On quora.com, where people get their questions answered by those in the know–the inside story of things pops up pretty often. Especially on the business/tech side. Questions come in every form and category, but a typical one goes like this: “What are some mind-blowing facts about Google?” And Google veterans themselves usually supply the gossipy goods.
Doug Edwards, who was Director of Marketing and Brand Management at Google from 1999-2005, answered that question with the incredible story of how the famous Google Adwords program–the lynchpin of Google’s early dominance–was almost called something else (at his suggestion!): “Google’s ads are called “AdWords” because Larry and Sergey rejected my first choice “Buywords,” writes Edwards. “They thought it implied you could purchase better placement in the actual search results. I offered them “AdWords” as an alternative and told them it was a good choice because it sounded like my own last name. They decided to go with it anyway.” Awesome! Thanks, Doug. Enjoy those stock options!
