Goo (search engine)

Prior to moving to Google, Goo, an Internet search engine and portal based in Japan, was largely used to crawl and index websites in the Japanese language. It is stylized in lowercase. The Japanese company NTT Resonant, a division of NTT Communications, is in charge of running Goo. The expression "global network continues to expand to infinity ∞" is the source of the term. Megu-tan the goat is the site's mascot.

Past Events

Business activity

Goo started full-fledged operations in 1999, the same year that NTT-X was founded as an operational corporation. Goo launched "goo shop" in May, along with a shopping center, a partnership with Recruit, a collaborative effort with Nikkei Newspaper Inc., and an Internet research project with Mitsubishi Research Institute that was later improved into a portal. Initially launched as a free dictionary service on the internet in collaboration with Sanseido, "goo dictionary" is the most well-known service offered by Goo. It then collaborated with Yahoo! JAPAN, a competitor. On Yahoo! JAPAN, Goo search results were shown in cases where no relevant results could be found. Goo's search engine is frequently used by the information providing service and search engine of NTT provider portal sites, including OCN, Plala, WAKWAK, etc., starting in 2004.

Goo launched Kids Goo (キッズgoo), a kid-friendly version of their search engine, in 2001. On March 31, 2017, however, this service was discontinued.

"Teach me!" Goo" was a user involvement type Q & A site, 2.88 million monthly visitors (as of January 2007), originally linked with "OK Wave".


Additional services included the distribution of content from the previous BROBA, "environmental goo," and the goo blog. As of 2015, Goo employed 300 people.

Domain conflict
In August 1996, Popcorn, located in Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, purchased the domain name goo.co.jp. Goo.ne.jp gained popularity despite the fact that it was once a non-adult website featuring a schoolgirl motif at the time of domain acquisition. At the location, an adult website launched in 1999. The Industrial Property Arbitration Center (now known as the Japan Intellectual Property Arbitration Center) received a request for the domain's relocation from NTT-X, then goo's operating company, in November 2000. The center then ordered the domain's transfer in January 2001.In February 2001, Popcorn filed a complaint about this and filed a domain usage application against NTT-X with the Tokyo District Court. In April 2002, the Tokyo District Court made a decision to reject Popcorn's lawsuit. The appeal was turned down.