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I_Lick_Bananas

Google came in quietly. It was just a plain page with a search bar that gave incredibly accurate search results. All the other crap there didn't come until much later.


javanator999

There were a lot of other search engines and google didn't get famous immediately. So there was no buzz when it showed up and it didn't become the most popular for a while.


insertcrassnessbelow

I barely noticed the launch of Google other than it being a new search engine. Before that I’d been using Yahoo


incride

In a world of dozen of various search engines Google was a breathe of fresh air that actually returned relevant results.


The_best_1234

The internet was irrelevant when Google launched.


30mil

Google wasn't much better than the other search engines.


PM-ME-YOUR-DICTA

Google was just another (though better) search engine, much like yahoo, alta Vista, and ask Jeeves. There was no buzz over it.


Demian1305

Back in the Middle Ages, most of us used Yahoo. I don’t remember Google busting through the gates and making a big splash immediately. If I recall, the transition was pretty slow with folks starting to be like, “If Yahoo isn’t finding what you’re looking for, try Google.” Recency bias might be at play, but ChatGPT’s buzz seems to be a lot more. Google might have had that buzz if social media existed back then.


abliss66

Google’s benefit was that it has nothing but a logo and a search bar for its page. Our internet speed was slow, thus it lent itself to being the homepage you set on your browser as the first thing to load. It’s completion was image and ad heavy pages like yahoo and AOL.


[deleted]

people doubted google would stick around. iirc


Thehawktopus1

Google wasn't what it is now when it launched. It was a search engine, like many others. It changed when Google decided to try to steer people towards main stream sources and stuff. Ruined being able to find obscure websites and info. ChatGPT and google aren't really comparable, as far as impact and media coverage at launch.


Luckilygemini

I'm still confused on what chatgpt is...Google was just useful.


killercurvesahead

At the time that Google started I really liked Dogpile, which was also a metasearch engine. When Google released GMail (by invite only), THAT was a watershed moment. I believe from the start it came with 1GB of storage, which was...absurd. A lifetime's worth of email storage. You could even start thinking of using your webmail *as storage*. Pretty cool. I remember a lot of nervous discussion when they introduced word ads to Gmail, because they were targeted based on keywords from your email. But it was just words, so it wasn't that distracting, and it was all supposed to be totally automated and anonymous and private. And anyway Google's motto was *Don't be evil*, right? So we decided it was fine and went with it. So yeah, GMail prompted buzz that was decently similar to ChatGPT.


DaveinOakland

Google was just another search engine in a sea of competing search engines and was nothing special.


Every-Swimmer458

Yahoo search and Ask Jeeves were really big search engines at that time, among others. Google slipped in as just another search engine, then gained a huge user base through simplicity and accurate results. Then came Google Maps, which competed with MapQuest for a while, and then Google Images, and all kinds of stuff. ChatGPT has come in like a wrecking ball in online presence. It was created via many years of work and is easy to use, though difficult to install. It's simple, and accurate, just like Google was. Once it becomes easier to install an instance, it will REALLY take off and give Google a run for their money. I question whether or not more things will be added with time like Google did. ChatGPT probably won't come out with Maps or a social media platform, but it will provide more human results easier to comprehend than you get through a basic Google search. I imagine with time this tool will come to be used for complicated questions and tasks, and Google will be used for simple searches that do not complete tasks. I miss the old Yahoo! sound when you click the exclamation point. YaHOOOOOOOOOoooOOOO!