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AltaVista

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Launched in 1995, AltaVista was a trailblazer in the realm of internet^[1] search engines. It was conceived in Palo Alto, California by scholars from Digital Equipment Corporation and was the first to present a searchable, comprehensive text database on the World Wide Web. In just two years, it managed to amass 80 million daily hits, signifying its swift rise in popularity. AltaVista was responsible for introducing several pioneering features such as multimedia search and CAPTCHA technology, playing a crucial role in the widespread adoption of web search. It was also a forerunner in the field of online translation services, thanks to its Babel Fish application. Nevertheless, the rise of Google^[2] resulted in its diminished popularity. In 2003, Yahoo acquired AltaVista, which was ultimately discontinued in 2013. Despite its cessation, AltaVista’s significant contributions to the development of internet search technology are still acknowledged today.

Terms definitions

1. ↑ internet. The Internet, a global network of interconnected computer systems, utilizes standardized communication protocols, predominantly TCP/IP, to connect devices across the globe. The term 'Internet' has its roots in the 1849 term 'internetted' and was later adopted by the US War Department in 1945. The inception of the Internet can be traced back to the 1960s when computer scientists developed time-sharing systems, which eventually led to the creation of ARPANET in 1969. The Internet operates autonomously, without any central control, and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) manages its primary name spaces. It has revolutionized traditional communication methods and has seen an exponential growth, with the number of internet users growing by 20% to 50% every year. In 2019, more than half of the global population was using the Internet. The Internet protocol suite, comprising TCP/IP and four conceptual layers, directs internet packets to their intended destinations. Fundamental services such as email and Internet telephony function on the Internet. The World Wide Web, an extensive network of interconnected documents, serves as a crucial element of the Internet.

2. ↑ Google ( Google ) Primarily acknowledged for its search engine, Google is a universally esteemed technology corporation. The company, established in 1998 by Sergey Brin and Larry Page, has expanded significantly, branching out into numerous tech-related fields. Google offers a wide array of services and products, encompassing Android, YouTube, Cloud, Maps, and Gmail. It also manufactures hardware like Chromebooks and Pixel smartphones. Since 2015, Google has been a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. and is celebrated for its inventive spirit and workplace environment that promotes employees' personal projects. Despite confronting several ethical and legal challenges, Google continues to influence the tech sector with its groundbreaking innovations and technological progress, including the creation of Android OS and the purchase of companies specializing in AI.

AltaVista (Wikipedia)

AltaVista was a Web search engine established in 1995. It became one of the most-used early search engines, but lost ground to Google and was purchased by Yahoo! in 2003, which retained the brand, but based all AltaVista searches on its own search engine. On July 8, 2013, the service was shut down by Yahoo!, and since then the domain has redirected to Yahoo!'s own search site.

AltaVista

Top: 2002–2013 AltaVista logo Bottom: The AltaVista web portal in 1999
Type of site	Search engine
Available in	Multilingual
Founded	1995; 29 years ago (1995)
Headquarters	Palo Alto, California , U.S.
Key people	Ilene H. Lang, Paul Flaherty, Louis Monier, Michael Burrows, Jeffrey Black
Parent	Digital Equipment Corporation (1998) Overture Services (2003) Yahoo! (2003–2013) Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present)
URL	www.altavista.com
Advertising	Yes
Registration	No
Launched	December 15, 1995; 28 years ago (1995-12-15)
Current status	Defunct (July 8, 2013 (2013-07-08))

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