GOOGLE STORY

money  to advertise or promote its brand name, these are unparalleled achievements. Google's growth has occurred entirely by word of mouth, as satisfied users recommend it to their friends, and others learn about it through the media and online. No Madison Avenue marketers have pushed it. Instead, people have come to feel emotionally attached to the search engine, calling on it whenever they wish to satisfy their interest or curiosity. In an uncertain world, Google reliably provides free information for everyone who seeks it. It is a seductive form of instant gratification for their minds. Most Google users have no idea how the search engine was created, what makes it so profitable and valuable, why it has triumphed over deeper-pocketed competitors, and where it is heading in the future. In the pages of this book, we will answer all these questions for the first time. Until now, most of the answers have remained secret, hidden deep inside the Googleplex the company's space age Silicon Valley campus.  John  Hennessy  a top computer scientist who is president of Stanford University and a Google board member, says the firm is unique in today's bifurcated world of sophisticated software and hardware companies because it is a leader in both areas. To power its search and search-related services, Google runs patented, custom-designed programs on hundreds of thousands of machines that it also custom builds. The optimal blending of technologies by the world's most innovative company produces superior search results instantaneously. No word in the English language exists to describe this seamless melding of hardware and software at such a massive scale, so we have named it Googleware.Hennessy says that the most important technological advantage distinguishing Google from would-be competitors is that its employees assemble and customize all of the personal computers the company uses to carry out searches. This is perhaps Google's best-kept secret. Experts generally regard personal computers as commodity products, akin to toasters, but Google assembles, deploys and is constantly improving the performance capabilities of more than 200000 inexpensive PCS. It builds and stacks them