Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

Register Login What's New Settings

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009

|

RSS |

Follow Newser on Twitter

Twitter

Newser - Current News - Breaking Stories

Ga Ga for Google

Started by Imperator; Last updated by Imperator

Notify editors

Ga Ga for Google

"Google is this era's transformational computing platform." - Stephen Arnold

Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Or, in this case, the brightly colored company with the anything-but-evil ethos taking over every aspect of the web. Google is the 800-pound gorilla of the Internet game, and the tech industry is running scared. Traditional media companies (think Viacom) are suing 'em and new media companies (think Yahoo!) are trying to just keep up. And with Google's technology edge, even the once-invincible Microsoft can't seem to get a leg up. No one seems to know yet whether Google is friend or foe—or perhaps, as one pundit called them—a “frenemy.”

Stories

Stories 1 - 20 of 285

1 2 3 4 5 ... 15 Next >>

June 2009
- Google Set to Add Microblog Search
  
  Ars Technica | Jun 15, 09 2:07 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Evidence suggests that Google will soon introduce a “MicroBlogsearch” feature, indexing and searching Twitter and its imitators, Ars Technica reports. Google-watchers noticed a reference to the new feature hidden in Google’s translation service. Unlike Twitter’s own search, which seeks out any and all tweets containing the search terms and displays them chronologically, Google will seek to rank the links by relevance. More »
- Va. Primary Upset Shows 'Google Blasting' Works
  
  The Atlantic | Jun 12, 09 12:30 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Creigh Deeds owes a debt to Google after his surprising come-from-behind win in this week's Virginia Democratic gubernatorial primary. Starting the day before the election, Derek Thompson writes for the Atlantic, Deeds’ campaign employed “Google Blasting, an eleventh-hour strategy to blanket Google-affiliated webpages in an area with a single ad campaign to impact voters' final decision.” And he’s not the only one. More »
- Google Dumps Disney Trip to Save Bucks
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | Jun 12, 09 4:19 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - There may be some tears and tantrums at Google's normally happy headquarters this week, the Telegraph reports. The company, rated one of the world's best to work for thanks to its generous perks, has canceled the annual company-wide trip to Disneyland. Insiders say executives decided the trip was too extravagant in light of the recent round of 200 job cuts. More »
- Google Mentor Dead in Freak Swimming Accident
  
  San Jose Mercury News | Jun 7, 09 3:43 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A Stanford computer science professor who mentored Google's founders has drowned in his swimming pool, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Rajeev Motwani, 47, who could not swim, drowned at his Atherton, Calif., home, leaving a wife, two daughters, and many admirers in Silicon Valley. “It's a rare combination to have somebody who is so smart and also such a nice guy,” said Google co-founder Sergey Brin. More »
May 2009
- Terminator Nemesis Looks Familiar: It's Google
  
  Fast Company | May 22, 09 2:10 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Could Google be SkyNet from the Terminator movies? Chris Dannen sees a resemblance, he writes for Fast Company . Heck, Google might be worse; SkyNet didn’t take over until 2029, but Google managed it by 2009. “Sure, one uses a giant Web crawler to index pages,” Dannen allows, “and the other uses a giant arsenal of automated nuclear super-weapons to extinguish the human race.” Minor quibbles aside, here’s how they stack up: More »
- Porn Spammers Hit YouTube
  
  BBC | May 21, 09 5:19 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - YouTube removed hundreds of pornographic videos posted to the site today in a coordinated attack, the BBC reports. The offending files, uploaded under names such as the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana, started innocently enough before turning graphic. “I'm 12 years old and what is this?” went a comment on a fraudulent video entitled “Jonas Brother Live on Stage.” More »
- Google Drops Plans to Save Struggling Papers
  
  Financial Times (UK) | May 21, 09 3:03 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Google has decided against throwing struggling newspapers a lifeline through acquisition or by using its charitable arm to help them gain non-profit status, CEO Eric Schmidt tells the Financial Times. Schmidt said the company considered the idea, but decided that Google didn't want to cross the line between technology and content, and that potential acquisitions proved to be either too expensive or had too many liabilities. More »
- Google Turns to Algorithm to Retain Employees
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 19, 09 11:52 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Google is dealing with the departures of several prized employees the way it deals with nearly everything: with an algorithm. The search giant has a mathematical formula it says will identify which employees are at risk of jumping ship, the Wall Street Journal reports. The formula has already spotted employees who feel underused, a key complaint. More »
- 'Google Killer' Search Site Clever, but Not Killer
  
  Times (UK) | May 18, 09 8:36 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The search engine some are calling a “Google Killer” launched Friday, and tech critics see potential—though the science-heavy searcher is no replacement for Google, notes Mike Harvey in the Times of London. WolframAlpha “takes serious scientific data and produces answers that simply don't exist as easily or as accessibly elsewhere,” he writes. “It can do calculus, regression analysis, and gene coding. In short it is the best calculator on the web.” More »
- Google, Times Brainstorm New Advertising Models
  
  Business Insider | May 14, 09 12:34 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Google won’t buy the New York Times , but the companies are discussing novel ways the search giant can help the newspaper stay afloat, the Business Insider reports. Sources say one idea is for Google to split advertising revenue it takes from sites hosting Times content with the paper. Another, more far-fetched scheme has Google helping the Times embed adverting content in text so it survives reproduction elsewhere. More »
- Google's Radio Ad Conquest Falls Flat
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 12, 09 12:48 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Google has hit a stumbling block in its quest for world domination: A bid to “conquer radio” with its advertising program didn’t go as planned, and the firm is dropping the effort at the end of the month, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Internet giant bet its automated model could revolutionize the radio-advertising market—but stations and advertisers were less enthusiastic. More »
- Google Brings Online Chrome Ad to TV
  
  Guardian (UK) | May 11, 09 5:05 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - In a desperate bid to heighten the visibility of its little-used web browser Chrome, Google has launched its first American television advertising campaign, the Guardian reports. The TV ad was made by a Google Japan team and uses stop-motion animation. Google says it’s “excited to see how this test goes and what impact television might have on creating more awareness of Google Chrome." More »
- Explore Galaxy With New Google App
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | May 11, 09 10:03 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Budding astronomers will soon have a new cell-phone tool that spots the stars they’re looking for, the Telegraph reports. Google’s Star Droid helps stargazers navigate the night sky using GPS technology that cross-references the user’s position with existing space maps, and adds identifying tags to the heavenly bodies that can be seen through the phone’s viewfinder. No release date has been announced. More »
- Search Service Will Answer Questions Google Can't
  
  New York Times | May 11, 09 8:01 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - WolframAlpha, a powerful new Web service that can answer a vast array of questions, has already answered one: No, it is not intended to dethrone Google. The site’s creator, scientist and entrepreneur Stephen Wolfram, is “not keen on the hype,” but others believe WolframAlpha could be a game-changer, the New York Times reports. “There is a huge space of possible questions that Google doesn’t answer,” one search company exec said. More »
- Monopoly Cops May Find Google Too Popular to Bust
  
  MarketWatch | May 7, 09 1:48 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The government is finally getting wise to the fact that Google holds a monopoly on Internet advertising, and has launched two antitrust investigations, Therese Poletti writes for MarketWatch. Google is “becoming almost a privatized version of the dreaded Big Brother from George Orwell's 1984 ,” Poletti writes, worse even than the threat Microsoft posed in the 1990s. But satisfied users might not care. More »
- No Kidding: Goats Mow Google Lawns
  
  CNET | May 2, 09 5:24 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Google has hired 200 low-carbon goats to graze away dry fire-hazard brush at its Northern California campus, taking a bite out of two environmental threats at once, reports CNET. "The goats are herded with the help of Jen, a border collie,” says a Google official. “It costs us about the same as mowing, and goats are a lot cuter to watch than lawn mowers." More »
April 2009
- Antitrust Concerns Prompt Google Books Probe
  
  New York Times | Apr 29, 09 9:56 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Federal lawyers are looking into whether a Google Book Search agreement with authors and publishers may violate antitrust laws, the New York Times reports. The settlement of a 2005 suit allows Google to put millions of scanned books online, charge viewers to read them, and share revenues with both groups. Opponents say the deal puts Google in an exclusive position to cash in on “orphan” texts whose rights holders aren’t known. More »
- Google Earth Knows Its ABCs
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | Apr 24, 09 12:22 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - From an A-shaped street crossing to a building in the form of a Z, an Australian man has spelled out the alphabet using Google Earth. Rhett Dashwood spent 6 months painstakingly scanning satellite images of his native state, Victoria, and found buildings or geographical landmarks in the shape of all 26 letters, reports the Telegraph . More »
- UK Privacy Cops Won't Block Google Street View
  
  BBC | Apr 23, 09 10:20 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Google Street View can keep capturing everyday British embarrassments, the nation’s information commission says, rejecting privacy groups that hoped the tech giant would be stopped. The agency ruled such a drastic step “disproportionate to the relatively small risk of privacy detriment.” British law allows filming from public streets, and Google has offered to remove images by request, reports the BBC. More »
- Tweeting for Peace in Iraq?
  
  Reuters | Apr 21, 09 2:50 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Iraqi lawmakers tweeting during sessions? YouTube campaign videos? Execs from communications and social media firms, including the likes of Google, AT&T, YouTube, MeetUp, and Twitter are in Iraq this week at the behest of the State Department. Their mission: to consider how their tools might be used to boost transparency, battle corruption, and bring people together in the fledgling democracy, Reuters reports. More »

Stories 1 - 20 of 285

1 2 3 4 5 ... 15 Next >>

[Images (6)]

[Videos (1)]

Lunch under the Tent

Lunch under the Tent ((c) Pathfinder Linden)

The Neverending Buffet

The Neverending Buffet ((c) Pathfinder Linden)

Googleplex

Googleplex ((c) Pathfinder Linden)

10^(10^100)

10^(10^100) ((c) bryce_edwards)

The Front Door to Google

The Front Door to Google ((c) bragadocchio)

Sergey Brin, left, and Larry Page, shown in March 2003 in Mt. View, California, are the founders of Google.

Sergey Brin, left, and Larry Page, shown in March 2003 in Mt. View, California, are the founders of Google. (KRT Photos)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

Google at the Global Philanthropy Forum (google (YouTube))

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next »

Related Threads

The Internet • Microsoft • Internet News • Google vs. Microsoft • Telecom • Social Networking • Big Brother Is Watching • YouTube Rules • Global Mobile • Microsoft Wants Yahoo

Background

How Google Works
Baseline Magazine

"With his unruly hair dipping across his forehead, Douglas Merrill walks up to the lectern set up in a ballroom of the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa, looking like a slightly rumpled university professor about to start a lecture. In fact, he is here on this April morning to talk about his work as director...

» Read more about How Google Works at Baseline Magazine

Best 100 Companies to Work for 2007
CNN

Google is #1 on the list.

» Read more about Best 100 Companies to Work for 2007 at CNN

google e-mail = gmail
CNN

"Google Inc., the world's No. 1 Internet search provider, plans to begin testing a free search-based e-mail product called Gmail, as it battles rivals Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN."

» Read more about google e-mail = gmail at CNN

The Birth of Google
Wired

"Larry thought Sergey was arrogant. Sergey thought Larry was obnoxious. But their obsession with backlinks just might be the start of something big."

» Read more about The Birth of Google at Wired

The Rise of Google
USA Today

"Key dates in the history of Google, the world's No. 1 Web search engine."

» Read more about The Rise of Google at USA Today

On The Origins of Google
National Science Foundation

"Even in the early days of the Internet, people saw the need for better interfaces to growing data collections. A graduate student supported by an NSF digital library project at Stanford University uncovered the missing links in Web page ranking."

» Read more about On The Origins of Google at National Science Foundation

Recommended Reading

Google

Google Corporate Homepage
Google

Google Foundation
Google

Google Milestones
Google

College life, powered by Google
Google

Blogs

The Official Google Blog
Google

John Batelle's Searchblog: Thoughts on the interesection of search, media, technology, and more
Battelle Media

News

Google to Go Carbon Neutral by 2008
Environmental Leader

Google, Don't Be Evil
OS News

Google Unveils "Universal Search"
Time

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most important stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

© 2009 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved.