Launch of Google Search

Google (officially known as Google Search) is a search engine operated by the company Google. It allows users to search or ask for information by entering keywords or phrases using its website or application; the websites it lists are ranked and analyzed by its proprietary algorithms. It also uses generative AI (including a dedicated AI Mode) to respond to queries. Google is the most-visited website in the world; as of 2025, it has a 90% share of the global search engine market.

At the top of search engine result pages is often a sponsored result section reflecting results sponsored by advertising revenue. Many result pages are prefixed by an AI overview summarizing the top results. The order of search results returned by Google is based, in part, on a priority rank system called PageRank which was originally developed in 1996 by Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Scott Hassan. As of mid-2016, Google's search engine has begun to rely on deep neural networks.

In August 2024, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Google held an illegal monopoly over Internet search and search advertising. The court found that Google maintained its market dominance by paying large amounts to phone-makers and browser-developers to make Google its default search engine.