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{{short description|American computer scientist}}
{{Infobox scientist
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| image = Prabhakar Raghavan, Vice-Presidente Sênior do Google Global (cropped).jpg
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| caption = Raghavan in 2023
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| workplaces = [[Google]] [[University of California Berkeley]], [[Indian Institute of Technology, Madras]] [[Yahoo! Labs]] [[Stanford University]] [[IBM]]
| alma_mater = [[University of California Berkeley]], [[Indian Institute of Technology, Madras]]
 [[Campion School, Bhopal]]
| thesis_title = Randomized Rounding and Discrete Ham-Sandwich Theorems: Provably Good Algorithms for Routing and Packing Problems (Integer Programming)
| thesis_url = http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1987/CSD-87-312.pdf
| thesis_year = 1987
| doctoral_advisor = Clark D. Thompson<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1986/5986.html | title = Randomized Rounding And Discrete Ham-Sandwich Theorems: Provably Good Algorithms for Routing and Packing Problems | quote = Advisor: Clark D. Thompson | publisher = UC Berkeley | access-date = 19 May 2014}}</ref>
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'''Prabhakar Raghavan''' is a computer scientist and the Chief Technologist at Google.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Roth |first=Emma |date=2024-10-17 |title=Google is replacing the exec in charge of Search and ads |url=https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/17/24272786/google-search-prabhakar-raghavan-nick-fox |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=[[The Verge]] |language=en}}</ref> His research spans algorithms, web search and databases.<ref name="Bloomberg Businessweek">{{cite web|title=Prabhakar Raghavan|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/person/3368123|work=Executive Profile|publisher=Bloomberg Businessweek|access-date=1 May 2024}}</ref> He is the co-author of the textbooks ''Randomized Algorithms''<ref name="ralgorithms">{{cite book |author1=Raghavan, Prabhakar |author2=Motwani, Rajeev |title=Randomized algorithms |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-521-47465-8 }}</ref> with [[Rajeev Motwani]]<ref name="motwani">{{Cite journal | last1 = Raghavan | first1 = Prabhakar| author-link1 = Prabhakar Raghavan| title = Rajeev Motwani (1962-2009)| journal = Theory of Computing | volume = 8 | pages = 55–57 | doi = 10.4086/toc.2012.v008a003 | url = http://www.theoryofcomputing.org/articles/v008a003/v008a003.pdf| year = 2012 | doi-access = free }}</ref> and ''Introduction to Information Retrieval''.<ref name="retrieval">{{cite book |author1=Schütze, Hinrich |author2=Christopher D. Manning |author3=Raghavan, Prabhakar |title=Introduction to information retrieval |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-521-86571-5 }}</ref><ref name="dblp">{{DBLP|name=Prabhakar Raghavan}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Broder | first1 = A. | last2 = Kumar | first2 = R. | last3 = Maghoul | first3 = F. | last4 = Raghavan | first4 = P. | last5 = Rajagopalan | first5 = S. | last6 = Stata | first6 = R. | last7 = Tomkins | first7 = A. | last8 = Wiener | first8 = J. | doi = 10.1016/S1389-1286(00)00083-9 | title = Graph structure in the Web | journal = Computer Networks | volume = 33 | issue = 1–6 | pages = 309–320 | year = 2000 }}</ref><ref name="acm">{{ACMPortal}}</ref><ref name="scopus">{{Scopus}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Prabhakar was born in India and spent his youth in [[Bhopal]], [[Madras]] and [[Manchester]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The driving force behind Yahoo Research |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/the-driving-force-behind-yahoo-research/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |work=CNET |date=2006-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607174012/https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/the-driving-force-behind-yahoo-research/ |archive-date=2024-06-07 |language=en}}</ref> In 1981, he earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the [[Indian Institute of Technology Madras]], followed by a [[Master of Science]] in electrical and computer engineering from the [[University of California, Santa Barbara]] in 1982.<ref name="cv">{{cite web |title=Curriculum Vitae |url=http://theory.stanford.edu/~pragh/cv.pdf |access-date=2024-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110802201735/http://theory.stanford.edu/~pragh/cv.pdf |archive-date=2011-08-02 |language=en}}</ref>

Prabhakar continued his education at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], where he earned a Ph.D. in computer science in 1986.<ref name="profile">{{cite web |title=Prabhakar Raghavan |url=http://theory.stanford.edu/people/raghavan/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990220223110/http://theory.stanford.edu/people/raghavan/ |archive-date=1999-02-20 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="cv"/>

==Career==
After completing his doctorate, Prabhakar worked in various research positions at [[IBM]]. He began as a research staff member at the [[Thomas J. Watson Research Center]]. In 1994, he was promoted to manager of theory of computing.<ref name="cv"/> A year later, he relocated to the Almaden center in Silicon Valley to become the senior manager of the computer science principles and methodologies department of [[IBM Research]] until 2000.<ref name="ZDNet">{{cite news|last=Farber|first=Dan|title=Yahoo's new search master|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/yahoos-new-search-master/|work=Between the Lines Blog|publisher=ZDNet|access-date=28 October 2011}}</ref><ref name="cv"/> His research group focused on algorithms, [[computational complexity theory|complexity theory]], [[cryptography]], text mining, and other fields. While working for IBM in the late 1990s, he was also a consulting professor at [[Stanford University]].<ref name="profile"/>

Raghavan's research team at Stanford co-existed with another researching [[search engine]]s that included students [[Larry Page]] and [[Sergey Brin]], who later founded [[Google]].<ref name=Kiss2011>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/apr/26/yahoo-ibm-google-prabhakar-raghavan|access-date=23 April 2024|title=Yahoo's secret weapon: the ex-IBMer who worked with Google's founders|newspaper=The Guardian |date=26 April 2011 |last1=Kiss |first1=Jemima }}</ref>

After working 14 years at IBM, he became senior vice president and chief technology officer at enterprise search vendor Verity in 2004.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Prabhakar Raghavan {{!}} CDSS at UC Berkeley |url=https://cdss.berkeley.edu/prabhakar-raghavan |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=cdss.berkeley.edu}}</ref><ref name="ZDNet"/><ref name="cv"/> In July 2005, he was hired by [[Yahoo!]] to lead Yahoo! Research in [[Sunnyvale]], California.<ref>{{cite press release |author= |title= Yahoo! Appoints Dr. Prabhakar Raghavan to Lead Research Efforts|url=https://www.altaba.com/static-files/b939898f-4737-462e-ad31-354b3614815e |location= Sunnyvale, California|publisher=Yahoo! |agency= |date=2005-07-28 |access-date=2024-06-06}}</ref> At Yahoo!, he worked on research projects including search and [[online advertising|advertising]].<ref name="Kiss2011" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Reisinger |first=Don |date=2012-03-05 |title=Yahoo Labs chief, strategist jumps to Google, report says |url=https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/yahoo-labs-chief-strategist-jumps-to-google-report-says/ |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=CNET |language=en}}</ref> In 2011, he was appointed as Yahoo!'s chief strategy officer by CEO Carol Bartz.<ref name="swisher">{{Cite web |last=Swisher |first=Kara |date=2012-03-04 |title=Yahoo Labs Head Raghavan Departing to Google |url=https://allthingsd.com/20120304/exclusive-yahoo-labs-head-raghavan-departing-to-google/ |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=AllThingsD |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2012, Prabhakar joined Google after severe funding cuts in Yahoo!'s research division.<ref name="swisher"/> In 2018, he was put in charge of Ads and Commerce at Google and in 2020 his scope was expanded to include Search, Geo, and Assistant.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sterling |first=Greg |date=2020-06-04 |title=Google promotes Prabhakar Raghavan to lead Search, replacing Ben Gomes |url=https://searchengineland.com/google-promotes-prabhakar-raghavan-to-lead-search-replacing-ben-gomes-335561 |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=Search Engine Land |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Levy |first=Steven |title=Prabhakar Raghavan Isn’t CEO of Google—He Just Runs the Place |url=https://www.wired.com/story/prabhakar-raghavan-isnt-ceo-of-google-he-just-runs-the-place/ |access-date=2025-03-12 |work=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref>

In 2024, he transitioned to the role of Chief Technologist at Google, leaving his tenure as Head of Search.<ref name=":0" />

Raghavan has published over 100 papers in various fields and has secured 20 issued patents.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-10-18 |title=This Indian-origin executive is Google's new chief technologist |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/this-indian-origin-executive-prabhakar-raghavan-is-now-googles-new-chief-technologist-sundar-pichai-makes-big-changes/articleshow/114348808.cms |access-date=2025-05-27 |work=The Economic Times |issn=0013-0389}}</ref>

==Awards and honors==
Prabhakar is a member of the [[National Academy of Engineering]] and a Fellow of both the [[Association for Computing Machinery]] and the [[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers]] (IEEE).<ref name="Yahoo Pressroom">{{cite web|title=Dr. Prabhakar Raghavan|url=http://pressroom.yahoo.net/pr/ycorp/prabhakar-raghavan.aspx|work=Company Info|publisher=Yahoo! News Center|access-date=28 October 2011}}</ref> From 2003 to 2009, Prabhakar was the editor-in-chief of ''[[Journal of the ACM]]''.<ref name=ACM>{{cite web|title=History|url=http://jacm.acm.org/history|work=Journal of the ACM|access-date=28 October 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026032429/http://jacm.acm.org/history|archive-date=26 October 2011}}</ref>

In 1986, Prabhakar received the [[Machtey Award]] for Best Student Paper.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/SFCS.1986.30 |date=October 1986 |title=Machtey Award |publisher=IEEE Computer Society |issn=0272-5428}}</ref> In 2000, he was named a fellow of the IEEE;<ref name=IEEE>{{cite web|title=IEEE Fellows: R|url=http://www.ieee.org/membership_services/membership/fellows/alphabetical/rfellows.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120905235038/http://www.ieee.org/membership_services/membership/fellows/alphabetical/rfellows.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 5, 2012|work=IEEE Fellows|publisher=IEEE|access-date=28 October 2011}}</ref> received the Best Paper Award at the ACM Symposium on Principles of Database Systems;<ref name=Cornell>{{cite web|title=Department of Computer Science 1999-2000 Annual Report|url=https://www.cs.cornell.edu/annual_report/99-00/Kleinberg.htm|publisher=Cornell University|access-date=28 October 2011}}</ref> and received the Best Paper Award at the Ninth International World Wide Web Conference (WWW9).<ref name=IBM>{{cite web|title=2000 IBM Research Computer Science Best Paper Awards|url=http://domino.watson.ibm.com/comm/research.nsf/pages/d.compsci.bestpapers2000.html|work=IBM Computer Science|publisher=IBM|access-date=28 October 2011}}</ref> In 2002, Prabhakar was named a fellow of the ACM.<ref name=Autonomy>{{cite web|title=Verity Executive Prabhakar Raghavan Inducted as an ACM Fellow|url=http://www.autonomy.com/content/News/Releases/2002/0116a.en.html|work=News & Events|publisher=Autonomy.com|access-date=28 October 2011|archive-date=19 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319091849/http://www.autonomy.com/content/News/Releases/2002/0116a.en.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> He received the 2006 Distinguished Alumnus Award, UC Berkeley Division of Computer Science.<ref name=EECS>{{cite web|title=Distinguished Alumni|url=http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/alumni/distinguished.cs.shtml|publisher=Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences|access-date=28 October 2011}}</ref> In 2008, Prabhakar was made a member of the National Academy of Engineering,<ref name="National Academy">{{cite web|title=National Academy of Engineering Elects 65 Members and Nine Foreign Associates|url=http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=02082008|work=News|publisher=National Academies|access-date=28 October 2011}}</ref> and in 2009, he was awarded a ''Laurea honoris causa'' from the [[University of Bologna]]. In 2012, he was named a Distinguished Alumnus by the [[IIT Madras]]. In 2017, Prabhakar and co-authors received the Seoul test of time award for their 2000 paper "Graph Structure in the Web" at the WWW conference.<ref>{{Cite web | title=IW3C2 - ToT Awards | url=https://www.iw3c2.org/ToT/PressRelease-3rdToT-20170405.pdf | access-date=2025-02-15 | website=www.iw3c2.org}}</ref>

==Criticism==
In April of 2024, the blogger [[Ed Zitron]] published a report explaining how Raghavan was responsible for a massive [[enshittification|decline in quality]] at Google following his takeover of [[Google Search]] and subsequent focus on ad revenue in the prioritization of search results.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://boingboing.net/2024/04/23/how-one-power-hungry-leader-destroyed-google-search.html|title=How one power-hungry leader destroyed Google search|last=Frauenfelder|first=Mark|work=Boing Boing|date=April 23, 2024|access-date=January 12, 2025}}</ref> Google publicly denied the claims, calling them "baseless speculation".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.seroundtable.com/how-man-killed-google-search-report-37281.html|title= Report: How Prabhakar Raghavan Killed Google Search |work=Search Engine Roundtable|date=April 25, 2024|access-date=January 12, 2025}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raghavan, Prabhakar}}
[[Category:Yahoo! employees]]
[[Category:IBM employees]]
[[Category:American chief executives]]
[[Category:American businesspeople in the computer industry]]
[[Category:American computer scientists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Indian computer scientists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian mathematicians]]
[[Category:IIT Madras alumni]]
[[Category:Google employees]]

Prabhakar Raghavan - Revision history

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