Goo (stylized in
lowercase
Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (more formally '' minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing system ...
) is an Internet
search engine
A search engine is a software system that provides hyperlinks to web pages, and other relevant information on World Wide Web, the Web in response to a user's web query, query. The user enters a query in a web browser or a mobile app, and the sea ...
(powered by
Google
Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
) and
web portal
A web portal is a specially designed website that brings information from diverse sources, like emails, online forums and search engines, together in a uniform way. Usually, each information source gets its dedicated area on the page for displayin ...
based in
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, which is used to crawl and index primarily
Japanese language
is the principal language of the Japonic languages, Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people. It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese dia ...
websites (before switching to Google). Goo is operated by the Japanese
NTT Resonant, a subsidiary of
NTT Communications
is a Japanese telecommunications company owned by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation. It operates an international network across over 190 countries and regions, with locations in more than 70 countries and regions. The company has ...
. The name is derived from the phrase, "global network continues to expand to infinity ∞". The site's mascot is a goat named Megu-tan.
History
Commercial operation
NTT-X was established as an operating company in 1999, and goo began full-fledged operation. In May goo started "goo shop", a shopping mall, a tie-up with Recruit, a joint project with Nikkei Newspaper Inc., an Internet research project jointly with Mitsubishi Research Institute, further enhanced as a portal. Goo's most popular service, "goo dictionary" started as the portal's free dictionary service in partnership with
Sanseido. It was then working with rival Yahoo! JAPAN. Goo search results were displayed on Yahoo! JAPAN where there was no applicable search result. In 2004 and beyond, the search engine and information provision service of the portal site of the NTT provider such as OCN, Plala, WAKWAK, etc. are often using goo's search engine.
In 2001, Goo opened a child-friendly counterpart to its search engine known as . However, this service was closed on March 31, 2017.
"Teach me! Goo" was a user participation type Q & A site, 2.88 million monthly visitors (as of January 2007), formerly partnered with "OK Wave".
Other services included "environmental goo", goo blog, content distribution of the former BROBA. Goo was operated by 300 people as of 2015.
On April 14, 2025, Goo announced that "Oshiete! Goo", a
Q&A website, and "Goo Blog", a blog hosting service, will be closed on September 17 and November 18 respectively. "Oshiete! Goo" launched in 2000, while "Goo Blog" launched in 2004. In May, Goo announced that "Goo Dictionary", running since 1999, will be closed on June 25, 2025.
Domain dispute
Popcorn, of Kurashiki City in
Okayama Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,826,059 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture ...
, acquired the domain name goo.co.jp in August 1996. Although the domain acquisition at that time had been operating as a non-adult site where the schoolgirl on the theme, goo.ne.jp became famous. In 1999 an adult site opened at that address. In November 2000 NTT-X, then goo's operating company filed a request to the Industrial Property Arbitration Center (currently the Japan Intellectual Property Arbitration Center) to relocate the domain, and in January 2001 the centre ordered the transfer of the domain. Popcorn complained about this and raised an application for domain usage to the Tokyo District Court in opposition to NTT-X in February 2001. The Tokyo District Court offered in April 2002 a ruling to dismiss Popcorn's claims. The appeal was rejected.
See also
*
Comparison of web search engines
Web search engines are listed in tables below for comparison purposes. The first table lists the company behind the engine, volume and ad support and identifies the nature of the software being used as free software or proprietary software. The ...
*
List of search engines
Search engines, including web search engines, selection-based search engines, metasearch engines, desktop search tools, and web portals and vertical market websites have a search facility for online databases.
By content/topic
General ...
*
Timeline of web search engines
This page provides a full timeline of web search engines, starting from the WHOis in 1982, the Archie search engine in 1990, and subsequent developments in the field. It is complementary to the history of web search engines page that provides m ...
References
External links
Goo search engineother goo search engine portal
{{searchengine-website-stub
Internet search engines
Web portals
Japanese websites
Goo