Google Search

Google Search is the web search engine that turned a 1998 Stanford research project into one of the most valuable companies in the world. Handling an estimated 90 percent of global search traffic, it is for many people synonymous with the internet itself.

Google's dominance rests on the quality of its ranking algorithms, the scale of its index and tight integration with services like Maps, YouTube and Shopping. Results are increasingly enriched with AI-generated summaries and knowledge panels that answer questions directly on the results page.

That convenience is paid for with data: every query feeds the advertising profile Google maintains about its users, and search results are personalized in ways that are hard to inspect. Antitrust regulators in the EU and US have repeatedly found the company abused its market position, leading to record fines and ongoing remedies proceedings.