ALSO BY STEVEN LEVY The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and Coolness Crypto: How the Code Rebels Beat the Government— Saving Privacy in the Digital Age Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything Artificial Life: The Quest for a New Creation The Unicorn’s Secret: Murder in the Age of Aquarius Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution Simon & Schuster 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 www.SimonandSchuster.com Copyright © 2011 by Steven Levy All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Simon & Schuster Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition April 2011 SIMON & SCHUSTER and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc. The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com. Designed by Ruth Lee Mui Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Levy, Steven. In the plex : how Google thinks, works, and shapes our lives / Steven Levy. —1st Simon & Schuster hbk. ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Google (Firm). 2. Google. 3. Internet industry—United States. I. Title. HD9696.8.U64G6657 2011 338.7'6102504—dc22 2010049964 ISBN 978-1-4165-9658-5 ISBN 978-1-4165-9671-4 (ebook) Contents Prologue Searching for Google One The World According to Google: Biography of a Search Engine Two Googlenomics: Cracking the Code on Internet Profits Three Don’t Be Evil: How Google Built Its Culture Four Google’s Cloud: Building Data Centers That Hold Everything Ever Written Five Outside the Box: The Google Phone Company and the Google TV Company Six GuGe: Google’s Moral Dilemma in China Seven Google.gov: Is What’s Good for Google Good for Government—or the Public? Epilogue Chasing Taillights Acknowledgments Sources Index