Google was founded in 1998. Google’s official company history describes the company as being born in August 1998, after its earlier search project had been developed at Stanford.
Why several different years appear
Google’s history includes several milestones that are sometimes described as its “beginning”:
- 1995: Google’s official history says the story began at Stanford.
- 1996: The search project was developed the following year.
- 1997: A secondary history of domain names reports that the Google domain was registered on September 15, 1997. That source is less authoritative and does not provide clear sourcing, so this date should be treated as contextual rather than as the founding date.
- 1998: Google’s official history identifies August 1998 as the company’s birth. The same secondary source reports that Google was incorporated on September 4, 1998, but that more precise date is not established by the official company history used here.
The short answer
If you need one year, use 1998. It is the year supported by Google’s official account of the company’s birth. The exact date depends on whether a source is referring to the company’s August 1998 origin or the September 4, 1998 incorporation date reported by a less authoritative secondary source.