Internet search giant Google was on Wednesday awarded Spain's prestigious Prince of Asturias Prize for Communications and Humanities.
"Considered to be the best Internet search engine of all time, Google allows millions of users all over the world to access a universe of knowledge and information in a quick, well-structured way," the Prince of Asturias Foundation said.
"Its creation has meant a revolution, providing access to all kinds of contents and reinventing the technological principles that ruled search engines." The US Internet king won the prize over 24 other candidates, including the photo agency Magnum and the British Broadcasting Corp.
Google will officially receive the prize, worth 50,000 euros, from Crown Prince Felipe in October. The Communications and Humanities award last year went to the magazine Science and Nature, and in 2006 to National Geographic.
The Asturias foundation annually hands out eight awards in the fields of communication and humanities, scientific and technical research, social science, arts, letters, international co-operation, international understanding and sport.
Three other 2008 awards have already been announced. This year's arts prize went to the Youth and Children Orchestra of Venezuela, while the award for international co-operation was shared between four-malaria research centres in Africa.
The prize for scientific and technical research was awarded last week to two Japanese and three American scientists for their work in nano-technology.