The evolution of Google since 1998 to now

I thought it would be interesting to see how Google looked when they first launched their homepage. Archive.org shows us how this search engine giant has slowly changed into it's current version.

Are the changes for the better? Anything you would change?

1998
http://web.archive.org/web/19981202230410/http://www.google.com/

1999
http://web.archive.org/web/19991129021746/http://www13.google.com/

2000
http://web.archive.org/web/20010119175000/http://www.google.com/

2001
http://web.archive.org/web/20010119175000/http://www.google.com/

2002
http://web.archive.org/web/20020124144701/www.google.com/

2003
http://web.archive.org/web/20030202124715/http://www2.google.com/

2004
http://web.archive.org/web/20031230112727/www.google.com/

2005
http://web.archive.org/web/20050401015450/http://www.google.com/index.html

Today
http://www.google.com/

 

You know the look now is better, but the search results is what has made them. They have compiled such a large database and they have made it a top priority to get rid of alot of the fluff. I have always liked Google for search results and is the primary engine I use now.

 

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, mikejmu. It's been nice seeing Google evolve and slowly take over the world over the years...

 

hmm 1998?

They've probably got cached pages of our sites that old in their supplementals

 

I wish we could rewind about 2 years and leave it there.

 

certainly interesting. that first one is really amusing, don't think I've ever seen it before.

kind of reminds me of how my sites tend to look !

 

I can remember coming across Google years ago and just thinking what a waste of my time. And now I use them everyday. Boy what a difference 10 years makes.

 

Yeah its amazing to see how google evolved. They started out with a pretty bad looking site and now look where they are.. the #1 search engine haha. But then again your right the search engine is what makes them, not the look.

 

keep in mind the style of the times. I have seen how web page design has evolved since the internet was first commericalized. Googles web page did not look any worse than most other webpage at the time. i know its only 1998 but thats almost a lifetime away in web-years. However, google was rarely used before 2000. it was Yahoo mostly.

 

intresting drill down , though we all lnow it wasnt the looks that made google a Giantgle....

thanks

 

Google has evolved from ZERO to HERO in its market.

 

Google rules

 

Thanks for that

Every step makes them more commercialised. Yes, they may be tops at the moment, but just as the likes of Altavista and Excite were taken over by superior offerings, so will Google. It is becoming one big online billboard and, with the enroaching commercialisation, people will move on elsewhere, just like they left Yahoo.

No company in history has stayed at the top forever: even giants like Coca-Cola and McDonalds have been suffering of late.