Business

In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives

In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives

  • Downloads：1734
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-04-30 10:51:43
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Steven Levy
  • ISBN：1416596593
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
  • Download

Summary

“The most interesting book ever written about Google” （The Washington Post） delivers the inside story behind the most successful and admired technology company of our time， now updated with a new Afterword。

Google is arguably the most important company in the world today， with such pervasive influence that its name is a verb。 The company founded by two Stanford graduate students—Larry Page and Sergey Brin—has become a tech giant known the world over。 Since starting with its search engine， Google has moved into mobile phones， computer operating systems， power utilities， self-driving cars， all while remaining the most powerful company in the advertising business。

Granted unprecedented access to the company， Levy disclosed that the key to Google’s success in all these businesses lay in its engineering mindset and adoption of certain internet values such as speed， openness， experimentation， and risk-taking。 Levy discloses details behind Google’s relationship with China， including how Brin disagreed with his colleagues on the China strategy—and why its social networking initiative failed; the first time Google tried chasing a successful competitor。 He examines Google’s rocky relationship with government regulators， particularly in the EU， and how it has responded when employees left the company for smaller， nimbler start-ups。

In the Plex is the “most authoritative…and in many ways the most entertaining” （James Gleick， The New York Book Review） account of Google to date and offers “an instructive primer on how the minds behind the world’s most influential internet company function” （Richard Waters， The Wall Street Journal）。

Download

Reviews

Dylan O'Connell ，

A history of Google… up until 2011。 Which makes for slightly weird reading， given how much has changed in the past decade。 So this needs a sequel！ It’s frustrating to have a thorough history of its development， and then to have to rely on uncoordinated contemporary news coverage to fill in the rather important epilogue of the decade where it sat at the top of the industry。 Genuinely entertaining narrative。 The chapter covering Google’s foray into China was a particular highlight （i。e。 a temporar A history of Google… up until 2011。 Which makes for slightly weird reading， given how much has changed in the past decade。 So this needs a sequel！ It’s frustrating to have a thorough history of its development， and then to have to rely on uncoordinated contemporary news coverage to fill in the rather important epilogue of the decade where it sat at the top of the industry。 Genuinely entertaining narrative。 The chapter covering Google’s foray into China was a particular highlight （i。e。 a temporary bargain to offer censored search， which soon proved untenable）。 It does a great job of exploring the messy tensions， without offering easy answers （a saga that became particularly prescient/relevant in the decade that followed）。 It’s not exactly “hard hitting journalism” （hardly surprising given the degree of access enjoyed by the author）， but it doesn’t shy away from Google’s controversies。 This approach is just fine for most topics， but it would have benefitted from a slightly more skeptical eye when it comes to company culture （i。e。 “Googleyness”）。 It’s a key part of the narrative， but the employee narrative is basically taken at face value。 I don’t doubt their sincerity， but a fuzzy topic like “What is the company culture， and how does it shape our operation” is exactly the sort of space where self perception might not be perfectly reliable。 。。。more

Philip Hollenback ，

This has not aged terribly well， but apparently it was not so bad that I didn't finish it。 There was some good perspective on how google works in the book， but most of it is pretty breathless fanboi stuff。 This has not aged terribly well， but apparently it was not so bad that I didn't finish it。 There was some good perspective on how google works in the book， but most of it is pretty breathless fanboi stuff。 。。。more

Viola ，

Amazon， Apple， Facebook， Google: bossy boots billionaires privatisation agenda。 https://overland。org。au/2021/03/when-。。。When the public square is in private hands: after the Facebook news banBy Marcus Strom。 10th March 2021。In December 1883 Gardiner Green Hubbard， businessman， lawyer， founder of the journal Science and the National Geographic Society， railed against a privately owned technology company upon which the great bulk of American business and political communication relied。 Telegraph c Amazon， Apple， Facebook， Google: bossy boots billionaires privatisation agenda。 https://overland。org。au/2021/03/when-。。。When the public square is in private hands: after the Facebook news banBy Marcus Strom。 10th March 2021。In December 1883 Gardiner Green Hubbard， businessman， lawyer， founder of the journal Science and the National Geographic Society， railed against a privately owned technology company upon which the great bulk of American business and political communication relied。 Telegraph company Western Union had created the infrastructure and electrical public square of the Gilded Age of US Capitalism。 And with it came inordinate power。Hubbard wrote in the pages of the North American Review:“The importance of this business transcends its magnitude; for every political， general， or local item of interest is sent by telegraph， and upon this news every daily paper depends for existence … Every important business transaction between parties at a distance， and the most important and vital social communications， are carried on by telegraph。”He was deeply concerned that with this power Western Union was a threat to American democracy given its control over the flow of information。 Sound familiar？ Today， Facebook and Google exercise monopolistic control over the huge volumes of electronic communication， information and related advertising that are the lifeblood of the modern age。 And， as in the case of Western Union， their power is largely unregulated。Just as our modern world is pondering how to regulate the tech giants， the US Congress grappled with this private control of the public square。 Between 1866 and 1900， every elected Congress save for one considered legislation to tame Western Union’s power。 As noted by historian Menahem Blondheim ‘this yielded no less than 96 bills and resolutions brought before Congress that addressed the problem of Western Union’。 During this period Congressional committees published forty-eight reports into the monopoly power of the telegraph company。 That’s more than one report every year， rivalling even the number of reports the Australian parliament has put out into publishing diversity， digital platforms and media ownership。Hubbard called for aspects of Western Union’s business to be handed over to the Post Office， but all attempts to regulate the company failed。 Western Union had deep ties with the post-Civil War Republican Party and the railway companies。 Hubbard pointed to its operation across borders as another obstacle to regulation: ‘No State has the power to legislate for a business which extends into every State and Territory， and to every quarter of the habitable world。’ He could have been writing about attempts to regulate Facebook and Google。It was Hubbard’s own company， Bell Telephone， that eventually swept aside Western Union’s complete dominance of communications infrastructure。 The last Western Union telegram was sent on 27 January 2006。Fast forward 130 years from the Gilded Age， and similar concerns exist about Facebook and Google: private companies monopolising the public square and telecommunications infrastructure of our age。 But do we have the luxury of waiting for the next technology innovation to disrupt these oligarchies or do we as a global community need to reimagine how we share information in the internet age？The internet was born with the promise of the free sharing of information。 Within thirty years， it has become prevailed over by a few very powerful and largely unconstrained companies。In 2014， the Spanish government introduced laws that would require aggregators of news， such as Google， to pay a licence fee to news creators。 Google responded by shutting down access to Spanish news。 Now in Australia a far-from-perfect legislative tool could compel technology companies to negotiate fair payment for the distribution on their platforms of news content made by media companies。In response， Facebook flexed its muscle to completely remove local news sharing on its platform。 Within a few days a deal had been reached。 But who won？ On the surface it would appear that Facebook backed down – but it got what it was really after: exemption from regulation。Facebook Vice-President for Global News Partnerships， Campbell Brown， said: ‘We have come to an agreement that will allow us to support the publishers we choose to。’ （my emphasis。）Facebook will get to choose which media companies it came to deals with and， in exchange， the government will remove it as a respondent to the legislation。Google took a similar path without the high-stakes threats: it sealed deals with the major media players （and a few smaller ones） ahead of the News Media Code becoming law， expecting this to be enough to exclude it from its operation。 We now have the strange situation where Australia could have a mandatory code that applies to none of the technology companies。While an injection of $200-300 million into the Australian media ecosystem seems positive， there are no guarantees that this money will be spent on journalism， and no transparency in the nature of the deals。 Effectively， the problem is not solved， but just kicked down the road。 What happens in a few years， when those licensing deals are up and media companies go back， cap in hand， to Google and Facebook and ask: ‘Please sir， may I have some more？’In 2019， Google and Facebook booked a combined $A5 billion in advertising， while paying just a little over $100 million in tax: a 2 per cent tax rate。 With both being domiciled overseas （as is NewsCorp， which also pays little tax）， it is difficult secure fair tax revenue from these companies。Meanwhile， as the ad revenue has flowed away from media companies to the tech companies， journalism has suffered。 In the past ten years， about 5000 Australian journalism jobs have been lost。 That’s bad for democracy。There is less scrutiny of the powerful。 Whistleblowers struggle to expose wrongdoing。 Local news， sporting and community events go unrecorded。 And there’s less critical reporting of our parliaments， our courts and our leaders。Some critics of the law say Facebook should be free to make its own business decisions。 They say that， by threatening to walk away， the company has shown that news organisations need Facebook more than Facebook needs news organisations。 They say that no-one is forcing people to use Facebook。This is a naive understanding of the reach and role of Facebook as a worldwide communications giant。 The platform has grown into a natural monopoly。 With its reach enhanced through Instagram and WhatsApp， it is the very architecture of modern communication。That stance also misses the global picture。 Facebook wants the huge online communities around media companies to be attached to its platform。 That way it can suck up all the data from news communities that it monetises to build its growing gargantuan fortune and power。When announcing it would turn the news tap back on， Facebook said: ‘We have come to an agreement that will allow us to support the publishers we choose to。’ This is the crucial point。 While they have used different tactics over the past few weeks in Australia， the aim was the same: avoid regulation at all cost。Co-founder of Facebook， Chris Hughes， has pointed out that ‘dominance’ has been the aim of his one-time Harvard dorm buddy， Mark Zuckerberg， from the early days of the social platform。Now， Zuckerberg felt he could burn the Australian market as a warning to the rest of the world。 There are other countries far more reliant on Facebook than is Australia that are meant to be taking note。 This is a small turf war in the global struggle to come to terms with the fact the public forums and libraries of the internet age are privately controlled。The private controllers of these public spaces are prioritising power， profit and shareholder interest over and above the public they say they seek to serve。 By commercialising the modern Library of Alexandria， they are trying to turn it into Disneyland。According to Hughes， who left Facebook in 2007， the platform now controls 80 per cent of the world’s social networking revenue。 He says: ‘What started out as light-hearted entertainment has become the primary way that people of all ages communicate online。’Should such a vehicle be in private hands？Other critics of the Australian law say this is just a twentieth-century monopoly – Rupert Murdoch’s NewsCorp – using the power of the government against incoming twenty-first-century monopolies。There is more than a degree of truth in this and the real losers in this Goliath v Goliath battle are democracy， the general public， small publishers and public-interest journalism。The big difference is that media companies employ real journalists。In 2007， Fairfax Media， owners of the country’s oldest newspaper group， moved into a shiny new five-storey building on the shores of Sydney Harbour。 Every floor was part of the company， which has since been bought by the Nine Entertainment Group。 Over the subsequent decade， as journalists lost their jobs in waves of redundancies， floorspace was restructured to allow lower levels to be leased – to Google。 From the ground floor up， Google slowly expanded as Fairfax shrunk until eventually the Fairfax Group was bought by Nine and Google completed the takeover of the building to the very top level。While this is indicative of how new tech has consumed the corporate base of old media， consolidation of Australia media into three main private and two main public media companies means there is ballast for big media to survive。Australia already has the highest concentration of media ownership in the western world。 If reform doesn’t lead to increased diversity， as Eric Beecher has argued， it may not be worth the trouble。As for the claim that no-one asked publishers to be on Facebook， it doesn’t simply overlook the reality of where the audience is to be found: Facebook itself actively courts publishers through its Facebook Journalism Project。Rob Stott， editorial director of Australian youth-oriented digital publisher， Junkee。com， recently said in a Tweet:“There is an idea taking hold that Facebook never asked publishers to use the platform and it’s really not true。 We weren’t forced to use Facebook but we were actively courted and sometimes even paid by Facebook to use their platform。 They have huge media partnership teams dedicated to it。”Much of the training associated with these partnership teams involves showing smaller， digital publishers how to work the Facebook environment to drive traffic。 In its power-play with the government， the company brutally turned off access after hooking a large number of customers。By threatening to walk away from these small publishers， Facebook and Google show they care little for media diversity or democratic publishing。Google has played good cop， but shares the objective of avoiding direct regulation。 It has cut individual deals outside the proposed code with the expectation it will not be included in the scope of the legislation。 Facebook is now taking this path。Before Google decided to sidestep the Australian bill by paying media companies tens of millions of dollars in direct licensing deals， the search engine company sought and received the support of Tim Berners-Lee， the inventor of the world-wide web， who said that the code ‘would undermine the fundamental principle of the ability to link freely on the web and is inconsistent with how the web has been able to operate over the past three decades。’He was supported in this by the likes the tax-averse Mike Cannon-Brookes， billionaire founder of software company Atlassian。 These tech bros seem to have missed the fact that the internet is no longer an anarcho-capitalist nirvana， if it ever was， but is dominated by a small number of global monopolies。Others have said that ‘Facebook is not compulsory’ and while this is true， Facebook and even more so Google have become essential parts of modern life。 Just like no-one forced companies to use the Western Union in the 1890s， it is almost impossible to do business without them。 As Facebook co-founder Hughes said:“The choice [to use the platform] is mine， but it doesn’t feel like a choice。 Facebook seeps into every corner of our lives to capture as much of our attention and data as possible and， without any alternative， we make the trade。”While Google quietly dropped its ‘Don’t Be Evil’ motto， Facebook has allowed interference in elections， helped spawn the Cambridge Analytica scandal， live streamed the Christchurch massacre， acted unilaterally to cut off information it deems unacceptable， made shady deals with even shadier governments， allowed the spreading of fake news， supported the flourishing of conspiracy theories， aided QAnon echo chambers， amplified anti-vaccination communities and refused to remove violent racist and fascist content。While we contend with this private control of our new global public spaces， governments must coordinate to introduce levies on revenue made by digital companies to create public interest journalism funds to support the essential functions of the Fourth Estate。 There must be transparency in how these funds are spent， ensuring they go to the newsroom and not wasted in the boardroom。Meaningful regulation will take a global coordination of governments and civil society。 Do we have the ticker？ Ultimately， we might need to consider something quite radical: rather than break these giants up， their core functions should be handed to not-for-profit global consortia。Such an operation already exists to manage the ‘back end of the web’。 The World Wide Web Consortium （W3C） run by Berners-Lee is a global body that manages the structure and language of the web。 It ensures that a computer in Sao Paolo is able to communicate smoothly with a mobile device in Cairo。A similar model could work to manage global search functions， maps and information libraries run by Google and other search engines。 Wikipedia is a successful non-commercial model。 Such consortia could also act as a model for a network of social platforms that democratically engaged communities rather than treated them as a host from which to extract data to commercialise。Meanwhile。 in Australia， media companies will receive some licensing money from @Google and @Facebook for the news media shared on their platforms。 In the short term， this is good， so long as the money is invested in journalism。 But this revenue remains at the whim of the tech companies and outside government regulation。The #Facebook news ban in Australia was a brief skirmish in the longer war to control private and unregulated domination of our public spaces and libraries。 。。。more

William ，

A fantastic read。

Miguel Pedro ，

Unapologetically partisan。

Somit ，

Not Too Late for Google to live by ‘Don’t Be Evil’ code of conduct！！This comes after my reading of ‘In the Plex’ book by #StephenLevy。Google is of one of the most revered companies across the world。 The search engine start-up that started in the Stanford college dorm room in 1995 by #LarryPage and #SergeiBrien has become synonymous with an individual’s need to search anything。 Let’s not underplay it， it’s a verb now - ‘Google it’ :）They started the journey with an ambitious vision of providing a Not Too Late for Google to live by ‘Don’t Be Evil’ code of conduct！！This comes after my reading of ‘In the Plex’ book by #StephenLevy。Google is of one of the most revered companies across the world。 The search engine start-up that started in the Stanford college dorm room in 1995 by #LarryPage and #SergeiBrien has become synonymous with an individual’s need to search anything。 Let’s not underplay it， it’s a verb now - ‘Google it’ :）They started the journey with an ambitious vision of providing access to accurate and relevant information for every search on the WWW。 I feel， following this vision they forgot one of their most important code of conducts， ‘Don’t be Evil’。You will find many books， articles， podcasts talking about it's laurels and accomplishments， but very few talk about how over the years they have struck an underlined trade off with netizens。 They offer convenience， access to knowledge in return for unfettered access to what happens in our life （OUR PRIVACY）。The sheer genius of the company is that even if netizens don't want to share their personal information， we can’t do it anymore。 We can’t leave the internet， can we now？ Digital and physical lives are intertwined whether we like it or not。 'Digital convenience' is like pain killer that’s not harmful in the short-term but has long term effects。 One key point worth dwelling on， most of the technology giants have genius founders and their troops （engineers） who are mostly drive by logic， hard facts。 I am not implying they are robots， but if given an opportunity to choose logic and data over 'What’s right'， it’s anybody’s guess on what they will choose。 Let me give you some examples:· Building products like Google Print， Google Maps， Google Street view· Censoring Data while they were in China？ · Their ties with the US Military on Project Maven How can they try to move towards Not being Evil？What people in these big companies need is some people who can be the ‘Empathy Filter’。 They can act as a final approval before they launch any product， evaluate existing products and look at future associations。 This will help them try to get back to live 'Don't Be Evil' code of conduct whilst being a part of the digital revolution and make profits。 Of-course， this is just one idea， there are many things the smart minds can do to expedite this journey。 #Privacy #EmpathyOverData #SustainableBusiness #FreshBeginings #NotTooLate 。。。more

Lay-Kun Chan ，

It offers good insights （from a journalist’s perspective） about how the company was formed， its company culture， employees， products， challenges。 I thought it is a fun and interesting read for anyone who is using or familiar with Google products。 If we know why and how certain things are built， this information can actually change the way we see and use them。 Ever since I started reading this book， I started to relate my activities on Google products back to the information written on this book。 It offers good insights （from a journalist’s perspective） about how the company was formed， its company culture， employees， products， challenges。 I thought it is a fun and interesting read for anyone who is using or familiar with Google products。 If we know why and how certain things are built， this information can actually change the way we see and use them。 Ever since I started reading this book， I started to relate my activities on Google products back to the information written on this book。 There is very limited information about all the ‘important’ stuffs but still helpful for anyone who have not done any deep research or have not been following news about this company。 。。。more

Raj N ，

A very enlightening read on the start of one of recent history's most impactful companies。 Levy does a great job here going through the successes and failures that came with building Google。 One minor item to flag for any new readers is that this book was published in 2011， so some of the company's biggest moments （the continued growth of Android， Google Plus， Waymo， Sundar Pichai， etc） would not be included。 That said the book does offer a great and open look at how Google got started and how i A very enlightening read on the start of one of recent history's most impactful companies。 Levy does a great job here going through the successes and failures that came with building Google。 One minor item to flag for any new readers is that this book was published in 2011， so some of the company's biggest moments （the continued growth of Android， Google Plus， Waymo， Sundar Pichai， etc） would not be included。 That said the book does offer a great and open look at how Google got started and how it was changing as it matured 。。。more

Aziz Ketari ，

Very accurate。 No dramatization， factual & an enjoyable read。 Readers be aware that the book only relates till 2010。

Petr Bela ，

In what could be called the official biography of Google， the author recounts the history of Google， from how it was born at the Stanford campus， shaped by the two founders' unique personalities， all the way to becoming one of the world's largest and most important companies。 A good and relaxing read for any fan of Google， or the world of startups and company culture in general。 In what could be called the official biography of Google， the author recounts the history of Google， from how it was born at the Stanford campus， shaped by the two founders' unique personalities， all the way to becoming one of the world's largest and most important companies。 A good and relaxing read for any fan of Google， or the world of startups and company culture in general。 。。。more

Jungwon Kim ，

detailed description of how google has grown。 interesting to see how founders' values have been changing from "don't be evil" to somewhat distant from it （0f course， they justify every angle of their work based on their logic）。 after reading this book， I feel scarier than before on how one monopoly company would control over our digital world and everybody's digital traces。 With soaring scale of profit， they seem to be able to do whatever they would like to do and everyone of us is more locked i detailed description of how google has grown。 interesting to see how founders' values have been changing from "don't be evil" to somewhat distant from it （0f course， they justify every angle of their work based on their logic）。 after reading this book， I feel scarier than before on how one monopoly company would control over our digital world and everybody's digital traces。 With soaring scale of profit， they seem to be able to do whatever they would like to do and everyone of us is more locked in the world they are creating without any power to control their direction。 。。。more

Connor Van Ooyen ，

Meh

Diego Pacheco ，

Interesting book。

Cybersuggestttt ，

https://maps。google。com。bo/url？q=http。。。https://maps。google。bg/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。co。za/url？q=htt。。。https://images。google。ge/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。ge/url？q=https://。。。https://maps。google。at/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。jo/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。com。my/url？q=ht。。。https://images。google。mk/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。mk/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。com。kw/url？q=ht。。。https://ditu。google。cn/url？q=https://。。。https://images。googl https://maps。google。com。bo/url？q=http。。。https://maps。google。bg/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。co。za/url？q=htt。。。https://images。google。ge/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。ge/url？q=https://。。。https://maps。google。at/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。jo/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。com。my/url？q=ht。。。https://images。google。mk/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。mk/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。com。kw/url？q=ht。。。https://ditu。google。cn/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。se/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。sk/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。ru/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。cm/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。ci/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。ci/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。com。cu/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。com。cu/url？q=http。。。https://maps。google。ro/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。co。ma/url？q=htt。。。https://images。google。com。ph/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。com。ph/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。ml/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。am/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。az/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。com。vn/url？q=ht。。。 /https://images。google。com。bh/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。tt/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。bs/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。bs/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。com。qa/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。com。qa/url？q=http。。。https://maps。google。com。ly/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。com。et/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。com。et/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。mn/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。mn/url？q=https://。。。https://maps。google。dk/url？q=https://。。。https://maps。google。cl/url？q=https://。。。https://maps。google。sn/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。al/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。mg/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。com。tr/url？q=http。。。https://maps。google。com。tr/url？q=http。。。https://maps。google。com。tr/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。sh/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。sh/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。com。bz/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。com。bz/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。ps/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。ms/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。ms/url？q=https://。。。https://maps。google。mw/url？q=https://。。。https://maps。google。hu/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。ht/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。ht/url？q=https://。。。https://www。google。co。uz/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。co。uz/url？q=htt。。。https://images。google。com。mm/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。dj/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。kg/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。kg/url？q=https://。。。https://maps。google。im/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。la/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。co。mz/url？q=https。。。https://maps。google。hu/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。sr/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。co。id/url？q=https。。。https://images。google。bt/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。bt/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。cg/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。cg/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。co。il/url？q=htt。。。https://images。google。fi/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。fi/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。cf/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。cf/url？q=https://。。。https://maps。google。fi/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。cv/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。com。hk/url？q=ht。。。https://images。google。nu/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。fi/url？q=https:。。。https://www。google。ru/url？q=https://w。。。https://images。google。so/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。tk/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。tk/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。gy/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。gy/url？q=https://。。。https://maps。google。hr/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。ga/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。ga/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。co。th/url？q=htt。。。https://maps。google。no/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。com。vn/url？q=ht。。。https://images。google。si/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。com。sg/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。com。co/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。com。co/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。hr/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。ie/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。com。np/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。com。np/url？q=http。。。https://maps。google。bg/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。com。ec/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。com。ec/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。ee/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。ee/url？q=https://。。。https://cse。google。com/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。com/url？q=https。。。https://images。google。com/url？q=https。。。https://images。google。com。eg/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。com。ng/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。com。bd/url？q=ht。。。https://images。google。co。il/url？q=htt。。。https://images。google。lv/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。com。np/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。com。np/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。com。pk/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。rs/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。ba/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。com。lb/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。rs/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。lk/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。lk/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。co。ve/url？q=htt。。。https://maps。google。co。ve/url？q=https。。。https://images。google。lt/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。com。ec/url？q=ht。。。https://images。google。dz/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。dz/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。co。za/url？q=htt。。。https://images。google。com。py/url？q=ht。。。https://images。google。com。ng/url？q=ht。。。 /https://maps。google。com。ng/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。by/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。by/url？q=https://。。。 /https://maps。google。ae/url？q=https://。。。https://maps。google。com。bd/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。si/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。si/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。kz/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。kz/url？q=https://。。。https://maps。google。ae/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。cat/url？q=https。。。https://maps。google。cat/url？q=https:/。。。https://images。google。com。mt/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。com。mt/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。com。sa/url？q=ht。。。https://images。google。com。co/url？q=ht。。。https://images。google。jo/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。jo/url？q=https://。。。https://ipv4。google。com/url？q=https:/。。。https://ipv4。google。com/url？q=https:/。。。https://maps。google。ge/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。com。ni/url？q=ht。。。https://ipv4。google。com/url？q=https:/。。。https://images。google。tn/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。tn/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。ge/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。com。kw/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。com。kw/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。co。cr/url？q=htt。。。https://maps。google。co。cr/url？q=https。。。https://maps。google。mk/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。co。ke/url？q=htt。。。https://maps。google。co。ke/url？q=https。。。 /https://images。google。co。ma/url？q=htt。。。https://images。google。com。bh/url？q=ht。。。https://www。google。li/url？q=https://w。。。https://www。google。as/url？q=https://w。。。https://images。google。ee/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。ba/url？q=https://。。。 /https://images。google。com。lb/url？q=ht。。。https://images。google。com。pe/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。tt/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。mn/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。com。na/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。com。na/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。com。gt/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。com。gt/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。mg/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。dz/url？q=https://。。。https://cse。google。com/url？q=https://。。。https://cse。google。com/url？q=https://。。。https://maps。google。com。sa/url？q=http。。。https://maps。google。mg/url？q=https://。。。https://maps。google。co。ve/url？q=https。。。https://maps。google。com。eg/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。kz/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。kz/url？q=https://。。。https://www。google。bi/url？q=https://w。。。https://images。google。me/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。co。tz/url？q=htt。。。https://images。google。je/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。je/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。com。bz/url？q=ht。。。https://images。google。com。py/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。com。om/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。al/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。com。sv/url？q=http。。。https://maps。google。kg/url？q=https://。。。https://maps。google。ht/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。sh/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。sh/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。ms/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。ms/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。kz/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。lv/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。lv/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。com。kh/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。com。kh/url？q=http。。。https://maps。google。co。ao/url？q=https。。。https://maps。google。la/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。bt/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。bt/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。gg/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。gg/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。im/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。im/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。com。bo/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。com。bo/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。la/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。com。mm/url？q=ht。。。https://images。google。co。ao/url？q=htt。。。https://images。google。com。np/url？q=ht。。。https://images。google。gm/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。gm/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。sr/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。com。kh/url？q=ht。。。https://maps。google。com。kh/url？q=http。。。https://images。google。co。bw/url？q=htt。。。https://images。google。cv/url？q=https:。。。https://images。google。mk/url？q=https:。。。https://www。google。vu/url？q=https://w。。。https://www。google。ws/url？q=https://w。。。https://images。google。nr/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。ml/url？q=https://。。。https://maps。google。nr/url？q=https://。。。https://images。google。lk/url？q=https:。。。https://maps。google。co。ve/url？q=https。。。https://images。google。lk/url？q=https:。。。https://www。google。to/url？q=https://w。。。https://www。google。com。pg/url？q=https。。。https://images。google。cm/url？q 。。。more

Nikttaki YT ，

I like it， but i know that google traces us anyway

Paul moved to LibraryThing ，

An expansive and well written book but I cannot get over how sycophantic it is。 Made me cringe and sick in my stomach from all the obsequious reverence。 On every issue it follows the Google narrative to the letter。 Absolutely zero attempt is taken to show any dissenting opinion or even a pretence of objectivity。

Ashish ，

A really nice look into understanding Google， not just as a company or a business， but a philosophy。。。 And both a warning and an inspiration as to what can happen when a pure social experiment is allowed to complete in it's full ambitious extent， and how it can change the world around it。 A really nice look into understanding Google， not just as a company or a business， but a philosophy。。。 And both a warning and an inspiration as to what can happen when a pure social experiment is allowed to complete in it's full ambitious extent， and how it can change the world around it。 。。。more

Petras Janulevicius ，

Truly wonderful book about Google history from the very beginning up to current times。Worth reading。

Dave Cremins ，

Great read that chronicles the rise of Google。 Just goes to show you what's possible when you have the right mindset in place。 Obstacles are seen as challenges and Google rises to the occasion almost every time。 Great read that chronicles the rise of Google。 Just goes to show you what's possible when you have the right mindset in place。 Obstacles are seen as challenges and Google rises to the occasion almost every time。 。。。more

Frans Mäyrä ，

Informative， a picture of an entire period。

Alex Yi ，

Good biography of Google， which will probably remain as one of the greatest startups in tech history。Levy goes into great detail about Search， Google products， and Google culture in a palatable way。 Google’s inner workings and its history really is fascinating， so “don’t be evil” and take a read。

Adelaida Diaz-Roa ，

Great insight into Google and its history。

Cem Birler ，

I learned a lot about Google's values and feel very inspired to solve problems in Google way。 I learned a lot about Google's values and feel very inspired to solve problems in Google way。 。。。more

psychonout ，

I feel like I've been googling since the day I （was born） first got the internet。 At one point during the teens I had this t-shirt that said 'f**k google， ask me' which is very mature to say the least， but Google has been irreplaceable in this never-ending search for answers。I want to believe that Google hoards data for better purposes than others。 I feel like I've been googling since the day I （was born） first got the internet。 At one point during the teens I had this t-shirt that said 'f**k google， ask me' which is very mature to say the least， but Google has been irreplaceable in this never-ending search for answers。I want to believe that Google hoards data for better purposes than others。 。。。more

Jon Lund ，

Fascinerende historie om de første 12 år af Google’s liv， fra 98 til 2010。 Meget indsigtsfuld， skrevet over tre år med brug af rigtigt， rigtigt mange Google-kilder， der tilsyneladende meget åbent fortæller。 Her små ti år efter er det stadig et værk som andre forfattere trækker intensivt på， når de skal forklare Googles historie。 Det forstår man godt。Særligt de første år står mega-stærkt。 Hen mod slutningen af perioden， kan man mærke， at fremtiden er usikker， og at Googles egen udvikling derfor i Fascinerende historie om de første 12 år af Google’s liv， fra 98 til 2010。 Meget indsigtsfuld， skrevet over tre år med brug af rigtigt， rigtigt mange Google-kilder， der tilsyneladende meget åbent fortæller。 Her små ti år efter er det stadig et værk som andre forfattere trækker intensivt på， når de skal forklare Googles historie。 Det forstår man godt。Særligt de første år står mega-stærkt。 Hen mod slutningen af perioden， kan man mærke， at fremtiden er usikker， og at Googles egen udvikling derfor ikke står aftegnet helt så klart。 Hele den sociale revolution må vi forlade med introduktionen af Google plus – som jo efterfølgende er lukket。 Hvilket dog ikke forhindrer， at Googles fejl-sening af Facebooktruslen står meget klart。Jeg har læst med overvågningskapitalisme-briller。 Som et forsøg på at blive klogere på， hvordan Google egentligt udviklede sig fra to ekstremt begavede studerendes banebrydende og idealistisk funderede search-projekt bliver til en af verdens største kommercielle virksomheder og til at sætte den kommercielle dagsorden for den nye digitale ære。 I den forbindelse bider jeg overordnet mærke i tre ting:1。 For Google er alt informationer – de er altædendeGoogle er hæsblæsende innoverende。 De har en enorm appetit på alt， der kan laves om til data， til informationer。 Det starter med search， back-links og page-rank。 Og udvides naturligt med flere og flere datakilder og flere applikationer: almindelig webadfærd （analytics）， emails （gmail）， office-brug （docs）， bøger （books）， lokationer （maps， streetview）， trafik （Waymo）。 Det ligger i deres grundsyn， at alt skal anskues som data。Det er ligesom de er gået gennem et tryllespejl: verden er forandret， alt er potentielle datakilder og nye anvendelser。 Det ligger bare der， lige foran deres fødder， og venter på at blive brugt， angrebet， forsøgt gjort nyttige。 Og det gør de så， ekstremt begavet。 Det er deres centrale motto – “to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful” - og det er ikke trivielt。 Det er det， der er grundlaget for Zuboffs pointe om， at Google beslaglægger informationer og bruger dem som input i deres produktionsproces。 Ligesom kapitalismen har beslaglagt naturen og landet og brugt dem som produktionsinput。2。 For Google tæller kun tal – de ser kun umiddelbare effekterGoogle gør alt op i tal。 Alt skal kunne måles。 Også internt。 Sæt en masse i gang og se om det virker。 Alt er opsat i OKR （Objectives， Key Results）-KPI’er。 You can’t argue with data。 F。eks。 hastighed i løsningerne， lange og korte kliks， CTR mm。 Det er meget samme mentalitet som Zuckerbergs ”move fast and break things”。Det har blandt andet den effekt， at løsningerne hver kun vurderes på， hvordan de snævert fungerer， hver især。 Ikke på de større effekter。 Det er ikke dem OKR’erne er møntet på。 Problemerne med at blive bog-monopolister， f。eks。， går ikke rigtigt op for Google， de kan ikke forstå det。 Privatlivs-krænkelserne i Google Buzz （der tog alle emailkontakter og gjorde til ”sociale venner”） så de ikke， før det var virkelighed。 Kina-eventyret （som de trak sig fra i 2009） var også naivt， de troede， ville gerne tro， at deres bedre søgning i sig selv ville bringe alt godt med sig。 De vil gerne skabe en bedre verden for alle， men måler ikke om det er tilfældet。3。 For Google er penge godt， og hemmeligheder nødvendige – det giver kommerciel slagside væk fra idealerneLarry Page er – fortæller Levy – meget optaget af， at få kommerciel succes。 Han vil ikke ende som Nicola Tesla， der dør fattig og i samtiden miskendt。Levy fortæller: ”Another influential book was a biography of Nikola Tesla， the brilliant Serb scientist; though Tesla’s contributions arguably matched Thomas Edison’s – and his ambitins were grad enough to impress even Page – he died in obscurity。 “I felt like he was a great inventor and it was a sad story，” says Page。 “I feel like he could’ve accomplished much more had he had more resources。 And he had trouble commercializing the stuff he did。 Probably more trouble than he should’ve had。 I think that was a good lesson。 I didn’t want to just invent things， I also wanted to make the world better， and in order to do that， you need to do more than just invent things”。 （kapitel 1） Og han fortsætter lidt senere: “Larry Page didn’t want to be Tesla’d （…） “If we aren’t a lot better next year， we will already be forgotten，” Page said to one of the first reporters visiting the company”。 （kapitel 2）Da Adwords-konceptet kommer til i 2001 er Page derfor ikke rigtig svær at overtale。 Særligt ikke， forstår jeg på teksten， fordi Adwords jo også i sig selv er smart， i sig selv er en mekanisme， der bygger på data-indvinding， og i sig selv giver et reklameprodukt， som på mange måder er bedre end de traditionelle。 Mere relevant， passer bedre i søgekonteksten， ja er nærmest naturlig。 Med de to ting – trangen mod at få kommerciel succes， og overbevisningen om， at annoncer bare er en anden men ligeså smart måde at bruge data på， er dem der baner vejen for Googles enorme kommercielle udivkling。Læg dertil et hemmelighedskræmmeri udadtil – et andet udtryk for Pages ”Tesla paranoia” og du har den kommercielle drive， der – helt som Page og Brin oprindeligt mente – trækker service’ene i en retning， hvor udviklingen ikke nødvendigvis tjener brugerne。Det bliver måske særligt synligt senere i Googles historie。 I en anden meget interessant Wired-historie， bliver Googles år fra 2017-19 gennemgået – ”Three years of missery within Google” af Nitasha Tiku （men garanteret også med Levy med i baggrunden）。 Historien handler om， hvor svært Google har det med at håndtere forsvarsindustrien （som man meget gerne vil have som Cloud-kunde i kampen mod Amazon， som Google er kommet langt bagud i forhold til på Cloud-området） og udviklingen af ”Project Maven”-programmet: AI-baserede droner mm。 Samme historie med Kina， som man igen i konkurrencen med Microsoft overvejer at gå ind i igen under kodenavnet DragonFly， med en ny censurerer søgetjeneste， endda med datacentre i Kina selv。 Det kommercielle drive og ”Don’t be evil” gav kæmpe konflikter og begge endte med at blive droppet af samme årsag。Skævtrækningen er dog også subtil end denne produkt-forvridning。 Forvridningen ligger også dybere: hele den udviklingsmodel， som Google kører efter， giver utilsigtede konsekvenser og collateral damage。 Og det er her Overvågningskapitalismen kommer ind。For kravet om at profitere på brugeradfærden bliver også et krav om at sørge for at kontrollere brugernes opmærksomhed og indrette miljøet omkring produkterne， så det giver maksimal kommerciel værdi。 Produkterne – søgning， Youtube， Android-mobiler designes så de leder brugerne i en retning， der kun er i brugernes egen kortsigtede interesse。 Det er en forvridning， der ses i en overdreven attention-dræning （særligt Youtube og hele Android/app modellen）， en forvridning， der giver sig udslag i manglende følsomhed overfor politiske manipulerende annoncering og en skævvridning， der giver sig udslag i monopol-agitige situationer， hvor konkurrenter opkøbes og slås ned。 Alt sammen ikke af hensyn til brugerne， men til Googles egen profit。Så meget tjener Google i dag – og det tjener de det på:Q4 2019 - https://abc。xyz/investor/static/pdf/2。。。Google er stadig en søgeforretning。 Ca。 60% af indtjeningen kommer fra Search。 Ca。 20% kommer fra andre reklamer （Adsense og Youtube）。 De sidste 20% er delt mellem Cloud og Andre （herunder brugerbetaling på Youtube）。41 mia $ revenue-t33，5 mia Adsto 24，5 mia searchto 4 mia youtubeto 5 mia adsense-t3 mia Cloud-t4，5 mia Andet （inkl。 Youtube brugerbetaling， Android） 。。。more

Daniel ，

Great review of how Google started and how its set up it's culture and organization。 Great review of how Google started and how its set up it's culture and organization。 。。。more

Jack Gibson ，

In the Plex: How Google Thinks， Works， and Shapes Our Lives， by Steven Levy， is an extensive historical documenting of Google's conception and evolution， broken down into sections covering such core themes as:-Google culture;-Search engine fundamentals （according to Google。。。）;-Internet enterprising;-Google around the world; and-User interests vs government interests vs Google interests！The audible version comes complete with an interview between the author and a Google exec。A bio of the company In the Plex: How Google Thinks， Works， and Shapes Our Lives， by Steven Levy， is an extensive historical documenting of Google's conception and evolution， broken down into sections covering such core themes as:-Google culture;-Search engine fundamentals （according to Google。。。）;-Internet enterprising;-Google around the world; and-User interests vs government interests vs Google interests！The audible version comes complete with an interview between the author and a Google exec。A bio of the company which is fundamentally embedded into our modern language， thinking and everyday lives， quite literally whether you want it to be or not！A long read， but an interesting insight lies within into how much of what you may or may not like about Google， came into being。 Very readable throughout and hats off to Mr Levy， a colossal achievement。 。。。more

Kiro Selanor ，

Interesting。

Mark Odayan ，

I decided to read this book after reading "Surveillance Valley" by Yasha Levine as I was quite curious to learn more about Google and decide for myself ，once better informed， if Google as a tech giant is leading the world in a right direction。 I also plan to read "I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59" in the future which involves an employee's account of his Google experience so that I can acquire an even better understanding of the core values and culture of Google。An I decided to read this book after reading "Surveillance Valley" by Yasha Levine as I was quite curious to learn more about Google and decide for myself ，once better informed， if Google as a tech giant is leading the world in a right direction。 I also plan to read "I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59" in the future which involves an employee's account of his Google experience so that I can acquire an even better understanding of the core values and culture of Google。Anyways onto the review （Which will have nothing to do with the above）:This book was a pleasant surprise。 I was not expecting this book to go the degree it went to unpack Google's journey from birth to present; especially in a technical sense。The origins of the company is covered quite comprehensively and perfectly describes how the use of indexing and data aggregation pioneered not just search technology but cataloguing of the Internet。 I was very fascinated by the very detailed explanation of the development of Google's ad system and its evolution over years through internal development and acquisitions of companies and key IP that would push Google's services to the next level。 What I was also quite impressed with was how the book managed to convey the Google culture quite well and I was very interested to learn about the many key engineers that helped create significant products that changed Google and the world。 I was also quite interested by how engineers were viewed in the company and believe the roles they hold at Google and how they perform their jobs （with principles like the 80-20 rule） are great methods other companies should try to introduce to get the most out of their engineers and key product development figures。 。。。more

Curtismchale ，

Fairly bland， mostly just reporting on what happened。 I’ve enjoyed other books more that have felt with tech companies。 Decided not to check his book on Facebook out because this one was so bland。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0