1998
1998 is the year Google was founded.
- Even
- Composite
Where 1998 fits
Why 1998 is special
Its insight was to rank pages by which other pages linked to them, treating links as votes, rather than by counting words on the page. Search results had been trivially manipulable before that, and the approach reshaped what the web was for.
Same number, different meanings
How 1998 is understood across different contexts — never implying one meaning because of another.
- Mathematics
Its insight was to rank pages by which other pages linked to them, treating links as votes, rather than by counting words on the page. Search results had been trivially manipulable before that, and the approach reshaped what the web was for.
- History
In 1998, construction of the International Space Station began.
- Technology & computing
Google ranked pages by which other pages linked to them rather than by counting words on the page itself. Word-counting had been trivially gameable, and the change altered not just search quality but what publishing on the web was for.
1998 is part of
Factors & digit properties
- Divisors (16)
- 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18, 27, 37, 54, 74, 111, 222, 333, 666, 999, 1998
- Prime factorisation
- 2 × 3^3 × 37
- Digit sum
- 27
- Digital root
- 9
Representations
- Decimal
- 1998
- Scientific notation
- 1.998 × 10^3
Roman numerals
M C M X C V I I I
MCMXCVIII uses the subtractive pair XC: ten before a hundred — a hundred minus ten.
Binary
1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0
1 × 1,024 + 1 × 512 + 1 × 256 + 1 × 128 + 1 × 64 + 0 × 32 + 0 × 16 + 1 × 8 + 1 × 4 + 1 × 2 + 0 × 1 = 1,998
Octal
3 7 1 6
3 × 512 + 7 × 64 + 1 × 8 + 6 × 1 = 1,998
Hexadecimal
7 c e
7 × 256 + c × 16 + e × 1 = 1,998
Read as powers of two: 1,024 + 512 + 256 + 128 + 64 + 8 + 4 + 2 = 1,998.
In historical numeral systems
Egyptian
1 lotus, 9 coils of rope, 9 hobbles, 8 strokes
1 × 1,000 + 9 × 100 + 9 × 10 + 8 × 1 = 1,998. The signs are simply repeated and added; where they sit on the line is a matter of layout, not value.
Babylonian
3 corner wedges + 3 vertical wedges (sixties place), 1 corner wedge + 8 vertical wedges (units place)
33 × 60 + 18 = 1998. Places are separated by a space on the tablet, with the higher place written first.
Systems that simply cannot reach this value are left out. Where a script needs a font most readers do not have, the reading is given instead of the glyphs — see number systems for each system in full.
Other mathematical patterns
- Abundant number
- Harshad (Niven) number
Related numbers & connections
1998 is a year in the 20th century, in the 1990s.
Ranking pages by inbound links rather than by word counts arrived three years into the commercial web, once its scale had made the older approach useless.
View 1995 →History
In 1998, construction of the International Space Station began.
DocumentedHistoryGeography: globalPeriod: 1998
Technology & computing
Google ranked pages by which other pages linked to them rather than by counting words on the page itself. Word-counting had been trivially gameable, and the change altered not just search quality but what publishing on the web was for.
DocumentedTechnology & computingPeriod: 1998
Common questions
Is 1998 a prime number?
No, 1998 is not prime.
What are the factors of 1998?
The factors of 1998 are 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18, 27, 37, 54, 74, 111, 222, 333, 666, 999, 1998.
What is 1998 in Roman numerals?
1998 in Roman numerals is MCMXCVIII. XC is subtractive: ten before a hundred — a hundred minus ten. Written additively it would be MDCCCCLXXXXVIII, which Roman inscriptions used freely — the strict subtractive form is a later convention.
About this page's data
Mathematical facts:computed directly from the number's value — nothing to source or verify externally.
Contextual records: 2 reviewer-confirmed records, sourced and reviewed before publication.
Last reviewed: 15 July 2026