2003: Start making AdSense
Capitalizing on the success of AdWords, Google introduces AdSense in June to deliver ads to third-party sites. While Googlers celebrate AdSense (Above), rumors of an IPO heat up and analysts estimate that Google is worth up to $25 billion.
Did you know?
Microsoft, desperate to get in the search game, briefly considers an offer to buy Google.
Annual revenue: $1.47 billion
Profits: $106 million
Revenue growth: 234%
Employees: About 1,300
2004: The IPO of the decade
In the most hotly-anticipated tech IPO since Netscape, Google goes public on Aug. 19 at $85 a share. By the end of the year, Google's stock spikes to $195. The company launches its hugely popular Gmail message service. Orkut, a social-networking site, also debuts but fails to gain much traction, much like the Froogle comparison shopping site before it.
Did you know?
CEO Eric Schmidt mandates that meetings start seven minutes after the hour because that's the way some college classes are run.
Annual revenue: $3.19 billion
Profits: $399 million
Revenue growth: 118%
Employees: 3,021
2005: Power player
As Google grows, so does its rivalry with Microsoft and Yahoo. Google introduces personalized homepages that compete directly with Yahoo and MSN. Google also spars with the software giant in court over the hiring of a former Microsoft executive, Kai-Fu Lee (Above), to run Google's China operations (the case settled and Lee stayed at Google).
Did you know?
One quarter of Googlers work outside the United States.
Annual revenue: $6.14 billion
Profits: $1.47 billion
Revenue growth: 92.5%
Employees: 5,680
2006: The Google of video
Looking to expand its search-advertising platform, Google shells out $1.65 billion for its largest acquisition to date: YouTube, an 18-month old video-sharing site founded by Steven Chen (Above Left) and Chad Hurley (Above right). The search king also strikes a three-year, $900 million deal to run text-based ads on MySpace, a social networking site owned by News Corp.
Did you know?
Google is added as a verb in the Oxford English and Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Annual revenue: $10.6 billion
Profits: $3.08 billion
Revenue growth:: 72.8%
Employees: 10,674
2007: A tale of two workplaces
Google tops Fortune's Best Company to Work For rankings, thanks to fabulous perks and a stock that hits an all-time high of $741 in November. Even so, an exodus of top Googlers picks up as Gokul Rajaram, one of two senior AdSense execs, leaves to start his own company. Several star Googlers have since decamped to Facebook, including former AdWords sales chief Sheryl Sandberg.
Did you know?
Google changes its privacy policy to make users' search data anonymous after 18 months.
Annual revenue: $16.6 billion
Profits: $4.2 billion
Revenue growth: 56.5%
Employees: 16,805