Skip to main content

We looked back at Google's corporate web pages from 2009. They show how far the company's culture has changed in more than a decade. (GOOG)

* Google has transformed more than any other Silicon Valley company in the last decade – and a trip back to its old corporate website reveals just how much. * A look at the website from 2009 shows just how much the company has transformed, from around 20,000 full-time employees of the time to more than 120,000 today. * "Google is not a conventional company, and we don't intend to become one," it read more than a decade ago. But employees say Google has become a much more corporate company. * Do you work at Google? You can contact this reporter securely using encrypted messaging app Signal (+1 628-228-1836) or encrypted email (hslangley@protonmail.com). * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. A lot has changed in the past decade – take a trip back to Google's website circa 2009 and you'll appreciate just how much. Google has arguably seen the biggest transformation of any Silicon Valley company in the last decade. In fact, Google isn't even in charge of Google anymore – it lives under parent company Alphabet. But the changes haven't been only structural: as Google has grown in size, its company culture has shifted dramatically. As of last count, there are 123,048 full-time employees on Google's payroll. In 2009, there were around just 20,000. This week, we journeyed back in time, via the Wayback Machine, to Google's old corporate information pages, and it reveals a lot about how the company has changed over more than a decade. "Google is not a conventional company, and we don't intend to become one," read the description on the company's Life at Google page back in 2009. "True, we share attributes with the world's most successful organizations – a focus on innovation and smart business practices comes to mind – but even as we continue to grow, we're committed to retaining a small-company feel." But many employees believe this "small-company feel," which Google tried to hold onto for so long, no longer exists, as it inevitably shifted to a more corporate culture over time. When cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin officially stepped down last year, it marked the end of an era for Google, but the culture change had been happening for several years – and insiders say 2018 was a major tipping point. Google's old website also had a list of the "Top 10 Reasons to Work at Google." Check them out: Some of these still ring true today, particularly the office perks, which have always been one of Google's great talent magnets – although employees have had to forego almost all of these while working from home during the pandemic. But while Google could boast about its great benefits for all employees in 2009, today the company has an enormous shadow workforce of contractors and vendors which outnumber full-time employees, yet don't enjoy many of the same benefits – something that the pandemic has further highlighted. 'Don't be evil' Take a look at Google's philosophical guidelines and things start to look even more dated. Take, for example, Google's rule that "you can make money without doing evil" – a nugget of corporate philosophy Google more famously codified as "don't be evil." But since 2018 Google has moved away from this motto, which no longer prefaces the company's code of conduct. It's also interesting to see how Google once described its internet-indexing PageRank technology. "This technique actually improves as the web gets bigger, as each new site is another point of information and another vote to be counted," it read under commandment number 4: "Democracy on the web works." In the time since, Google's technology has grown so extraordinarily that it's now facing the possibility of multiple antitrust lawsuits being brought against its search and advertising business for using its monopoly power. There are plenty of other great nuggets that highlight how much Google has changed over the years, and we recommend you to go back and look at some of these pages yourself. Pay particularly close attention to the Google corporate management list which has changed considerably, not only in the names featured but in the corporate structure. You might notice a few of the old guard who have stuck around long enough to find a place inside CEO Sundar Pichai's list of direct reports. SEE ALSO: Meet the 15 Google execs who report to CEO Sundar Pichai and are leading the internet company's most critical businesses Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: A cleaning expert reveals her 3-step method for cleaning your entire home quickly
https://bit.ly/2BJlzBC

Popular posts from this blog

How to enable the text-to-speech feature on your Kindle Fire device to hear text read aloud

* You can enable the text-to-speech feature on your Kindle Fire device to have written content read aloud. * Both Kindle content and your personal documents can utilize the text-to-speech feature. * Text-to-speech inputs are also available for languages other than English and can be downloaded via the progress bar within the book itself. * Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories. If you are vision-impaired or simply want to hear your book or document aloud rather than reading the text, Kindle Fire has a text-to-speech feature that will translate the written words to audio so you can listen aloud. Best of all, text-to-speech is not only available for Kindle books but also for many (though not all) personal text files. Turning on text-to-speech is easy and should only take a few seconds. Books in the Kindle store will even notify you if the capability is available before you purchase, though the feature must be turned on within the book or document itse...
Read more

The NSA warned staff that smartphone apps can track them. Here are their recommendations to avoid tracking.

* The NSA warned members of the US military and intelligence community this week that their smartphone apps could be tracking them and put their security at risk. * In guidance issued Tuesday, the agency noted that many apps make use of WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth to collect cellphone location information, which is typically sold to advertisers or third parties. * The agency recommended specific steps for staff to reduce their data exposure, like restricting app permissions and reducing web browsing on their smartphones. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The National Security Administration warned staff that the amount of data their smartphones track could pose a national security risk in new guidance issued Tuesday. The guidance highlights a practice that's common across Silicon Valley products but rarely understood by consumers: smartphones are constantly gathering information on users' location, through a combination of apps, the smartphone's o...
Read more

All the coolest features of every Tesla vehicle ever made or unveiled, ranked (TSLA)

* Tesla's vehicles are and always have been crammed with great ideas. * These range from touchscreen interfaces to innovative battery designs to staggering acceleration. * I've driven or experienced every vehicle Tesla has ever sold or intends to sell in the future. * Here are all my favorite features, ranked. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. In about two decades, Tesla has done what everyone in the auto industry thought was impossible: create an all-electric brand that could sell hundreds of thousands of vehicles. Tesla could have done that in a boring or modest way, developing  the equivalent of an electric VW Beetle. Instead, Tesla made fantastically compelling cars that are fast, look amazing, and are packed with features. Here's a rundown of all my favorites, ranked from bottom to top: FOLLOW US: On Facebook for more car and transportation content! Tesla has been in business for 17 years. In that period of time, it's consisten...
Read more