The IDA has confirmed that Google will establish its European headquarters in Dublin. The investment is expected to create over 200 jobs. The investment has been welcomed by the Tanaiste, who visited senior representatives of the company in California last weekend.
Search engines help you find internet sites by using key words and Google is the leading search engine on the Net. It is estimated that over half of all internet searches use Google technology.
The company, which is privately owned, employs just over 500 people and is headquartered in California.
There has been considerable speculation over the past few weeks that Google would make an announcement about the location of its planned European headquarters. Both the IDA and its Swiss counterparts had been battling for an investment that would be as important symbolically as it would be for jobs.
Ironically it is the downturn in the tech sector here which has freed up capacity at data centres in Dublin which could house part of the incredible three billion internet pages Google says it has indexed. The spare capacity is thought to have been a key factor in clinching the deal.
