"Then innovation #2 at the actual startup was the ad auctions..." I don't think Google quite invented those, GoTo/Overture invented ad auctions and pay-per-cli

"Then innovation #2 at the actual startup was the ad auctions..." I don't think Google quite invented those, GoTo/Overture invented ad auctions and pay-per-click, but missed out on patenting them. Google did improve on the idea, with the second-price auctions. https://slate.com/business/2013/10/googles-big-break-how-bill-gross-goto-com-inspired-the-adwords-business-model.html https://slate.com/business/2013/10/googles-big-break-how-bil...