A viral photo of this actress led to Google being forced to build a whole new search engine
Google Image search engine is a lifesaver for millions of internet users today. The image search engine was created in 2001, five years after Google, the parent engine came into being. But the story of its genesis is an interesting one and it has at its heart, a pop culture phenomenon shepherded by a superstar, and not anything technological. This is the story of an actress-singer and her ‘viral’ dress that gave birth to a search engine.
Jennifer Lopez and her green Versace dress
In 1999, designer Donatella Versace designed a green silk chiffon dress with a slit in the front. The dress had been worn by Versace herself to the 1999 Met Gala and presented by model Amber Valletta on the ramp early in 2000. But its real claim to fame is how it catapulted Jennifer Lopez to global internet stardom. Lopez, already a big star in the music and acting world at the time, wore this dress to the 2000 Grammy Awards on February 23, 2000. As she arrived on the red carpet, she created quite a frenzy and became the focus of the press photographers. While presenting an award with her on stage, actor David Duchovny quipped, “This is the first time in five or six years that I'm sure that nobody is looking at me.”
The dress’ internet furore
For weeks after the event, the gree Versace dress was featured in news stories and discussed in TV specials and lifestyle columns. Images of Lopez in the green dress were downloaded from the Grammy website over 6 lakh times in just 24 hours after the event. The search volume on Google for pictures of the actress in the dress also led to a revolution – Google Images.
Jennifer Lopez in the green dress at the 2000 Grammys (left) and recreating the look at the 2020 Milan fashion show (right)
How the green dress gave birth to Google Images
At the time, Google Search results were only pages of text with links. But in the days after the Grammys, developers in the company realised that the most popular search query they had ever seen was Jennifer Lopez’s green Versace dress from the Grammys. No text page could satisfy this query. Hence the company paired engineer Huican Zhu with product manager Susan Wojcicki to build a new image search tool. Google Image Search was formally launched in July 2001. By 2010, it was indexing over 10 billion images.
Jennifer Lopez’s growing celebrity
Jennifer Lopez has only grown in stature and wealth since the viral green dress. The actress is reportedly worth $400 million (Rs 3300 crore) today, making her one of the richest female entertainers in the world. She charges as much as $1.2-1.5 million (Rs 10-15 crore) for just a public appearance. In 2020, Lopez wore an updated version of the iconic green dress – at the age of 50 – at the Milan fashion show.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "This actress' viral photo led to Google Images' creation")
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}