The year was 1998. While the internet was rapidly gaining mainstream adoption, with the number of web users worldwide reaching 147 million by the end of the year^1, the experience of surfing the web was still a far cry from what we enjoy today. Over dial-up modems, loading a single web page could take a minute or more. Mobile internet access was still in its infancy, with only the most basic web browsing possible on a handful of clunky, monochromatic phone screens.
It was against this backdrop that Google emerged to revolutionize how we search for and discover information online. Founded by Stanford PhD students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google launched in September 1998 with a bold mission to "organize the world‘s information and make it universally accessible and useful."^2
From the start, Google‘s approach to search was different. Unlike the bloated, portal-like homepages of rivals like Yahoo, Excite, and Lycos, which were cluttered with categories, images, and various services, Google.com was radically simple – just the multicolored Google logo, a search box, and two buttons for "Search" and "I‘m Feeling Lucky". The message was clear: Google was all about delivering relevant results as quickly and efficiently as possible, without unnecessary distractions.
Under the hood, Google‘s search was powered by Page and Brin‘s innovative PageRank algorithm^3, which analyzed the web‘s hyperlink structure to surface more relevant and trustworthy results. PageRank worked by interpreting a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But Google looked at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page received; it also analyzed the page that cast the vote. Votes cast by pages that were themselves "important" weighed more heavily and helped to make other pages "important."^4
This link-based approach was a major advance over the keyword density metrics used by most contemporary search engines. As Page and Brin noted in their original paper on PageRank, "Academic citation literature has been applied to the web, largely by counting citations or backlinks to a given page. This gives some approximation of a page‘s importance or quality. PageRank extends this idea by not counting links from all pages equally, and by normalizing by the number of links on a page."^3
In an era of slow internet speeds, Google‘s relentless focus on speed and lightweight design also made a huge difference. While other search engines weighed down results pages with images, categories, and lengthy page descriptions, Google returned a simple list of blue links with minimal text. The resulting pages loaded much faster, especially over sluggish dial-up connections. In 1998, the average internet connection speed in the US was just 28.8 kbps^5, so every kilobyte counted.
As groundbreaking as Google‘s web search was becoming, the holy grail was finding a way to bring the power of search to users on the move. Mobile internet access was still a novelty in 1998, but industry visionaries could see the potential. The first web-capable mobile phones had just hit the market, like the Nokia 9000 Communicator, sporting tiny monochromatic screens and WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) browsers that could render basic pages.^6
But the challenges of delivering a satisfying web experience on mobile devices at the time were immense. Beyond the small screens and slow data speeds (typically 9.6 kbps), mobile processors and memory were very limited. The Nokia 9000, for instance, had just a 33 MHz processor and 8 MB of memory.^7 Rendering all but the most basic web content was often impossible.
Moreover, mobile web standards were lacking, with each phone manufacturer using different technologies and formats. WAP itself was quite limited, unable to display images and restricted to simple layouts and monochromatic text.^8
Despite the limitations, the potential upside of mobile internet access was huge. There were already 318 million cellular subscriptions worldwide by 1998^9, on track to surpass fixed line subscriptions just four years later in 2002. Delivering web access and search capabilities to this massive new mobile audience could be game-changing. Mobile was clearly the future, if only the technical constraints could be overcome.
Recognizing this potential, Google made some of its first forays into the mobile space in the early 2000s. In 2000, the company launched a search service for WAP-enabled mobile phones in partnership with several wireless carriers.^10 Users could enter searches in their mobile browsers and receive back simplified pages with search results and other key information. While quite basic compared to the desktop search experience, it was an important first step in making Google accessible on the go.
Google also began experimenting with other mobile-friendly content formats, like WML (Wireless Markup Language) and XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language), to deliver search results and other information to a wider range of devices.^11 In 2002, the company launched Google Labs for Mobile, a test bed for new mobile search interfaces and capabilities.^12
Over the ensuing years, Google would continue to iterate and improve its mobile offerings as devices and networks grew more sophisticated. Key milestones included the launch of Google Maps for Mobile in 2005, with interactive maps and local business information^13, and the introduction of a revamped mobile search interface with suggested search terms and more relevant local results in 2007.^14
But it was really with the arrival of full-fledged smartphones like the iPhone in 2007 and the HTC Dream (the first Android phone) in 2008 that mobile internet truly started to take off. These devices sported larger screens, faster 3G data speeds, and more advanced mobile browsers that could render standard web pages. They also featured intuitive touch interfaces and supported installable apps, greatly expanding the possibilities for mobile interaction and content delivery.
Smartphone adoption skyrocketed in the years that followed. By 2011, global smartphone sales exceeded those of PCs for the first time.^15 And with the proliferation of 4G networks in the early 2010s, offering speeds comparable to home broadband, mobile internet usage exploded. Mobile search queries on Google surpassed desktop queries for the first time in 2015.^16
Today, with over 6 billion smartphone subscriptions worldwide^17 and 5G networks rolling out in many markets, the mobile internet has become an indispensable part of daily life for much of the global population. We now take for granted the ability to instantly access virtually any piece of information from the palm of our hand, almost anywhere we go. Mobile search, navigation, communication, entertainment, and commerce have become second nature.
Looking back, it‘s remarkable to trace the evolution of mobile internet technology over the past quarter century, from the first clunky WAP phones to today‘s sleek 5G devices with multi-touch screens and AI capabilities. And it‘s striking to consider Google‘s trajectory from a bare-bones search engine running on a couple of computers in a Stanford dorm room to the indispensable, globe-spanning information discovery platform it is today.
In many ways, Google‘s early bet on mobile, at a time when the technology was still very immature, laid the foundation for its dominance in the smartphone era. By continually experimenting and iterating to make its services faster and more accessible for mobile users, even when the experience was still quite constrained, Google positioned itself to ride the wave as mobile internet access improved and proliferated.
But it‘s also true that Google‘s rise, and the broader shift toward mobile computing, have brought with them a range of new challenges and concerns. The widespread collection and monetization of personal data, the spread of misinformation and filter bubbles, and the market power of a few dominant tech platforms have all come under increasing scrutiny. Reconciling the immense benefits of mobile connectivity with the need to protect privacy, promote competition, and ensure responsible innovation remains an ongoing struggle.
Still, it‘s hard not to marvel at how far we‘ve come since those early days of WAP browsers and dial-up internet speeds. The mobile internet revolution that began in the late 1990s has transformed nearly every facet of our lives, from how we work and learn to how we shop, socialize, and stay informed. It‘s connectedness on a scale scarcely imaginable 25 years ago.
As we look ahead to the next 25 years of mobile computing innovation, it‘s exciting to contemplate what new frontiers we‘ll cross. The rise of 5G and edge computing is already enabling new experiences like augmented reality, cloud gaming, and smart cities. Further out, the advent of 6G and technologies not yet dreamed of will no doubt reshape our world in ways we can‘t yet predict.
Through it all, though, the fundamental insight that Larry Page and Sergey Brin had back in 1998 – that fast, simple, relevant search would be key to unlocking the power of the internet for billions of people worldwide – is likely to remain as true as ever. The methods and modalities may keep evolving, but the mission Google set out with in 1998 – to organize the world‘s information and make it universally accessible and useful – will continue to be an animating force.
Here‘s to the search engines, mobile devices, networks, and innovators that brought us to this point – and to the breakthroughs still to come. The journey is just getting started.
