The story had a certain flair. In early March, the chief information officer of the Federal Aviation Administration 
Could this be true? Might an office suite upstart topple the giant of giants? Does a Web-based suite of applications
Perhaps. Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)
Google continued gaining in U.S. search engine market share in April, up 1.4 percent over the prior month while Yahoo! held its second place position with 26.8 percent of U.S. searches, followed by Microsoft Sites (10.3 percent), Ask Network (5.1 percent) and Time Warner Network (5.0 percent).
According to the latest comScore Search analysis of activity across competitive search engines, Google now commands 49.7 percent of the Web in the United States, up 1.4 percent over the prior month when Google was reported to have 48.3 percent. Yahoo!, while maintaining the No. 2 spot, was reported to have slipped slightly to Google's advantage, down 0.7 percent in U.S. search engine market share in April with Microsoft down 0.6 percent for the No. 3 spot. While Yahoo's loss wasn't that negligable, Microsoft's market share was, representing a 3 percent decline, month-over-month.
Of interest was the fact that Americans conducted 7.3 billion searches online in April, virtually unchanged when compared to the prior month, but up 11 percent over the same period last year.
Google Sites led the pack with 3.6 billion search queries performed, followed by Yahoo Sites (2.0 billion), Microsoft Sites (757 million), Ask Network (376 million), and Time Warner Network (364 million).
from google's Blog:
"We created the Personalized Homepage to help you gather all the things you care about on Google and across the web in one place. And since one of the things we all care about is communicating with friends, today we're excited to unveil a new version of Google Talk for your Personalized Homepage. The Google Talk Gadget lets you see your contacts and chat with your friends right on your homepage, and you don't have to download anything to start chatting. We've also added a few new features to make your chats a bit more colorful, like the ability to view YouTube videos and Picasa Web Albums photos in your chats. And just like many other gadgets, you can also add the Google Talk Gadget to your own webpage or blog.
To see the Google Talk Gadget in action on the Google Personalized Homepage, check out this short video. You can also read more about it on the Google Talk Blog. Then go ahead and add it to your homepage."
The copyright lawsuit filed Tuesday by Viacom against Google and its YouTube subsidiary could end up rewriting one of the key laws of the Internet age: the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Viacom, which owns MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, is alleging that Google and YouTube infringed copyrights ``on a massive scale'' by streaming more than 1.5 billion clips of shows like ``SpongeBob SquarePants,'' ``The Colbert Report'' and ``MTV Unplugged.'' It is seeking more than $1 billion in damages.
Google and YouTube have frequently cited the millennium copyright law -- also known as the DMCA -- in defense of repeated charges that they are illegally making money off of other people's creative work. But legal experts say it has yet to be determined whether key sections of the law apply to new media companies like Google and YouTube and scores of others.
``Any ruling in the YouTube case is certain to have implications for companies like Yahoo and eBay, as well as smaller companies like Facebook and imeem,'' said Fred von Lohmann, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. ``All of these companies rely on the exact same principles that YouTube does.''
Executives at Google and YouTube have argued that they comply with the DMCA because they remove copyrighted material as soon as they are asked by the copyright owner. This includes clips of TV shows like ``The Daily Show'' as well as videos created by users that contain copyrighted material, such as a home movie that has a Rolling Stones song as a soundtrack.
Viacom says this practice places the cost of enforcing copyrights on the ``victims of infringement'' who don't have the tools to effectively police the site. Last month, Viacom requested that YouTube take down more than 100,000 videos. YouTube complied, but a number of users reposted the videos almost immediately.
Viacom argues that the DMCA's ``safe harbor'' provision, which basically exempts hosting companies from liability if they take down copyrighted material once notified, does not apply to YouTube because copyrighted works are ``the cornerstone'' of its business model.
Google says that's not the case. ``YouTube has become even more popular since we took down Viacom's material,'' Google General Counsel Kent Walker said in a statement. ``We think that's a testament to the draw of the user-generated content on YouTube.''
Still, even Google quietly acknowledges that copyright law is being tested and new interpretations are possible. ``Any court ruling that imposes liability on providers of online services for activities of their users and other third parties could harm our business,'' Google noted in a yearly report it recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Google's shares fell $11.72, or 2.58 percent, to $443.03 in trading Tuesday.
Though it's not frequently acknowledged, any created work, such as a home video posted to YouTube, is copyrighted, but individuals generally have no power to enforce their rights unless they are affiliated with a major publisher or entertainment company.
For that reason, Ron Cass, chairman of the Center for the Rule of Law, believes a ruling in Viacom's favor would be good for ordinary people who post creative work on the Internet and who are increasingly having everything from pictures to blog posts plagiarized by other sites.
Mark Cuban, owner of Magnolia Pictures, said Google and YouTube's blatant disregard for copyrights has encouraged others to violate them. The distributor of films like ``Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room'' sent subpoenas to YouTube and Google Video last week requesting the names of users who uploaded its movies.
``Remember, it's not about how they treat Viacom,'' Cuban wrote in a post on his blog (www.blogmaverick.com). ``Viacom is big enough to take care of itself. It is about hiding behind a law, the DMCA, at the expense of copyright owners, to dominate the online video space.''
While other entertainment giants, including NBC Universal and News Corp., have asked YouTube to take down copyrighted material, Viacom is the first to sue.
James Nguyen, an attorney with Foley & Lardner in Los Angeles, said that's because some of them, like News Corp., own properties like MySpace that could be hurt by a new interpretation of the law.
``If Viacom wins, it really casts doubt on a number of businesses that rely on hosting information for users,'' Von Lohmann said. Yahoo's user-generated properties, such as Flickr, Yahoo 360 and Geocities, could also be affected.
Conversely, a ruling in Google's favor would allow the already numerous sites that are built around user-generated content to operate without having to enter into licensing agreements.
``Google has basically been following the advice of the best lawyers in Silicon Valley,'' Von Lohmann said. ``If Viacom wins, that would call into doubt all of the business models that relied on the same kinds of legal advice.''
In a thread at the Mobile Burn forums MaDnEzZ has posted a screenshot taken while completing a survey online.
I'm signed up to a paid-survey website and well i received this the other day as part of the survey that i was participating in basically it was a survey about a google phone, which was designed by samsung, but running what seemed to be a google interface, i totally forgot to take a screen shot of the specs but they seemed decent, not mind blowing had the usual in par of 3g/wifi etc, had a camera 2megapixal from what i recall, feel really stupid for now taking a screenshot of the specs not lol
This is what the screenshot says about the Google Phone:
Google makes relevant information and communication tools easily available wherever you are.
The Google Phone brings the power of the internet in your pocket, in a simple and intuitive device. It combines the traditional voice and SMS capabilities of phones with all the exciting Google services from the PC such as Search, Gmail, Maps, Blogger…
The Google Phone, designed by Samsung, is a very thin and stylish handset with a large screen and a QWERTY keypad so that it provides a real internet experience.
All these internet services will be available under a simple Internet monthly flat fee, comparable to PC Broadband products, giving you transparency and control over your mobile bill. Thanks to simple relevant advertising, Google will even give you a 3 month discount on your mobile Internet monthly flat fee.
Mad4mobilephones opinion: its a fake
With the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 kicking off in just a few hours, all eyes around the world will be glued onto their television sets. But here’s one reason why you could perhaps head to your PC instead.
Google India has announced its Cricket World Cup Campaign that offers cricket enthusiasts an interactive experience via the web.
With this exciting initiative, users can write, share, debate about and enjoy the Cricket World Cup through an integrated platform of Google products like Google Desktop, personalized homepage, Blogger and Orkut through a special landing page, www.google.co.in/cricket. The platform aims to be a one-stop shop for all information related to the World Cup, enabling visitors to access regular updates, post individual comments and analysis of the game.
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What’s more, cricketer and commentator, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, will host an expert blog ‘Cricket Zone’ with Krish Srikkanth’ at www.worldcupwithkrish.blogspot.com. Through this blog, users will be able to interact with cricket experts as well as other bloggers on the performance of the various teams and engage in match analysis among other interactive sessions. Krish will also bring expert content to an interactive social networking experience through Orkut, on Krishcricket community.
As a part of this initiative, Google is also hosting a blogging cricket contest, entries for which can be submitted at www.google.co.in/cricket/contest. This will include posts on anything from on-the-ground reporting from West Indies to viewers’ opinions on the progress of the various teams at the World Cup. Both existing and new users will get a chance to participate in the contest.
In addition, Google will also have a fully equipped Blogger vehicle that will visit Bhopal, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, educating people on the use of Internet and blogging for self-expression. This educational road show will take off on March 19, 2007 from Chandigarh.
Well, cricket is a religion in India. Several big companies have even designed games and various cricket-related products and services to further induce the spirit if the game in the country, such as Microsoft’s Xbox 360 ‘Good Luck India’ Campaign and the ‘Yuvraj Singh International Cricket 2007’ - Xbox 360 Game, to name a few.
Google Inc. has established a toehold in pursuing one of its next big ambitions: controlling which television ads viewers see and tailoring them to consumers' interests.
The Mountain View company honed the highly profitable Internet model of search advertising -- that is, selling ads targeted directly at consumers based on the terms they enter into Web search engines. Last year, the eight-year-old company racked up more than $10 billion of revenue by brokering online ads for itself and its partners.
Now, Google has begun a test run serving up TV commercials to cable subscribers in Concord, people familiar with the matter say. Google's pilot project to bring its approach to cable boxes represents a foray into the $54 billion U.S. market for TV advertising -- much bigger game than its online turf.
Although the effort is in its early stages, the progress underscores how Google could bring changes to how TV commercials are sold and delivered to viewers. Other Internet companies are also pursuing an entry into TV advertising, and any major Google success could eventually challenge the traditional TV and advertising powers.
In the Concord test, Google has been steering TV commercials to subscribers of cable provider Astound Broadband, a unit of WaveDivision Holdings LLC, since last year, according to four people familiar with the matter. When those consumers watch TV, some of the commercials they see have been sold to advertisers by Google and delivered to the cable company so that they appear in the normal breaks in TV programming as other ads do.
If the system is successful, Google could eventually try to establish itself as a middleman for purchasing TV spots, furthering its stated goal of offering advertisers one-stop-shopping for ads across virtually all media.
There is no assurance, though, that Google can repeat its success in online-search advertising -- a field in which it had little serious competition -- in the crowded, highly competitive arena of conventional media.
The previously undisclosed Concord effort, being conducted with a small group of advertisers, is aimed at testing the computer and network infrastructure needed for Google to broker and deliver commercials to cable systems more widely.
In the test, advertisers are buying commercial placements through an auction system, people familiar with the matter say. But it is at an early enough stage that the buys are being handled manually by Google salespeople, rather than through a full-fledged automated auction system like the one Google uses to sell ads online, one of the people says.
Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt in January told analysts the company was experimenting with TV advertising, without offering specifics. But he said the company intends to use its technology to better target TV commercials to users.
Rather than every household seeing the same commercial, Google in theory might tap databases with information about the demographics of an individual's neighborhood and examine the content of the program being watched at a given moment to better select which ads to beam through the TV. So, for example, a household in an area with lots of children might be more likely to see commercials for minivans than for sports cars.
Although federal privacy law restricts what cable companies can do with "personally identifiable information," the theory is that consumers will be better served seeing ads more relevant to them and will perhaps agree to share information about their habits and interests with Google.
Such data eventually might allow Google or others to more specifically tailor ads to individual households -- such as beaming ads for dog foods to viewers who own dogs.
"Advertisers in particular will pay much higher rates for ads that are targeted than ones that are untargeted," Mr. Schmidt noted.
At this stage, the commercials aren't targeted to specific households in Concord, which isn't far from Google's Mountain View headquarters, people familiar with the matter say. And the company likely won't on its own tap information about a specific household's buying patterns or other behaviors in order to choose the commercials because of the privacy concerns, one of the people says.
A spokeswoman for WaveDivision couldn't be reached for comment, but an executive with Astound, which has more than 25,000 subscribers, confirmed the test with Google is taking place.
Google's interest in TV commercials comes as the cable industry itself is turning to advertising as a promising source of revenue. One reason: Technology developments are starting to make it possible to target ads to specific households, as Google envisions. The Internet and cable players all want to play a role.
Several of the largest cable operators have also had discussions with Google about teaming up to do some form of TV advertising.
Google has broached the subject with Comcast Corp., a Bay Area cable operator and the nation's largest, with more than 23 million subscribers, as part of broader negotiations focusing on whether Google will continue as the search engine on Comcast's broadband portal, Comcast.net. Their current deal expires at the end of this year.
Some cable-industry executives are wary about giving a behemoth like Google too much power over their advertising. But many also recognize that Google will likely be a major force in the business. "We all believe as advertising moves from one-way to two-way, the winners are the Googles of the world and others that can provide truly two-way addressable advertising," said Steve Burke, Comcast's chief operating officer, during a recent earnings call.
Google's attempts to extend its ad brokering to traditional media aren't expected any time soon to contribute significantly to its revenue, 99 percent of which came from Internet ads last year.
Its traditional media-advertising efforts have also been bumpy to date. Google's executives admit to problems with the company's first tests of print-ad sales; they have given the system a major overhaul. Analysts say Google hasn't yet lined up enough radio-ad inventory to make its efforts there significant.
Although some advertisers are pushing for an Internet-based system for TV-commercial sales such as Google might provide, a group of them chose to team up with online auctioneer eBay Inc. instead. Even then, the TV networks and some advertisers and media buyers have proven resistant to such efforts to overhaul how TV ads are sold.
Some cable operators make as much as 6 percent of their revenue by selling mostly local ads in the time slots they get as part of their deals with the cable networks they carry. But cable companies feel they could greatly increase ad revenue by introducing a wide range of interactive features.
They see as the holy grail of advertising the ability to target different viewers with different commercials suited to their interests, much as Google imagines. "We're talking about delivering to advertisers things they increasingly like about the Internet," says Glenn Britt, Time Warner Cable Inc.'s chief executive.
Time Warner Cable had "preliminary conversations" with Google but the talks didn't advance because Time Warner executives didn't feel Google had much to add to its advertising effort, according to Britt. "We have the technological capabilities to do those things," he said. "We don't really need them."
Comcast is separately planning targeted ad-serving tests this year with three vendors that have been working close with cable operators on new forms of advertising, including OpenTV Corp., Visible World and Invidi Technologies, according to people familiar with the matter.
But Comcast executives caution that next year would be the earliest the company would launch this type of advertising. "In 2007, it's going to be baby steps," said Charlie Thurston, president of Comcast Spotlight, the operator's advertising arm.
Cable operators have to be careful about what they disclose to advertisers and others on customer viewing habits. Federal privacy law restricts what cable companies can do with "personally identifiable information."
