Sit down and think about the Internet for a moment. Name the top five sites that you visit most often. Now, make a new list, this time of your five favorite websites. For each item in each list describe the reason either why you visit this site so frequently or why it is your favorite. Now answer these questions: 1) does Google appear in either one or both of the lists, and 2) does the reason have anything to do with Google’s fast search returns, accurate information, helpful suggestions, continuing advancements, or excellent subdivisions of this expanding Internet monster? Are there any other search engines indicated on your lists? Probably not!

This certainly does not imply that every single person with access to the Internet uses Google as their one and only vehicle for searching websites. However, based on my own observations, Google is often the top choice of many individuals to find exactly whatever it is they desire. From meals that are ready in less than thirty minutes, to the biography of Babe Ruth, to the math-help genius, to online clothes shopping… to a million other sites. No matter how cliché it may sound, the possibilities are truly endless.

Quite tellingly, the word “Google” has entered the common vernacular as a verb for tracking down information. Very few people, if any, are ever heard saying “just Yahoo it,” while “Google it” has become an everyday phrase. For example:

Daughter: “Hey Mom – what’s the capital of Zimbabwe? I need to know for school.”
Mother: “Honey – just Google it. It will answer nearly every question you have!”

Google is the brainchild of some of the most intelligent designers, engineers and thinkers of our era. No wonder it is so successful! Washington Post author David A. Vise quotes Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page as saying, “[We operate with] a healthy disregard for the impossible.” Surely organizing all of the world’s information into one easily accessible database is no easy task. Some may even say it is, well, impossible. And that right there – the drive to conquer the seemingly impossible – is what sets Google apart from the rest of it is competitors.

There are many new projects that set Google apart from other search engines. Google is currently working on creating a genetic and biological database, as well as the makings of a global cell phone directory. And these projects, in addition to the ‘regular search engine’ tweaking are performed by numerous employees (referred to as “Googlers”) who are afforded numerous perks, including three free meals each day, free snacks and drinks, a free masseuse, and more to keep both their employees and their users (i.e. free Gmail accounts) happy, content and continuously providing and exchanging information with one another.

“They run the largest computer system in the world,” said John Hennessy, a member of Google’s board of directors, a computer scientist and president of Stanford University. “I don’t think there is even anything close.”

Not only do they not face any impending competitors, but companies are actually frightened of their seemingly never-ending success. Even Microsoft’s C.E.O., Bill Gates, issued an internal memo documenting the challenges posed by such disruptive change, as quoted by Vise. This includes the release of new products and services in data forms, sign-up advertising, and even the unwelcome recruiting of desirable Microsoft employees. But the havoc and dominance Brin and Page are prepared to wreak waits to be seen at this point. Just keep in mind that Google has only been around for seven years, and their success and dominance is already overwhelming. You too are probably realizing that – just take another look at your list!