Below is a timeline of our online publishing history. Also included, for reference, are key dates of major Web sites and internet services.
January 19, 1994 [image] [release story]Palo Alto Weekly becomes the first newspaper to publish its entire editorial content to the Internet (first as http://www.service.com/paw, later as www.paweekly.com and finally as PaloAltoOnline.com)
February 1994
David Filo and Jerry Yang, Ph.D. candidates in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, started their online guide, “Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web” in a campus trailer. Shortly after, it was renamed and relaunched as Yahoo!
August 1994
America Online membership reaches 1 million
September 1995
eBay.com founded
January 22, 1996
The New York Times introduces a Web Site, containing “most of the news and feature articles from the current day’s printed newspaper”.
September 25, 1996 [image]Palo Alto Online was created using information from 1996 Info Palo Alto and the back issues of the Palo Alto Weekly
January 1997
Local News Headlines appear on Palo Alto Online, but it isn’t until 2000 that it is a regular feature
February 1997
Created searchable Local Home Sales Database from the Palo Alto Weekly online archives (database today contains more than 32,000 entries)
January 1998
Internet usership reaches 100 million users worldwide, which is only about two percent of the world’s population
March 4, 1998
Started posting sister newspaper, The Almanac, online (AlmanacNews.com)
September 1998
Larry Page and Sergey Brin rename their search engine called “BackRub” to Google and opened its doors.
February 4, 2000
Started posting sister newspaper, the Mountain View Voice, online (mv-voice.com)
September 25, 2000
Palo Alto Online redesigned and started to add features, such as an online poll
January 15, 2001
Wikipedia begins.
February 14, 2001
Pizazz launched to help business promote local offers
May 1, 2001
MovieScreener launched to search database of Palo Alto Weekly Movie Reviews (database today includes almost 1,900 titles)
July 2001
Created e-mail list to alert local residents of breaking news
October 2001
Converted Open Home Guide to a searchable database with ability to map address
January 2002
Palo Alto Online adds new Neighborhoods Section
April 1, 2002
Added comprehensive Restaurant Review Search with more than 500 reviews from the Palo Alto Weekly
June 15, 2002
Started offering local high school sports photo reprints for sale online
January 2003
Launched Master Community Calendar online and in our three newspapers
June 28, 2003
Palo Alto Weekly (Palo Alto Online) wins Second Place for Best Web Site from the California Newspaper Publishers Association in the 2002 Better Newspapers Contest.
November 2003
Palo Alto Online’s Home Page tops one million page views for a year for the first time ever
January 19, 2004
Palo Alto Weekly celebrates 10 years of online publishing
February 2004
Facebook launches.
January 6, 2005
Palo Alto Online helps launch Fogster.com
July 2005
Palo Alto Weekly (Palo Alto Online) wins First Place for Best Web Site from the California Newspaper Publishers Association in the 2004 Better Newspapers Contest.
May 31, 2006
Palo Alto Online launches redesigned site and adds Town Square
July 2006
Palo Alto Weekly (Palo Alto Online) wins Second Place for Best Web Site from the California Newspaper Publishers Association in the 2005 Better Newspapers Contest.
March 21, 2007
Palo Alto Online launches enhanced Restaurant Section with partner, BooRah.com
April 19, 2007
Palo Alto Online launches local visitor site Destination: Palo Alto
June 2007
Apple releases iPhone (announced January 2007)
October 2007
Palo Alto Online adds video content to online news stories
July 2007
Palo Alto Weekly (Palo Alto Online) wins First Place for Best Web Site from the California Newspaper Publishers Association in the 2006 Better Newspapers Contest.
September 7, 2007
Palo Alto Online launches new Sports Section
April 18, 2008
Palo Alto Online launches enhanced Real Estate Section
August 2008
Facebook announces 100 million active users
September 22, 2008
Palo Alto Online launches Express, a daily e-mail edition
November 5, 2009
Palo Alto Online launches redesigned site with enhanced Movies Section
November 16, 2009
Palo Alto Online adds Issuu.com virtual editions to print edition archives
November 2009
Acer releases first Android-based (Google) smart phone
April 2010
Apple releases the iPad and sells three million in about three months
April 17, 2010
Palo Alto Weekly (Palo Alto Online) wins First Place for Best Web Site from the California Newspaper Publishers Association in the 2009 Better Newspapers Contest.
June 2010
Apple releases iPhone 4 and sells three million in about three weeks
July 2010
Facebook announces 500 million active users
July 22, 2010
Palo Alto Online adds iPhone and Android app “Palo Alto” to present local news and information on mobile devices
September 17, 2010
Palo Alto Online launches ShopPaloAlto.com in partnership with ShopCity.com, the City of Palo Alto and the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce
April 16, 2011
Palo Alto Weekly (Palo Alto Online) wins First Place for Best Web Site from the California Newspaper Publishers Association in the 2010 Better Newspapers Contest.
March 5, 2011
Google annouces it processes 1 billion search queries per day.
October 5, 2011
Steve Jobs, founder of Apple and influential innovator, dies at the age of 55.
March 14, 2012
The Encyclopedia Britannica ends print publication.
April 10, 2012
Facebook buys social photo sharing site Instagram for $1 billion.
May 5, 2012
Palo Alto Weekly (Palo Alto Online) wins First Place for Best Web Site for the third year in a row from the California Newspaper Publishers Association in the 2011 Better Newspapers Contest. Palo Alto Online also won a second place award for coverage of Steve Jobs death in addition to several other awards.
October 8, 2013
Palo Alto Online launches redesigned site with enhanced Blogs, A&E and CalendarSections
Feb 19, 2014
Facebook buys messaging app Whatsapp for $19 billion.
April 24, 2015
Apple releases the Apple Watch, selling over 1.7 million.
May 9, 2015
Palo Alto Weekly (Palo Alto Online) wins First Place for Best Web Site from the California Newspaper Publishers Association in the 2014 Better Newspapers Contest.
February 18, 2016
Added pay metering to parts of the site, using partner Cointent.
April 28, 2016
Created partnership with CitySpark for an enhanced calendar experience.
April 30, 2016
Palo Alto Weekly (Palo Alto Online) wins First Place for General Excellence – Online/Best Web Site from the California Newspaper Publishers Association in the 2015 Better Newspapers Contest.
March 9, 2017
Launched online-only sister site, The Six Fifty.
April 2017
Launched enhanced pay metering and online membership portal.
April 2020
Launched enhanced story page presenation.
October 18, 2021
Launched online-only sister sites in Redwood City and Livermore
October 19, 2021
Launched updated version of The Six Fifty.
September 23, 2022
Launched an inovated sports page collaboration with student journalism programs.
January 1, 2024
Embarcadero Media becomes Embarcadero Media Foundation.
January 24, 2024
All seven hyper-local community websites are relaunched in collaboration with Newspack.