“Google’s goal is to provide instant access to any information anyone wants in the future.
In my opinion, current search engines cannot be called search, and the logic of portal websites is more like classification.” As soon as Ernst finished his speech in the auditorium, he received an invitation from Professor Snape, a computer expert from Stanford.
Upon arriving at his office, besides the expert, his two students were also there.
Ernst shared his thoughts on Google’s future development goals, which the other party had inquired about.
“Mr.
Ernst, could you elaborate on your Google algorithm?
Of course, if it involves trade secrets, please forgive my abruptness and just pretend I didn’t ask.” Ernst smiled slightly, “There are no trade secrets; it’s just a concept that anyone can develop and commercialize.” He pointed to his head, “But to succeed and become great, one algorithm is not enough; it relies on what’s in here.” “Actually, to be precise, it’s not called the Google algorithm; I named it the PageRank Algorithm.” Ernst cleared his throat, experiencing the feeling of showing off.
“The PageRank Algorithm is based on two core assumptions: one is the number of links, and the other is the quality of links.
Neither can be missing.” “The more times a webpage is linked by other webpages, the more important it is.
Links from high-authority webpages are more valuable than links from low-authority webpages.
These two points are the core of PageRank.” “Simply put, a webpage’s PageRank value depends on the sum of the PageRank values of all webpages pointing to it, and the contribution of each link is normalized according to the total number of links on the source webpage.” “We can view the Internet as a directed graph, where each webpage is a node and links are directed edges.
We assign an initial value to each webpage and continuously iterate and update each webpage’s PageRank value according to the developed iterative calculation formula until it converges.” “It’s like a huge maze, where each webpage is a small room, and links are doors between rooms.
We constantly update the importance value of each room using the iterative calculation formula until the result stabilizes.” Professor Snape’s eyes widened like brass bells as he listened, exclaiming, “You said you don’t understand computers, yet the professional terms you use make me question that.
Some of your ideas are simply astonishing.” How could he understand?
It was just a bombardment of information from the information age.
Ernst could now understand why successful entrepreneurs always succeeded.
The marketplace itself was primarily a war of information, and who could be more familiar with future information than someone who could foresee the future?
“Mr.
Ernst’s PageRank Algorithm ensures convergence to a unique solution through iterative calculations, but for large-scale webpage graphs, isn’t the computational cost too high?” “Also, regarding content quality, the PageRank Algorithm cannot directly evaluate the quality of webpage content.
If someone artificially boosts traffic, it could lead to low-quality but highly linked webpages ranking higher.” At this moment, the two young men brought by Professor Snape suddenly interjected.
Ernst turned to look at them.
He had been so focused on getting to know Snape, the computer expert, that he had forgotten about the existence of these two mascots.
Snape, however, slapped his forehead, “I’m so sorry, Mr.
Ernst.
Your novel ideas truly captivated me, and I forgot to introduce them.
These are my two most prized students, Sergey Brin and Larry Page.” Ernst’s heart was greatly shaken.
He had not expected to encounter the real deal.
These two young men with their curly hair were none other than the future founders of Google.
Wasn’t this set of algorithms and theories developed by them?
And now, he could act like their mentor, answering their questions and dispelling their doubts.
“That’s right, such an algorithm indeed has a higher computational cost compared to the current Internet model, but it also has its advantages.” “For example, its resistance to manipulation.
Compared to simple keyword matching, the PageRank Algorithm is harder to maliciously manipulate.
In my opinion, the future is the information age.
What is most important in the information age?
Information security.” “As for the cost issue you mentioned, and the issue of ignoring content quality, these require us to continuously modify and refine.
The PageRank Algorithm is just the foundation; in the future, dozens or even hundreds of other algorithms will be integrated to optimize it.” “For instance, introducing time factors to consider the dynamic changes in webpage importance.
We can also combine user behavior data to optimize rankings, and so on.” The eyes of the three men grew brighter and brighter as Ernst spoke, especially Sergey Brin and Larry Page, whose eyes were sparkling.
Finally, Snape burst into laughter and happily said to the two, “It seems you already have the answer in your hearts.
I also think this is a very good choice.” Ernst had a slight guess, and his heart began to pound.
“Mr.
Ernst, I won’t hide it from you.
My two students are about to graduate.
Their talent is unquestionable, I can guarantee that, but they are very confused about their future career choices.” “The reason I invited you here, besides my great curiosity about your ideas, is that my two students are also very interested in Mr.
Ernst’s company.
I wonder if Mr.
Ernst could give them an opportunity.” Could he?
He absolutely could.
This wasn’t just giving them an opportunity; it was like a gift from above.
What Ernst valued was not their ability.
Although they were computer geniuses, such students were not rare at Stanford.
What Ernst valued was the connections behind them, which was what he currently lacked most.
America had many talents, and he could recruit them with money.
But top-tier experts couldn’t be acquired with money; connections were needed.
Looking back at the giants of America, which one truly came from a common background?
Even if they were commoners, they only started their businesses after meeting more people and building connections through their talent.
And Sergey Brin and Larry Page could help Ernst gain more connections in academia.
Both of them came from highly educated Jewish families.
Larry Page’s parents were both computer professors at Michigan State University, and his father, Carl Victor Page, was a pioneer in the computer field, having been deeply rooted in the computer industry as early as the 1960s.
Sergey Brin’s family was even more impressive.
His great-grandmother conducted microbiology research at the University of Chicago, his grandfather was a mathematics professor at Moscow University, and his father was an economist at the former Soviet State Planning Committee.
In 1979, his entire family immigrated to America.
His father was currently a mathematics professor at the University of Maryland, and his mother was doing scientific research at NASA.
When many people attribute Google’s success, they often mention the founders’ abilities and the excellent strategies of the top management.
However, what truly supported Google’s rapid development and leading technological position was a large number of scientific and technical personnel.
At Google, the number of top-tier experts in various fields was absolutely the highest among companies in America’s tech industry.
What attracted so many talents?
Salaries?
Other giants also had money.
Working environment?
Every giant was pretty much the same.
Respect?
Scientific and technical personnel were the lifeblood of these giants.
Was it just because it was called Google?
It was connections — the powerful connections brought by their families and their alma mater.