--- title: 10 Ways Google Has Changed the World description: It's been a decade since Google went public. Here are 10 ways the company has transformed the market—and our lives— since. authors: - name: Susie Poppick url: https://money.com/author/susie-poppick/ at_money_since: 2013 articles: 117 covers: - Technology - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://x.com/susiepoppick former_staff: true published: '2014-08-19T02:00:10.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T09:54:48.000Z' section: Technology tags: - Android - Google - Investing - IPO - stock market - stocks - tech stocks - technology word_count: 891 canonical: https://money.com/google-10-ways-changed-world/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Google Earth view](https://img.money.com/2014/08/140818_inv_googleworld1.jpg) Back in 2004, investors weren't entirely sure what to make of Google, and skeptics [abounded](https://money.com/google-8-wrong-worst-predictions/). Fast-forward to today, when we can look back at how far the company has come, in ways that inspire both awe and concern. Below are 10 examples of its influence. **1\. It has changed our language.** Despite Microsoft's best [efforts](http://youtu.be/nfHuZ5qrYX4), there's a reason "Bing" never caught on as a verb, let alone as a [beleaguered](http://youtu.be/YuOBzWF0Aws) [anthropomorphic](http://youtu.be/B759dzymyoc) [meme](http://youtu.be/yJD1Iwy5lUY). The phrase "to Google" is so popular that the company is actually [worried](http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/no-googling-says-google-unless-you-really-mean-it-f1C9078566) about losing trademark rights if the term becomes generic, like "escalator" and "zipper," which were once trademarked. **2\. It has changed our brains.** Recent research has confirmed suspicions that 24/7 access to (near) limitless information is not only bad for human [discourse](http://youtu.be/PQ4o1N4ksyQ)—it's also making us [worse](http://www.sciencemag.org/content/333/6043/776.abstract) at remembering things, regardless of whether we try. And even if we aren't conscious of it, our brains are [primed](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-internet-has-become-the-external-hard-drive-for-our-memories/?page=2) to think about the Internet as soon as we start trying to recall the answer to a tough trivia question. Essentially, Google has become our collective mental [crutch](http://lmgtfy.com/). **3.** **It set the stage for Facebook and Twitter's sky-high valuations.** Yes, lofty valuations based on mere speculation were also common back in the dot-com fervor of the '90s, says Ed Crotty, chief investment officer for Davidson Investment Advisors. But Google broke new ground by proving that even just the *potential* for a huge audience could pay off in a big way. "In the early days, when people were thinking in terms of web portals, the barriers to entry didn't seem high for search," Crotty says. That meant Google's competitive advantage wasn't clear. But "the tipping point was when Google was able to scale up their audience enough to attract ad agencies, and then further improve their algorithms, since those get better with scale. That's partly why you see tech companies now willing to forgo profits for a period of time in order to build an audience." And also why investors are [willing](http://business.time.com/2013/10/29/these-8-internet-companies-are-worth-over-1-billion-but-they-havent-made-a-dime/) to throw money their way. **4.** **It has taken over our cell phones.** Since the first Android phone was sold in [2008](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/first-android-powered-phone.html), Google's mobile operating system has bulldozed the competition. Today it claims nearly 85% of [market share](http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS25037214), nearly doubling its hold over the last three years. Next stop, self-driving cars? **5\. It has transformed the way we use e-mail.** Gmail was [invented](http://googlepress.blogspot.com/2004/04/google-gets-message-launches-gmail.html) a decade ago, before bottomless inboxes were a sine qua non. It's hard even to remember those dark ages when storage space was sacred—and deleting emails was as tedious-but-necessary as flossing. Today our accounts serve as mausoleums, housing long-forgotten files, links, and even whole [relationships](http://magazine.good.is/articles/chat-history). Google itself has touted alternative uses for Gmail, such as setting up a virtual [time capsule](http://youtu.be/R4vkVHijdQk) for your newborn—though in practice accounts can't be owned by anyone [under 13](http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/09/attention-dear-sophie-inspired-parents-you-cant-actually-create-a-google-account-for-your-kid/). But even that last point is about to [change](https://money.com/google-for-kids/). **6\. It's changed how we collaborate.** Back in 2006, Google acquired the company behind an online word processor named [Writely.](http://news.cnet.com/Google-buys-Web-word-processing-technology/2100-1032_3-6048136.html) With that bet, Google created a world where it's taken for granted that people can collaborate on virtually any type of document, whether for work, play, or (literally) [revolution](http://www.fastcompany.com/1809458/revolution-20-google-marketing-exec-wael-ghonim-and-facebook-page-changed-world). **7\. It has allowed us to travel the globe from our desks.** Yes, [MapQuest](http://www.mapquest.com/) was popular first. But Google Maps (and Earth) has become much more than a tool for measuring travel routes and times. Since Google Street View came onto the scene in 2007, it's been possible to "visit" distant destinations, give friends a virtual tour of your hometown, plan [ahead](http://lifehacker.com/5949134/seven-creative-uses-for-google-street-view) of trips, and [waste](https://geoguessr.com/) even more time on the Internet. Of course, the more popular a tool, the more useful it is to [those](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/28/world/spy-agencies-scour-phone-apps-for-personal-data.html?_r=0) who'd like to [spy](http://dailycaller.com/2013/12/07/irs-using-google-maps-to-spy-on-taxpayers/) on us. **8\. It has influenced the news we read.** Ranking high in Google search results is serious business and can have a profound effect on the success of companies, media outlets, and even [politicians](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/05/12/research-in-india-suggests-google-search-results-can-influence-an-election/). When I just Googled "how SEO affects journalism," this [link](http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/09/what-impact-is-seo-having-on-journalists-reports-from-the-field/) was at the top of my search results. How is that significant? Well, for one, that story itself has been so successfully search engine optimized that it still tops the list despite being four years old. But most importantly, many of the concerns raised in the piece have not gone away—such as the pressure to "file some pithy blog post about the hot topic of the moment" at the expense of covering stories that *would* be prioritized based on traditional measures of [newsworthiness](https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/735/01/). What that means for you, the reader: more headlines like [this](http://fredrikdeboer.com/2014/08/12/the-subtle-approach-in-the-age-of-clickbait/) and [this](http://jimromenesko.com/2014/08/13/nydn-memo-be-sure-to-start-your-robin-williams-stories-with-words-like-death-dead-suicide-etc/). ****9\. It has turned users into commodities.**** We all love [free](https://money.com/mcdonalds-drive-thru-guarantee-minute-free-food/) stuff, but it's easy to forget that services offered by companies like Google and Facebook aren't truly "free," as data expert Bruce Schneier has [pointed out.](https://money.com/is-my-data-safe/) Remember that all of your data (across [ALL](http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/updating-our-privacy-policies-and-terms.html) of the services you use, and that includes Calendar, Maps, and so on) is a valuable good that Google is [packaging](http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/#infouse) and selling to its *real* customers—advertisers. **10.** **It's changed how everyone else sees YOU.** Unlike your Facebook profile, the links that turn up when potential employers (or love interests) Google you can be near-impossible to erase. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Google uses the fear of embarrassing search results to [encourage](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1228138?hl=en) people to manage their image through Google+ profiles. **Related: **[4 Crazy Google Ambitions ](https://money.com/googles-next-innovations/)[The 8 Worst Predictions About Google](https://money.com/google-8-wrong-worst-predictions/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/google-10-ways-changed-world/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Technology", "item": "https://money.com/technology/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Websites", "item": "https://money.com/websites/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "10 Ways Google Has Changed the World" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/google-10-ways-changed-world/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/google-10-ways-changed-world/", "name": "10 Ways Google Has Changed the World", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2014-08-19T02:00:10.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/google-10-ways-changed-world/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/google-10-ways-changed-world/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-16T09:54:48.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "10 Ways Google Has Changed the World", "articleSection": "Technology", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2014/08/140818_inv_googleworld1.jpg", "width": 1628, "height": 1086, "caption": "140818_INV_GoogleWorld" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Susie Poppick", "url": "https://money.com/author/susie-poppick/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/susie-poppick/#author", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/05/14-05-21_bio_author_poppick.jpg?quality=85&w=190&h=190&crop=1", "email": "susie_poppick@moneymail.com", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/susiepoppick" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2014-08-19T02:00:10.000Z", "description": "It's been a decade since Google went public. 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