analysts, Stanford professors, venture capitalists, even Larry Page's Cub Scout leader, and their comprehensiveness shows.

As the narrative unfolds, readers learn how Google grew out of the intellectually fertile and not particularly directed friendship between Page and Brin; how the founders attempted to peddle early versions of their search technology to different Silicon Valley firms for $1 million; how Larry and Sergey celebrated their first investor's check with breakfast at Burger King; how the pair initially housed their company in a Palo Alto office, then eventually moved to a futuristic campus dubbed the "Googleplex"; how the company found its financial footing through keyword-targeted Web ads; how various products like Google News, Froogle, and others were cooked up by an inventive staff; how Brin and Page proved their mettle as tough businessmen through negotiations with AOL Europe and their controversial IPO process, among other instances; and how the company's vision for itself continues to grow, such as geographic expansion to China and cooperation with Craig Venter on the Human Genome Project.

Like the company it profiles, The Google Story is a bit of a wild ride, and fun, too. Its first appendix lists 23 "tips" which readers can use to get more utility out of Google. The second contains the intelligence test which Google Research offers to prospective job applicants, and shows the sometimes zany methods of this most unusual business. Through it all, Vise and Malseed synthesize a variety of fascinating anecdotes and speculation about Google, and readers seeking a first draft of the history of the company will enjoy an easy read. --Peter Han --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

If Google's splashy IPO and skyrocketing stock haven't revived the dotcom sector, they have certainly revived the dotcom hype industry, judging by this adulatory history of the Internet search engine. Billionaire founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, their countercultural rectitude imbibed straight from the Burning Man festival, are brilliant visionaries dedicated to putting all information at mankind's fingertips and "genuinely nice people" who "didn't care about getting rich." Their company motto, "Don't Be Evil," is not just PR boilerplate rendered in fantasy-gaming rhetoric, but a deeply-pondered organizing principle. Washington Post reporter Vise, author of The Bureau and the Mole, and researcher Malseed give a serviceable rundown of the company's rise from grad-student project to web juggernaut, its innovative technology and targeted advertising system, its savvy deal-making and its inevitable battles with Microsoft. But while they raise the occasional quibble about controversial company policies, they generally allow Google's image of idealism to overshadow the reality of a corporate leviathan. Worse, the bloated text feels like the product of an overly broad web search: anything with keyword Google-executives' speeches, seminar talks, informal Q and A sessions with students, company press releases, legal documents, SEC filings, even the company chef's fried chicken recipe-comes up, excerpted at inordinate and rambling length, drowning insight in a flood of information.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Delta (August 29, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553383663
• ISBN-13: 978-0553383669
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #983,273 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

115 of 135 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing November 22, 2005

By Christopher Tucher

Format:Hardcover

If you've been reading the newspaper, there's not much new here. Vise skims over issues but doesn't help you understand them.

He describes Google's library project, but doesn't explain how these millions of books are to be scanned. He says "click fraud" is jeopardizing Google's advertising model, but he doesn't explain how these bots are created or how they can be stopped. Several times he tells us Sergei Brin is a great deal-maker, but he cites no good examples -- except that Brin once redirected the private jet to London to pull an AOL Europe deal out of the fire ... by dramatically sweetening his offer to outbid Yahoo.

There are many other examples where you'd expect greater insight or behind-the-scenes reporting. The auther doesn't seem to have gotten any inside access to the founders, the CEO, the VCs or any other key protagonist.

You do get, however, a recipe for fried chicken.

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Written by an obvious fanboy October 4, 2006

By Neil Gunton

Format:Hardcover

I'm sorry, but I can't read this book without breaking out into incredulous laughter on just about every page. The author is so over-the-top in his adoring descriptions of Google and its founders that I sometimes have difficulty not believing that it's some kind of parody. For example, the first lines of Chapter One: "Sergey Brin and Larry Page cruised onto the stage to the kind of roars and excitement that teenagers normally reserve for rock stars.". Ok, so I think, maybe that's just an accurate description of the event. But how about these quotes from the introduction: "Googleware and the lucrative Google ad system are a reflection of their genius and foresight"... (um, I'm pretty sure Overture was doing the paid ads thing before google)... or how about this, from the very first lines of the intro: "Not since Gutenberg invented the modern printing press more than 500 years ago, making books and scientific tomes affordable and widely available to the masses, has any new invention empowered individuals, and transformed access to information, as profoundly as Google.". Um, ok. So I guess Tim Berners Lee inventing the Web itself was a relatively minor occurance in the Googleverse. And there's more - from page 11: "In the rich and storied history of American invention and capitalism, there had never been a meteoric rise comparable to theirs. It had taken Thomas Edison a quarter of a century to invent the lightbulb; Alexander Graham Bell had spent many years developing the telephone; Henry Ford created the modern assembly line and turned it into the mass production and consumption of automobiles only after decades of work...". Ok, so now they are inventors who outshine Thomas Edison. Wow. I'm thinking, get a grip. It's a search engine.... It worked pretty well (but is now being overtaken by spammers and other people gaming the system). They built a huge parallel computer system, which is great. They grew at a fast rate, which is fantastic. But let's face it, making a search engine that worked better than the competition isn't anywhere on the same scale of achievement as inventing the lightbulb, telephone, or mondern mass production methods. They are smart guys, but they aren't God's gift to the world. I'm sorry, but the tone of this book just completely throws me off. I bought it because I'm honestly interested in how Google came to be. But I feel like I'm being bombarded on every page by so much adulation for Google and its founders, that it starts to feel more like a religious tract than the history of a company. Read more ›

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the real Google story January 13, 2006

By Paul Lamey

Format:Hardcover

The byline of this book is "inside the hottest business, media and technology success of our time." The problem is that this book provides no "inside" look at all. The information provided by the authors might as well have been found through a Google search. There was nothing really new that has not been reported a thousand times in the media or obvious to anyone who follows Google. The work seemed a bit ambitious and proved in the end to be nothing more than a cheerleading rally for a company that doesn't need any help. I think there is still plenty of room for someone to write a real objective account of the rise and success of Google but it may be too soon. Wait another five years and either the stock will be trading at $500 a share or it will be another success story with a troubled ending. The real Google story is amazing but The Google Story was not.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Lacks Depth September 11, 2006

By Raj

Format:Paperback

The book is written in a breezy style that makes for easy reading by the lay person. To give the author his due, he does manage to convey a sense of what Google has accomplished in so short a time period. But if you're looking for any kind of in-depth analysis on what really makes Google tick, or what kind of business challenges lie ahead for the company, you may be disappointed. Other than some teasers about their management style, their custom hardware, etc., there is very little substance.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not well written, but I couldn't put it down December 29, 2005

By W. Linville

Format:Hardcover

Overall, this book was disappointing because it reads as if Mr. Vise is stringing quotes together to get a story. There is no real conclusions or insights and many details and facts that are conspiculously missing.

However, it's addictive! I attribute this to the engaging story of Google more than the writing of the book, but nonetheless, I'm glad I read it so that I can compare it with the other Google book, Search.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Google for Dummies... December 19, 2005

By sfarmer76

Format:Hardcover

Google is a search engine that millions of computer users have incorporated into their daily routine, so it's no surprise that someone decided to profile the two young mavericks -- Sergey Brin and Larry Page -- at the epicenter of such an amazing tale of success. In The Google Story $26.00 US, collaborators Vise & Malseed chronicle the company's meteoric launch, and the unique approach that has enabled its founders to stay one step ahead of the competition, while leaving few questions unanswered. I really enjoyed the team's breezy informational writing style, and I might have to read The Bureau and the Mole (also by David A. Vise) after finishing this.

Ostensibly, the book hinges around: advertising on Google, AOL, Ask Jeeves, details of the PageRank system, employees of Google, Eric Schmidt's role at Google, the events of September 11th, international aspects of Google, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the Michigan Digitization Project, Microsoft, Overture Inc., Privacy issues, the SEC, Stanford University, the stock price of Google, Venture capital firms, Yahoo!, and the company's admirable motto -- `Don't Be Evil' -- among other things. It was especially interesting to read about key dates and turning points, how the venture faced critical challenges, and how Brin and Page turned fleeting circumstance to their advantage. Ignoring prevailing wisdom would prove lucrative for both young men.

Of course, no book is complete without photos, so you'll delight in the eight pages of black and white photography sandwiched between the pages of this non-fiction text. Some of these photos ran in Playboy, and USA Today, and it's nice that they were included, since you can eyeball the people profiled in the book.... One photo shows Larry and Sergey in their first office, a garage in Menlo Park. Another shows the Googleplex campus in Mountain View, as seen from the Norden bombsight of a low-flying B-24 bomber. And one shows a polished Larry Page presiding over the opening of the NASDAQ stock exchange at the time of the Google IPO.

Got free time? Like to Google? Here's who mixed with Larry Page at the William Gates Computer Science building at Stanford: Sean Anderson (creative), Tamara Munzner (geek), Lucas Periera (bouncy), and Ben Zhu (quiet). Sergey Brin had a different office, but camped at Gates 360, with Page and his associates. Four of Brin and Page's advisors/professors were: Dennis Allison, Hector Garcia-Molina, Rajeev Motwani, and Terry Winograd. What evolved into Google emerged from separate projects: one (MIDAS=Mining Data at Stanford) helmed by Brin and Motwani, whom were extracting information from large amounts of data, and the second (DLP=Digital Libraries Project) in which Page participated. Google is a mash up of those two efforts.

Little details about Google fascinate. Did you know that Google was first known as `BackRub' in early 1997? Months later, Brin and Page decided they needed an improvement. After bouncing ideas off of each other, Sean offered up Googleplex, which Sergey shortened. After registration, Tamara told them they'd misspelled it. Another party had already registered the correct spelling, so Larry stuck with what they had. The simplicity of Google was dictated by circumstance, since the duo lacked the funds to hire a designer, or the artistic talent to implement anything better. I'd argue that the simplicity of their site is actually its `key selling point,' -- a fortunate accident if you will.

Even though Larry and Sergey took pride in Google they were eager to sell it. Designing the PageRank system took ample time from their degree pursuits, when both men simply wished to resume regular studies. In March of 1999, at Palo Alto's Mandarin Gourmet restaurant, the duo pitched their superior search technology to AltaVista but incredibly, Alta Vista passed on it. They approached Excite and other search engines, but all the companies they tried to unload it on were disinterested. Yahoo! cofounder David Filo (Stanford alum) advised the duo to take a leave from their Ph.D. program and begin a business, even though he too passed on integrating Google into Yahoo!'s website.

Stung by rejection the pair plodded along, improving Google for their university users, while delaying decisions. Five months later, angel investor Andy Bechtolsheim hands Larry Page a $100,000 check on David Cheriton's front porch and speeds off in his Porsche, to his next appointment. Bechtolsheim had reacted on gut instinct after a short presentation, and hadn't realized the gravity of what he'd done. David Cheriton, one of Larry and Sergey's graduate professors, served as the deal's matchmaker. Brin and Page hadn't even formally created a company when Bechtolsheim handed them that check. Larry had to lock it in a drawer for two weeks, until they were actually incorporated and had bank accounts.

The boomtown climate of Silicon Valley in 1999 allowed companies to raise money through stock offerings, but Brin and Page were leery of revealing trade secrets. Brin and Page weren't in it for the money either. Both sought to improve and refine Google while maintaining control. Bechtolsheim's check -- paired with $1 million scraped together from family and friends -- got them started, but they quickly burned through the cash. They could smell success after licensing technology to RedHat, but needed a large chunk of money to stay aloft. One of two local venture capital firms were likely to keep them alive, either Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, or Sequoia Capital.

On the slim chance you're uninformed; I'll give you capsule summaries. Sequoia Capital is the VC firm that reaped huge profits when Yahoo! went public in 1996. Because Google was viewed as a potential vendor, Yahoo! and Sequoia wanted to help them. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, led by Doerr, is a VC firm that made a fortune by backing Compaq, Sun Micro, and Amazon.com before people conceptually realized what each were trying to do. Both VC firms wanted exclusive access to Google, to the exclusion of the other. That Brin got both firms to cooperate with him, and take equal $12.5M stakes in the company, is a testament to his business acumen.

Readers will delight in the success of GoogleAds, whose profit-sharing revenue helped to lift the boat of Ask Jeeves, a previously bested rival (that once had a huge valuation) whom struggled with small sales before a three-year deal (valued at $100M) was forged with the Google Guys in 2001. After Steve Berkowitz took the helm at Ask Jeeves, he revamped a site that had was hard hit by a burst tech bubble. By acquiring Teoma, and partnering with Google's Eric Schmidt and Omid Kordestani, Berkowitz turned Ask Jeeves into one of Google's partners -- instead of allowing a bitter rivalry to fester. Without major audience overlaps, both firms benefited as a result.

You'll probably enjoy reading The Google Story. You'll likely be impressed by the writing. Vise & Malseed make Brin and Page come alive on the page, even though the subject matter of this book had great potential to be dry and boring. The genesis of Google News was also an exciting portion of the book. The depth of the research surrounding the writing of this book is notable. After reading this book, I'd have to agree with George Will (who was on `This Week with George Stephanopoulos' yesterday) that the Google Guys should be named Time magazine's 2005 Person of the Year. Do yourself a favor now, and buy a copy! Read more ›