From ‘Don’t be evil’ to anti-trust: Google turns 25

Behind the playful ambience, the tech giant faces allegations of attempting to crush competition and monopolise the smartphone market.

In 1998, almost a quarter of a century after its founding, Microsoft found itself facing a legal challenge. The hearing for the landmark United States vs Microsoft began in May, with district attorneys challenging the company’s strategy of bundling its Internet Explorer browser with its Windows operating system, making it the default option for users who wanted to surf the web.

Android installations at the Google campus in California. (Getty Images)

At around this time, 25 years ago, Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Stanford University professors Rajeev Motwani and Terry