It's been ten years since Google made its initial public offering. Since then, the company has expanded its reach, not only in the way we communicate (email and smartphones) but also with what we say (how many times have you said you Googled something?).
Here, we present some of the biggest milestones since the company went public. It's an impressive list, one that shows how successful the company has been in creating services that become ubiquitous.
The IPO
The company's IPO, which happened on August 19, 2004, was not as successful as early investors had hoped. The company, which back then was primarily famous for its search engine, sold 19.6 million shares at $85 per share. The stock price from the IPO was at the low end of the price range that the company had set, which was between $85 and $95.
Since then, Google's stock price has increased by about 1,300 percent. As of August 19, the company's shares had a price of $586.86 on the NASDAQ. Howard Silverblatt, a strategist at S&P Dow Jones Indices, told USA Today that Google is currently the 11th best performing stock in the Standard & Poor's 500.
Acquisitions
Google has made a number of acquisitions that resulted in the development of many popular services. Perhaps the most significant acquisition in the company's history is YouTube. The deal, which was worth $1.65 billion, gave the company the most popular video platform on the Internet.
In 2004, the company acquired digital mapping company Keyhole, Incorporated. The deal would pave the way for the development of the popular Google Earth service. However, the most expensive Google acquisition to date is DoubleClick. The agreement, valued at $3.1 billion, gave the company the basis for its AdSense program.
Services
Perhaps the most significant breakthrough for Google is its Android smartphone operating system. The OS made its debut in 2008, with the launch of HTC Dream smartphone. Since then, Android has become the most dominant operating system in the market. According to recent data from International Data Corporation, Android accounted for 84.7 percent of all smartphones that shipped in the second quarter. The figure represent a new market share record for the OS.
In terms of software, the company also introduced popular services within the ten-year span. This is quite impressive considering how it changed the way people use technology. For instance, Google Maps and Google Earth allowed users to navigate and visit far away lands. Meanwhile, Google Drive and Docs have changed how workers collaborate.
