They almost named it WHAT?!

Did you know the name of the iconic search engine was not always Google?

It was BACKRUB!

Back in 1996, founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin launched a search engine project at Stanford called Backrub. The quirky name came from the system’s ability to analyze “back links” across the web.

Thankfully, they didn’t stick with it. In 1997, the duo rebranded to Google (whew!), inspired by “googol” — the mathematical term for a 1 followed by 100 zeros. It was a nod to their mission to organize a seemingly infinite amount of information online.

I think we are all glad they made the change and we don't have to use phrases like "backrubbing" or "I'll just backrub it."