Planet Google: One Company's Audacious Plan to Organize Everything We Know

Randall Stross

Simon and Schuster, Sep 22, 2009 - Business & Economics - 288 pages

"In this spellbinding behind-the-scenes look, Stross leads readers through Google’s evolution…the unfolding narrative reads like a suspense novel" (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Based on unprecedented access to the "Googleplex," Planet Google goes deep inside the company to unveil the extraordinary scope and scale of its ambition to become the master gate-keeper of "all the world’s information," including its users’ most personal information. New York Times columnist Randall Stross provides a lively tour through Google’s flurry of new information gathering initiatives. Will Google stay true to its famous "Don’t Be Evil" mantra? Will it protect all of the personal information it collects? Planet Google is a much-needed wake-up call about how powerful the Google juggernaut has become.

Contents

• Introduction: 1
• Open and Closed: 21
• Unlimited Capacity: 47
• The Algorithm: 63
• Moon Shot: 89
• GooTube: 109
• Small World After All: 129
• A Personal Matter: 153
• Algorithm Meet Humanity: 179
• Conclusion: 195
• Notes: 201
• Acknowledgments: 259

About the author

Randall Stross writes the New York Times column Digital Domain and is professor of business at San Jose State University. He is the author of several critically acclaimed books, including The Wizard of Menlo Park, eBoys, and The Microsoft Way. He lives in Burlingame, California.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Planet Google: One Company's Audacious Plan to Organize Everything We Know
• Author: Randall Stross
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 2009
• ISBN: 1416546960, 9781416546962
• Length: 288 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Corporate & Business History; Business & Economics / General; Business & Economics / Industries / Computers & Information Technology; Computers / Internet / Search Engines