From Backrub to Global Tech Giant to AI and beyond - 25 years of Google's journey

Today, Google celebrates its 25th birthday with a Google Doodle. The special Doodle showcased the evolution of Google's logo over the past two decades.

As we all know, this search engine began as a project by two Computer graduate students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. They worked out of their dorm rooms to build a search engine portal called Backrub. In these 25 years since Brin and Page outlined their vision for a search engine, the company has grown dramatically.

Backrub was the idea which was developed into Google later. "We chose our system name, Google because it is a common spelling of googol, or 10100 and fits well with our goal of building very large-scale search engines," the students said.

Google's CEO Sundar Pichai wrote, "So as we celebrate our 25th birthday today, we're also celebrating 25 years of your curiosity. After all, your curiosity is what has fueled us — and our progress. Consider that in 2000 so many people rushed to Google seeking photos of Jennifer Lopez's daring Grammy's dress that it became the most popular search query. That search returned 10 blue links but no green dress. So our engineers went to work, brainstorming new ways to index images alongside webpages and Google Images was born, enabling you to find that one photo you're in search of faster than ever before."

On Twitter, now known as X Sundar Pichai, shared the message, "Happy 25th birthday @Google! Thanks to everyone who uses our products and challenges us to keep innovating and to all Googlers!"

Glance at Google's inspirational journey

- In 2004, Google steered into a new era by going public, a pivotal moment that would reshape the digital marketing landscape with the introduction of AdWords.

- Gmail in 2004 and Google Drive in 2012 emerged as essential tools that were seamlessly integrated into our daily routines.

- The year 2005 saw the launch of Google Maps, which forever altered the way we navigate the physical world.

- In 2006, Google took a decisive step by acquiring YouTube, cementing its position as the preeminent video-sharing platform.

- 2008 saw the debut of Android, a mobile operating system that would finally conquer the global smartphone market. Fast forward to the present, and Google's market valuation stands at a staggering $1.63 trillion, a testament to its lasting impact.

Today, Google is accessible worldwide in over 100 languages, answering trillions of search queries yearly. The scale is enormous. We can't imagine ourselves without Google… Thank you, Google! We wish you a happy birthday, and stay blessed!