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

Why an early exec quit unicorn food delivery startup Deliveroo to launch a food business in the middle of a pandemic

* A former Deliveroo exec has launched a market food hall startup in the middle of COVID-19. * Dan Warne was managing director of the unicorn startup until 2019, but has now launched Sessions Market as a community food hall concept to rejuvenate UK towns after the pandemic. * Warne says he hopes to bring his experience from Deliveroo, particularly about customer behavior, to the analogue world of food halls. * The first venue, Shelter Hall on Brighton seafront, launches July 4. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. On Saturday, the UK's bars, restaurants, and cinemas will fling their doors open to customers for the first time since a strict lockdown commenced in late March. Given continued public health concerns around the coronavirus pandemic, it might be unwise to open a new food business right now. But Dan Warne, a former high-level executive at British unicorn startup Deliveroo, has launched Sessions Market, a series of community-orientated food hal...

The $136,000 Maserati Levante GTS is a drool-worthy preview of what Ferrari's SUV could be like (FCAU)

* I tested a 2020 Maserati Levante GTS SUV that with thousands in options stickered at approximately $136,000. * The Maserati Levante GTS has a 550-horsepower, twin-turbocharged V8 engine, plus a gorgeous red interior. * The Levante GTS is beautiful, powerful, and fast. That puts it near the top of the luxury, high-performance SUV segment. * But competition is coming — and the Levante is a great preview of what Ferrari may put on the road in the next few years. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Let's say you want a Ferrari, but you hail from a strange region where nobody is taught the lore of Maranello sports cars. An SUV is just your style, you decide. So you swing by your friendly neighborhood prancing horse dealership one day and ask if you can look at a couple of utes.  The dealer would thank you for your interest and slip you the business card of a colleague who represents Maserati, which since 2016 has been selling the Ferrari of SUVS, right dow...

Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck London fintech Lanistar used to raise $19 million at a $190 million valuation

* London-based fintech startup Lanistar has raised a £15 million ($19 million) funding round from Milaya Capital.  * Founded in 2019, Lanistar is building a personal financial management platform that will launch later in 2020.  * "We're expecting a huge amount of growth upon our launch and have already seen strong interest among our sign ups," Gurhan Kiziloz, founder and CEO of Lanistar, told Business Insider. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.  The coronavirus lockdown in the UK has brought the importance of managing money into sharp relief. A recent study from Money.com shows that 71% of UK households have saved cash during lockdown, and, with uncertainty about jobs and the economy looming, money management is now front of mind for many. Lanistar, a banking platform with a focus on personal finance, is one company offering tools for consumers to better manage their money. It has just raised a £15 million ($19 million) funding round from Mil...