Know about Google:

“I do not take the effort to memorize information that I can easily find on Google,” says 28-year-old marketing professional Divyam Kumar who knows he can depend on the search giant for help for almost everything. “I don't even need to remember difficult spellings or locations,” he says.

So common is this dependence on Google that a 2012 study suggests that people actively forget information if they think they can look it up later. It also states that our minds are changing to ensure we're experts at knowing where to find the info even without being able to recall it.

For a typical query on Google, “there are thousands, if not millions, of webpages with helpful information.” And it is its algorithms that have been developed over years – that throws up the most-related and relevant links and answers to questions you ask.

Today, Google’s algorithms rely on more than 200 unique “clues” that make it possible to guess what you might really be looking for. These signals include things like the terms on websites, the freshness of content, your region and PageRank. This very ability makes people use Google everyday to find everything. Tech journalist Nimish Dubey (@nimishdubey) admits. “Google made a search page my landing page for everything from news to images to videos. Pretty astounding."

The search also has 22 special features that can be activated by typing trigger words. For example, one can use it to find the current time, stock quotes, sports scores, and the weather. You can also use it directly for doing calculations.

Then there is the story of how Google changed the way we use email to become the world's most popular email service. When Gmail was introduced in 2004, it was the first time people heard about free unlimited storage space. Other Google tools and services include:

Chrome: Its web browser

Google Docs, now Drive: Online file sharing and collab editing tech

Android: Mobile operating platform for smartphones and tablets.

Google Ad Sense: It's ad serving application for online publishers