Fact or Fiction: Google

Estimated Completion Time
1 min
Fact or Fiction: Google
Image: refer to hsw

About This Quiz

Sometimes it feels like Google is taking over the world. And rumors are always swirling about the next new Google development. Do you know which ones are true?
Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
fact
fiction
almost fact: Page and Brin supposedly make hefty annual payments to an anonymous former Stanford student whom they ousted in the early days of the company.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

True. The two met as PhD students at Stanford.

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Google's first official investor was Andy Bechtolsheim, who contributed $1 million.
fact
fiction
almost fact: Bechtolsheim actually gave them $100,000.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Bechtolsheim, one of the founders of Sun Microsystems, gave Page and Brin $100,000 in 1998.

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Google stock was offered for $400 a share at the company's IPO in 2004.
fact
fiction
almost fact: The IPO was in 2004, but shares went for $500.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The stock price was $85 at the IPO in April 2004.

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In 2006, the verb "google" was added to the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary.
fact
fiction
almost fact: It was added, but in 2004.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

True.

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Google's Dow Jones ticker symbol is GOOG.
fact
fiction
almost fact: The ticker symbol is right, but Google is a NASDAQ stock.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Google is traded on the NASDAQ.

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In 2006, Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion, cash.
fact
fiction
almost fact: It was $1.65 billion, but in stock.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

That would have been pretty mind-blowing if it had been cash, right?

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Google will be unveiling a cell phone service in 2010.
fact
fiction
almost fact: The date will probably be more like 2012.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Nope, not true.

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In an attempt to lower energy use, Google bought herds of goats to graze on the grass at company headquarters.
fact
fiction
almost fact: It's sheep that keep the Google grass under control.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

True. In addition to saving on lawnmowing, the goats' munching also lowers the danger of brush fires.

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One of Google's famous April Fool's Day product launches was the fake energy drink "Google Juice."
fact
fiction
almost fact: It was actually called "Google Gulp."
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It was Google Gulp. Other fakeout products were "Google Lunar" and "Google Romance."

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Larry Page and Sergey Brin are in negotiations to have the Google office complex annexed from the city of Mountain View, Calif., and renamed "Googleville."
fact
fiction
almost fact: The name is actually going to be "Googleplex."
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Not true, but it wouldn't be totally shocking, would it?

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You Got:
/10
refer to hsw