---
title: "Which came first, Facebook or Google?"
description: "Facebook vs Google: Google came first, by 6 years — 1998 against 2004. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/facebook-vs-google/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Facebook or Google?

**Which came first, Facebook or Google?: Google**

1998 — 6 years before Facebook

Google came first, by 6 years. Google Inc. was incorporated in a garage in Menlo Park.

## Side by side

|  | Facebook | Google |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 2004 | 1998 |
| Date | 2004-02-04 | 1998-09-04 |
| Category | technology | technology |
| What happened | TheFacebook launched for Harvard students only. | Google Inc. was incorporated in a garage in Menlo Park. |

## Facebook

Facebook launched on 4 February 2004 restricted to Harvard email addresses, opened to other universities through 2004 and 2005, and to anyone over 13 with an email address in September 2006. It is six years younger than Google and a year older than YouTube. Its predecessor Facemash, which compared students' photographs, was shut down by the university within days in 2003.

## Google

The date used here is the incorporation, 4 September 1998. Two others compete: the research project called BackRub began at Stanford in 1996, and the google.com domain was registered on 15 September 1997. Google itself has celebrated its birthday on four different September dates over the years, which is a fair indication that no single one is correct. It is younger than Amazon, eBay and Netflix.

## Common questions

### Which came first, Facebook or Google?

Google, by 6 years — 1998 against 2004.

### When did Facebook start?

2004. TheFacebook launched for Harvard students only.

### When did Google start?

1998. Google Inc. was incorporated in a garage in Menlo Park.

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## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]
- Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place (/about/)