Happy 15th B-Day Google! 'Evergreen marketing insights' ▲▲▲ by Gloria Buono-Daly

Surprise to Google who turned 15 years old today (9/27/2013 and not 9/4/2013 as many of us once thought). Last year Google posted its very own Happy 14th B-Day doodle! Will they have a cool animated doodle this year to celebrate? Yes they sure will. This year Google created a very creative piñata game. Simply hit the swaying piñata with your keyboard space key and earn points. I just did. Below are snapshots of the animated pinata new doodle.

So let's all celebrate Google’s B-Day.

Ever since Google was born (September 27, 1998), there have been whirlwinds of internet momentum, controversy, and innovation.

Google doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon. Google has created and acquired so much since it’s 14th B-Day.

Of the total 127 acquisitions Google has to date, 34.6% (44)were made from 2011 to present.

Interestingly, from February 12, 2001 through June 2013 (13 B-Day cycles) Google has on average, roughly 9.7 acquisitions per year (127 total divided by 13 years).

Below is a listing of acquisitions since it’s 13th B-Day, Sept. 27, 2011:


● Sept.   7, 2011 – Zave Networks, digital coupons for Google Offers program
● Sept.   8, 2011 – Zagat, restaurant reviews for Google Maps and Places programs
● Sept. 19, 2011 – DailyDeal, daily deals for Google Offers program in
● Oct.   11, 2011 – SocialGrapple, social media analytics for Google+ Plus
● Nov. 10, 2011 – Apture, instantaneous search for Google Search
● Nov. 14, 2011 – Katango, social circle organizer for Google+ Plus
● Dec.   9, 2011 – RightsFlow, music rights management for YouTube
● Dec. 13, 2011 – Clever Sense, mobile apps for Google Android
● Mar. 16, 2012 – Milk, Inc., social network Google+ Plus
● Apr.   2, 2012 – TxVia, online payment for Google Wallet
● Jun.   4, 2012 – Meebo, instant messaging for Google+ Plus
● Jun.   5, 2012 – Quickoffice, productivity suite for Google Docs
● Jul.  20, 2012 – Sparrow, mobile apps for Gmail Google
● Aug.  1, 2012 – Wildfire Interactive, social media marketing for Google, Google+ Plus
● Aug. 13, 2012 – Frommer’s, travel guides to enhance Zagat for Google Maps and Places programs
● Spt.  7, 2012 – VirusTotal.com,Security (SPAIN)
● Spt. 17, 2012 – Nik Software Inc., Photography (USA)
● Oct.  1, 2012 – Viewdle, Facial Recognition (Ukraine)
● Nov. 28, 2012 – Incentive Targeting Inc., Digital Coupons for Google offers (USA)
● Nov. 30, 2012 – BufferBox, Package Delivery for Google Shopping, Android(CANADA)
● Feb.  6, 2013 – Channel Intelligence, Product ecommerce for Google Shopping (USA)
● Mar. 12, 2013 – DNNresearch Inc., Deep Neutral Networks for Google and GoogleX (CANADA)
● Mar. 15, 2013 – Web Application Server Talaria, Cloud computing for Google Cloud (USA)
● Apr. 12, 2013 – Behavio, Social Prediction for Google Now (USA)
● Apr. 23, 2013 – Wavii, Natural Language Processing for Google Knowledge Graph (USA)
● May. 23, 2013 – Makani Power, Airborne Windturbines for GoogleX (USA)
● Jun. 11, 2013 – Waze, GPS navigation software for Google Maps (USA)

To think it took Larry Page and Sergey Brin less than 2 years to incorporate Google -- in 1996, both were PhD students at Stanford University, working on a research project when Yahoo! and AOL were the major search engines.

Fifteen years later Google has embarked on hundreds, if not thousands of innovations, ventures and acquisitions. Below is a brief timeline of my most notable Google milestones (note clicking on the table below, and then once again, will enlarge for viewing):

This chart (as of last year, 9/4/2011) has not been updated with the latest additions listed above. Will try to update soon. Bookmark this blog and visit frequently. Thanks!



"Happy 15th B-Day Google!" is part of the evergreen marketing insights ▲▲▲ series by Gloria Buono-Daly