It's the American dream-start a company, make a fortune, and retire early. But to become multimillionaires in their twenties, as Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin did, boggles the mind. All they did, after all, is come up with a better way to search for things on the Internet, right? Only in part. No company achieves a market value in the range of $172 billion (in early 2008) based on a single good idea. This new entry in the Corporations That Changed the World series shows how Google exploited the rage for click through ads, instant news, mapping and satellite imagery, email, and more to create a high-tech behemoth that has done nothing less than change the way we work and live.

Chapters in the book:
. Explain the importance of the company and the essential disruptions it introduced that changed business forever. -Detail Google's origins and brief history
. Present biographies of the founders and the historical context in which they launched the company. -Explain Google's strategies and innovations
. Show how Google's treatment of employees-food for free, concierge services, laundry facilities, and more-set the bar high for any company eager to attract the best and brightest
. Assess Google's impact on society, technology, processes, methods, etc. (Huge, considering that the company's name has become a verb in the English language!)
. Show how Google beat Yahoo and other companies working hard to create a roadmap of the Internet. -Detail financial results over the years
. Predict Google's future prospects and successes.

In addition, author Virginia Scott offers special features that include a look at the colorful people associated with Google, interesting trivia, ethical issues and controversies, a focus on products, what its detractors have to say, and a look at where the company is headed. Google-a company that changed, and is changing, the world.

Virginia Scott is a freelance instructional designer for colleges, universities, and private companies. Her clients have included the University of Virginia, the University of Colorado, the State of Maryland, Thomson Learning, and others. She also teaches online courses for colleges. The author of the Agile Manager's Guide to Training for Excellence, she holds an M.A. and M.Ed. from the University of Virginia.