YouTube and Maps offline modes were originally built to help people in Asia conserve data, but now help anyone driving through areas with spotty connections. We’ve seen this now with Google Pay, created in India as Tez, and motorbike navigation mode, launched in India, which have both been expanded globally. We learned a big lesson here: when we build for the newest users in Asia, we build better for the world. It went on to be useful for everywhere around the world, especially in times of disaster like typhoons in the Philippines. In 2008, two Indian engineers realized that there wasn’t enough commercial mapping data of India for a full national map in Google Maps, so they built a tool called Google MapMaker, where communities could make their own additions to the map. MapMaker and Asia’s influence on Google products Fast forward to today and we have offices full of Googlers throughout the region, with Singapore as our current Asia Pacific headquarters.ģ. And the office laid the groundwork for today’s Google Japan team, helping the host nation continue its long tradition of forward-thinking in technology. The Googlers there did pioneering work - including steps to take emoji culture global (🎉). But these humble digs served as our first Asia Pacific headquarters. Silicon Valley to ShibuyaThat first nondescript office in Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood was a long way - in both scale and decor - from the current Google office down the street. To mark the occasion, we wanted to reflect on some of the moments and themes that have defined Google’s 20 years in Asia.ġ. It’s clear there remains huge, untapped potential for the future if we can continue to lay the foundations with the right investments and initiatives. We’re honored they use Google’s tools to improve their lives: finding jobs, learning new skills, building businesses, and pushing the boundaries of technology. Today, 2.5 billion people are online here, almost all of them on mobile. Over the past 20 years, Google’s commitment to Asia Pacific has steadily deepened, and we’re proud to have helped support the region’s extraordinary growth. More importantly, Google also had an enormous amount to learn from the region. But our founders knew the Asia Pacific region would be central to Google’s mission of making information universally accessible. The office was rudimentary by today’s standards (the music system was a portable cassette deck).

Twenty years ago this month, Google opened the doors of its first overseas office - in Tokyo.

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