Hubert Chang - third Google co-founder?

In a video message posted in Vimeo.com, a video-centric social networking site, Hubert Chang claims he is one of the co-founders of Google, alongside Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Chang said he helped Page and Brin come up with the name Google way back in 1997 and even helped them set up the PageRank, Google's business model.

However, instead of jumping into the new venture, Chang said he chose to pursue his Ph.D. at New York University (NYU).

Chang claims that in 2002 he got in touch with Page and Brin and told them of his interest in getting involved with Google. However, he said, he was snubbed.

Chang said he is aware that many people would think of him as insane or a gold-digger or as someone who wants his two seconds of fame. "After viewing this tape, some people might think I'm lying, some might think I'm crazy, some might be upset, while others will consider I'm honest. But the tape has to be made," he said.

In the video Change recalls how he was introduced to Page and Brin by Stanford computer science professor Rajeev Motwani in January 1997 and how the three of them began to work together on the search engine that would grow to become an Internet search giant in the modern world. Today, Google Inc. has a market capitalization of $138 billion and Page and Brin are worth $16 billion each, according to Forbes.

"Google was designed by Larry, Sergey and me, in February 1997," Chang said in in his video. "The design includes the search engine algorithm, the business model (also called AdSense and AdWords), the name of the company, the outline of the system architecture, a corporation culture like a grad school, and Google's growing path."

Chang said, later, in September 1997, when Page and Brin asked him if he would like to put his name on the academic paper that first described Google's Web page ranking system, he declined, choosing instead to focus on his Ph.D. dissertation at NYU.

"It may seem unwise now, but it made sense then," Chang said, as he had to finish his Ph.D. and "putting names on the paper is the commitment to finish the Google project."

"It was an uncomfortable and difficult decision," he said.

After completing his Ph.D., Chang said he tried to contact Page and Brin but did not hear much from them.

"The initial contact was promising, but without any warning, it was off and on, and finally stopped," he said. "The responses were always from a third person and not directly from Larry and Sergey."

Dejected, he felt the world should know the true story about how Google was founded and decided to come up with a baring-all video.

"Since last contact, I have been agonizing with about whether or not to talk about it. Probably, Larry and Sergey were busy. They didn't communicate with their employee well, or their employee didn't communicate with them well. Or they were indecisive about how to place or position me. Or they were in a status that is awkward to fully acknowledge the past. I do not know which. It's been ten years, and I think this information needs to be known," he said.

Hubert Chang's video was uploaded way back in 2007 but has begun circulating tech sites recently in a big way after Google turned 10.

Chang's claim, however, has been discredited by the Stanford professor himself.

"To the best of my knowledge, his (Chang's) claims about being a founder of Google, coming up with the name and/or the business plan etc, are completely unfounded in reality. I am sure I would have noticed a third founder, if one existed, since I was working closely with Larry and Sergey at Stanford at the time," Prof. Motwani said.

"I do recall receiving a couple of emails from Hubert Chang in 1997 or 1998. It's been such a long time that I don't have any recollection of their contents but it's probable I shared those e-mails with Larry and Sergey. In any case, by that time the basic idea of PageRank was already in place and there was a clear intent of building a company around this. I am pretty certain that none of the three of us actually met with Hubert Chang during that time period," he said.

"This person wants us all to believe that during the past 10 years he has failed to see how much money Google was making and it didn't dawn on him that he may be entitled to a share. What did he get his Ph.D. in? Stupidity?" Tech blogger Ron Schenone of LockerGnome said.

Perhaps. Because, Chang admitted in the video that he have not saved the original email exchanges with Brin and Page from 1997 because his email quota was small at the time and he often exceeded the quota.

Meanwhile, Google Inc. has also refuted Chang's claims. In a statement, it said, "There is no substance to Hubert Chang's claims - he had no involvement in the creation of Google. Neither Larry or Sergey have any recollection of meeting him - however, given the number of people they've met in the last decade it's impossible to say categorically that they never have. Rajeev Motwani, the Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at Stanford, believes he may have shared some emails from Mr. Chang with Larry and Sergey in 1997 or 1998. But in any case PageRank had already been developed by that time, and Larry and Sergey had already decided to start Google."

"Though many people were involved with Google in its early days, it has been well-documented over the past decade that Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded the company in September 1998," it said.