Google's employees are hired based on a hierarchical system. Employees are split into six hierarchies based on experience and can range "from entry-level data center workers at level one to managers and experienced engineers at level six." As a motivation technique, Google uses a policy known as Innovation Time Off, where Google engineers are encouraged to spend 20% of their work time on projects that interest them. Some of Google's services, such as Gmail, Google News, Orkut, and AdSense originated from these independent endeavors. In a talk at Stanford University, Marissa Mayer, Google's Vice-President of Search Products and User Experience until July 2012, showed that half of all new product launches in the second half of 2005 had originated from the Innovation Time Off.
In 2005, The Washington Post reported on a 700 percent increase in third-quarter profit for Google, largely thanks to large companies shifting their advertising strategies from newspapers, magazines, and television to the Internet. In May 2011, the number of monthly unique visitors to Google surpassed one billion for the first time. By 2011, Google was handling approximately 3 billion searches per day. To handle this workload, Google built 11 data centers around the world with some several thousand servers in each. These data centers allowed Google to handle the ever changing workload more efficiently.
More InfoGoogle's initial public offering (IPO) took place five years later, on August 19, 2004. At that time Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric Schmidt agreed to work together at Google for 20 years, until the year 2024. At IPO, the company offered 19,605,052 shares at a price of $85 per share. Shares were sold in an online auction format using a system built by Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, underwriters for the deal. The sale of $1.67 billion gave Google a market capitalization of more than $23 billion.
More InfoMarsh Harbour received "catastrophic damage", according to an ABC News team. Over 75% of the homes had been damaged, Marsh Harbour International Airport's runway was underwater, there was significant flooding on streets and beaches, damage to trees and with some home's roofs ripped off entirely. The scene was described by an ABC reporter as "pure hell". An eight-year-old boy drowned in the storm surge, while the boy's sister was also reported to be missing. Four other people, along with the eight-year-old boy, were confirmed dead on the Abaco Islands, the prime minister told reporters on Monday. By Wednesday, the death toll had been raised to twenty, according to the prime minister. This soon increased to forty-three by Saturday. However, a Bahamas newspaper suggested that the actual death toll could be over 3,000.
More InfoWe don't show ads. Help us keep it that way.