Though Google started as an Internet search engine, the company has grown into a corporation that provides email, phone, image sharing and other services to millions of people. The company's goal is to organize all information and share it in a way that it is accessible to everyone. Google Talks are part of this goal by capturing perspectives of great thinkers. Other similar Google programs include digitizing books, video archives and newspapers and making them available online.
Hundreds of influential people and thinkers have participated in the Google Talks, including President Barack Obama, Senator John McCain, author Thomas Goetz, economist Michael Spence and musician Lady Gaga. More than 1,000 innovators hane participated in Google Talks as of June 2011.
Google Talks are hosted at Google's offices located in New York City, New York; Santa Monica, California; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and at its headquarters in Mountain View, California.
Originally, Google Talks were geared toward Google employees, known as Googlers, where they would hear authors read from their literature, science fiction, personal memoirs or academic writing. Many of the Google Talks are now available to view online through the AtGoogleTalks YouTube channel. YouTube, an online video sharing service, is another Google product.