Google 2008 Annual Report Download - page 17

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PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Overview
Google is a global technology leader focused on improving the ways people connect with information. Our
innovations in web search and advertising have made our web site a top internet property and our brand one of the
most recognized in the world. We maintain a large index of web sites and other online content, which we make
freely available via our search engine to anyone with an internet connection. Our automated search technology
helps people obtain nearly instant access to relevant information from our vast online index.
We generate revenue primarily by delivering relevant, cost-effective online advertising. Businesses use our
AdWords program to promote their products and services with targeted advertising. In addition, the thousands of
third-party web sites that comprise the Google Network use our AdSense program to deliver relevant ads that
generate revenue and enhance the user experience.
We were incorporated in California in September 1998 and reincorporated in Delaware in August 2003. Our
headquarters are located at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, California 94043, and our telephone
number is (650) 253-0000.
Our Mission
Our mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. We believe
that the most effective, and ultimately the most profitable, way to accomplish our mission is to put the needs of
our users first. We have found that offering a high-quality user experience leads to increased traffic and strong
word-of-mouth promotion. Our dedication to putting users first is reflected in three key commitments:
• We will do our best to provide the most relevant and useful search results possible, independent of
financial incentives. Our search results will be objective and we do not accept payment for search result
ranking or inclusion.
• We will do our best to provide the most relevant and useful advertising. Advertisements should not be an
annoying interruption. If any element on a search result page is influenced by payment to us, we will make
it clear to our users.
• We will never stop working to improve our user experience, our search technology and other important
areas of information organization.
We believe that our user focus is the foundation of our success to date. We also believe that this focus is
critical for the creation of long-term value. We do not intend to compromise our user focus for short-term
economic gain.
How We Provide Value to Our Users
We serve our users by developing products that quickly and easily find, create, organize and share
information. We place a premium on products that matter to many people and have the potential to improve their
lives.
Some of the key benefits we offer include:
Comprehensiveness and Relevance. Our search technologies sort through a vast and growing amount of
information to deliver relevant and useful search results in response to user queries. This is an area of continual
development for us. When we started the company in 1998, our web index contained approximately 30 million
documents. We now index billions of web pages and strive to provide the most comprehensive search experience
1