2004 Founders’ Letter

GOOGLE WAS BORN IN 1998. If it were a person, it would have started elementary school late last summer (around August 19), and today it would have just about finished the first grade.

[ … ] Not shown: Companies, people and a long perspective.

And while Google is not a single person, it does embody the effort, ability, and commitment of thousands of individuals. Together we strive toward a common mission: to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. This is an infinitely large task for a long-term company.

Last year, Larry discussed the principles of our work toward this goal in his letter that we included in the prospectus for our initial public offering. In this letter, I will update you on our progress over the past year, our team, and where we are headed in the future.¹ (Editorial note 1)Editorial · 1Known at the timeThe IPO letter set out principles in Page’s voice; this one, in Brin’s, reports against them. Turning a one-off manifesto into a yearly progress report gives shareholders a standing account to check. Its limit is what it counts: products launched, not what each one earned.

[ … ] Not shown: Index growth, Google Maps, Keyhole and Google SMS.

But not all information that matters to people is on the web. Much of it resides in different media – in books, on television, or on their hard drives. So we launched projects addressing each:

Google Print. Announced late last year, Google Print seeks to digitize and make searchable the wealth of the world’s knowledge that is in the form of books.² (Fact note 2)Fact · 2With hindsightOn 17 November 2005 Google renamed Google Print as Google Book Search. Its blog said one reason was that people expected Google Print “would help them print out their documents, or web pages they visit -- which of course it won't.”SourceOfficial Google Blog (Internet Archive copy)Official Google Blog: Judging Book Search by its cover17 Nov 2005

[ … ] Not shown: Library partners, Google Scholar, Video and Desktop Search.

Gmail. I am writing this document using Gmail, our innovative web mail service. It provides people with a huge amount of storage (1 gigabyte per account, free) and fast, Google-style search through their mail.

[ … ] Not shown: Picasa, Blogger, advertising products and the Google Mini.

Noting the number and range of these new offerings, some observers have wondered whether Google should focus more on its core – web search – because distractions from non-core services have previously led search engine companies astray. Others have asserted that we are a “one-trick pony,” too reliant on web search, and that we need to diversify.

Let me clarify our strategy in this regard: We have decided that we need balance among core and expanded services. Larry and I use a rule called 70-20-10. Seventy percent of our effort goes to our core: our web search engine and our advertising network.³ (Fact note 3)Fact · 3Known at the timeThe Form 10-K bound into the same annual report puts advertising at 99% of Google’s 2004 revenues: $1,589,032 thousand from Google’s own web sites and $1,554,256 thousand from Google Network members’ sites, of $3,189,223 thousand in total.SourceGoogle Inc., 2004 annual report (Internet Archive copy of investor.google.com)December 31, 2004 Annual Report2005 These products still are the largest contributors to the financial health of the company.

[ … ] Not shown: A Comscore figure for the ad network’s reach.

But incremental resources have diminishing returns in almost any undertaking, so it is not desirable to put all your resources on the core product. ⁴ (Editorial note 4)Editorial · 4Known at the timeThe rule answers two opposite criticisms with one number. Its argument is marginal: the next unit of effort on search is worth less than the same effort on an adjacent product. The trade-off is that the split is of “effort”, which shareholders cannot see, and the letter offers no way to check it.That’s why we allocate 20 percent for adjacent areas such as Gmail and Google Desktop Search.⁵ (Fact note 5)Fact · 5With hindsightThe two adjacent products named here went different ways. On 2 September 2011 Google announced that Google Desktop would be discontinued on 14 September, citing “a huge shift from local to cloud-based storage and computing”. Alphabet’s 10-K for 2025 reports revenue generated on Gmail within Google Search & other, alongside search, and enterprise subscriptions to Gmail within Google Workspace, part of Google Cloud.SourcesOfficial Google Blog (Internet Archive copy)Official Google Blog: A fall spring-clean2 Sep 2011Alphabet, Form 10-K (investor relations copy)Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025Feb 2026 The remaining 10 percent is saved for anything else, giving us the freedom to innovate. This is the logic behind our weighted balance.

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Google employees have “20 percent time” – effectively one day per week – in which they are free to pursue projects they are passionate about and think will benefit Google. The results of this creative effort already include products such as Google News, Google Suggest, and Orkut⁶ (Fact note 6)Fact · 6With hindsightOn 30 June 2014 Google said it would shut down Orkut on 30 September 2014 because “the growth of these communities has outpaced Orkut's growth”, naming YouTube, Blogger and Google+.SourceOfficial Google India Blog (Internet Archive copy)Official Google India Blog: Farewell Orkut30 Jun 2014 – products which might otherwise have taken an entire start-up company to create and launch.

[ … ] Not shown: Benefits, the Founders’ Award and Google Stock Units.

Next year, Larry and I hope to report as much progress as we have had over the past year. Here are some of the areas in which we hope to advance:⁷ (Editorial note 7)Editorial · 7Known at the timeSetting next year’s homework in public invites marking. But the items are directions, not targets: more information and more mature products, with no measure. The only item with a deadline is the one-year horizon for taking products out of beta, which makes it the one readers can check.

[ … ] Not shown: Expanding what is searchable.

More mature products: Many of our latest products are in various test stages. In the coming year, we expect to see them develop further, graduate from Google Labs, and move from beta into more general availability.⁸ (Fact note 8)Fact · 8With hindsightGmail kept its beta label until 7 July 2009, when Google took it off Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs and Google Talk. Google’s post said: “Gmail has worn the beta tag more than five years.”SourceOfficial Google Blog (Internet Archive copy)Official Google Blog: Google Apps is out of beta (yes, really)7 Jul 2009

[ … ] Not shown: Global reach, Google.org and thanks to Googlers.

If Google were a person, it would graduate from high school in 2016. Given a typical life span, it would expect to be around for almost a century – or more, thanks to continual innovations in healthcare technology. Today, it would only have seen a glimmer of its full potential.

We’re just getting started.

Sergey Brin

Larry Page