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May 15, 2013 Google CEO Page Has Paralyzed Vocal Cords Google CEO and co-founder Larry Page announced on his Google Plus page that he has paralyzed vocal cords and also suffers from a rare condition called Hashimoto's thyroditis. Page has not spoken at recent investor events and his voice has been much softer over the past year. Page said a doctor discovered he had left vocal cord paralysis 14 years ago after suffering a bad cold and his voice became hoarse again last summer after another cold. He said he has improved over the past year and now chooses his words carefully and even has better stamina. Page credits Dr. Steven Zeitels from the Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital Voice Center -- who is really excited about the potential to improve vocal cord nerve function. After meeting him, Page has agreed to fund a significant research program through the Voice Health Institute, which Zeitels will lead. May 7, 2013 Google Takes Minority Stake in Lending Club Google has acquired a minority stake in Lending Club, a website that lets users borrow money from others. The investment by Google came as part of a secondary transaction whereby new and existing investors acquired shares from existing investors. Buyers include Google and existing investor Foundation Capital. The deal was part of a $125 investment. "Lending Club is using the Internet to reshape the financial system and profoundly transform the way people think of credit and investment," said David Lawee, Vice President of Corporate Development at Google. "We are excited to be a part of it." As part of this investment David Lawee will take an observer seat on the Lending Club Board alongside existing Board members including Mary Meeker, John Mack and Larry Summers. "Few companies have such an in-depth understanding of the Internet as Google," said Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche. "We believe our relationship with Google will be very helpful in better serving our customers. We couldn't be more excited to have them on board." Lending Club continues its significant growth with more than $1.65 billion in loans facilitated since inception including over $350 million in the last quarter. By focusing on high-credit-quality borrowers, the Lending Club platform has generated 22 consecutive quarters of positive returns. The company's wholly-owned subsidiary LC Advisors, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor, has launched several funds in the last 2 years and now has more than $450 million in assets under management. April 21, 2013 Google Reports $14 Billion in Revenue Google Inc. reported revenues of $13.97 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2013, an increase of 31% compared to the first quarter of 2012. Net income was $3.35 billion for the first quarter, up from $2.89 billion last year."We had a very strong start to 2013, with $14.0 billion in revenue, up 31% year-on-year," said Larry Page, CEO of Google. "We are working hard and investing in our products that aim to improve billions of people's lives all around the world." Google-owned sites generated revenues of $8.64 billion, or 67% of total Google revenues, in the first quarter of 2013. This represents an 18% increase over first quarter 2012 Google sites revenues of $7.31 billion. Google's partner sites using Adsense generated revenues of $3.26 billion, or 25% of total Google revenues, in the first quarter of 2013. This represents a 12% increase from first quarter 2012 Google network revenues of $2.91 billion. Cost-per-click on Google and Adsense sites were down 4% in the first quarter.Google revenues from outside of the United States totaled $7.1 billion, representing 55% of total Google revenues in the first quarter of 2013, compared to 54% in the fourth quarter of 2012 and in the first quarter of 2012. Motorola Mobile revenues were $1.02 billion, or 7% of consolidated revenues in the first quarter of 2013. Google said it had cash and securities of $50.1 billion at the end of the quarter and 53,891 total employees (38,739 in Google and 9,982 in Motorola Mobile and 5,170 in Motorola Home), an increase of 30 from the last quarter. April 18, 2013 Google Adds Provo to Fiber Cities Google announced it plans to make Provo the third U.S. city to have Google Fiber, a high-speed fiber-optic network.In order to bring Fiber to Provo, Google has signed an agreement to purchase iProvo, an existing fiber-optic network owned by the city. As a part of the acquisition, Google has committed to upgrade the network to gigabit technology and finish network construction so that every home along the existing iProvo network would have the opportunity to connect to Google Fiber. Utah is already home to hundreds of tech companies and startups, and many of them are based in Provo. Its nickname is the Silicon Slopes. In fact, the Provo area ranks second in the nation in patent growth, and is consistently ranked as one of the top places to live and do business in the U.S. Provo has a population of 115,000 and is home to Brigham Young University. Google said it plans to offer Free Internet service (5 Mbps speeds) to every home along the existing Provo network, for a $30 activation fee and no monthly charge for at least seven years. April 10, 2013 Google to Launch Fiber in Austin Google announced plans to build a high-speed fiber network in Austin, TX beginning in mid-2014. This will be the second U.S. city to get Google Fiber after Kansas City was the first market launched two years ago.Customers there will have a similar choice of products as customers in Kansas City. Pricing is expected to be similar to KC with Gigabit Internet at $70 per month or Gigabit Internet plus the Google Fiber TV service with nearly 200 HD TV channels for $120 per month. Google said it will also offer Austin customers a free Internet connection at 5 mbps for 7 years, provided they pay a one-time construction fee. Google said it plans to connect many public institutions as it build ins Austin -- schools, hospitals, community centers -- at a gigabit for no charge. Austin is the capital of Texas and home to the University of Texas main campus and its medical research center. April 2, 2013 Google Tests Home Delivery in Bay Area Google's commerce division announced it will test home delivery service in the Bay Area that could bring goods ordered online right to your door.The company is looking for testers who will be able to shop online, in a single place, from retailers such as Target, Walgreens, Staples, American Eagle and Toys R 'Us/Babies R 'Us -- along with locally distinct shops such as San Francisco's Blue Bottle Coffee, and the Bay Area's Palo Alto Toy & Sport and Raley's Nob Hill Foods, and get your items delivered that same day. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area (in the city of San Francisco, and the Peninsula from San Mateo to San Jose) and would like to help test this new Google shopping initiative, you can sign up here. The company said it is still working out a long-term pricing plan for the service but early testers will get six months of free, unlimited same-day delivery. March 22, 2013 Google Introduces Keep Note Service Google has launched a new note-taking service called Keep. With Google Keep you can quickly jot ideas down when you think of them and even include checklists and photos to keep track of what's important to you. Your notes are safely stored in Google Drive and synced to all your devices so you can always have them at hand.Keep can also transcribe your voice memos automatically so you don't need to type your notes if you prefer. Google Keep is available on Google Play for smartphones and tablets running Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich and above. You can access, edit and create new notes on the web at http://drive.google.com/keep and in the coming weeks you'll be able to do the same directly from Google Drive. March 14, 2013 Google Closing 8 More Services Google is continuing its Spring Cleaning that was first announced in 2011 with the closure of 8 additional services, bringing the total to 70 services that have been shuttered over the past two years. Here are the latest Google services to be eliminated or merged:
March 6, 2013 Chrome Browser Updated for Android, iOS Google has updated its Chrome browser for mobile devices bringing faster and simpler browsing to smartphones and tablets.With the latest version of Chrome for Android, you can scroll and fling to view all of your favorite web pages with even more speed and ease. Based on the latest version of the V8 Javascript engine, now optimized for mobile, Google has improved the Octane performance benchmark by 25 percent on average since our previous update. This means that interactions within web pages in the browser are snappier. The company also added expanded support for HTML5 features such as CSS Filters, which should result in better mobile websites in the future. We plan to continue optimizing Chrome for Android platform at the same rapid pace that you ve come to expect on Chrome across other platforms. If you're using Chrome on your iPhone or iPad, searching with Google just got even easier. Now you can see your search term in the omnibox, instead of the long search URL. This will help you refine search queries and view more content on the results page. This feature will roll out in the coming weeks, so you may not see it right away after upgrading. February 25, 2013 Google Introduces Pixel Laptop Google has launched the latest version of its Chromebook laptop called the Pixel and it boasts the highest resolution of any laptop screen. The Pixel is designed by Google but the manufacturer is unknown unlike Acer and Samsung for Google's other Chromebooks.Chromebook has a 12.85-inch screen and the highest pixel density (239 pixels per inch) of any laptop on the market according to Google. Packed with 4.3 million pixels, the display offers sharp text, vivid colors and extra-wide viewing angles. Apple's MacBook Pro with Retina Display has a slightly lower resolution with 227 pixels per inch. The body of the Pixel is made from an anodized aluminum alloy to create a smooth and durable surface; vents are hidden, screws are invisible and the stereo speakers are seamlessly tucked away beneath the backlit keyboard. The touchpad is made from etched glass, analyzed and honed using a laser microscope to ensure precise navigation. The Pixel also has powerful, full-range speakers for crisp sound, a 720p webcam for clear video, and a total of three microphones designed to cancel out surrounding noise. The company says the Samsung Chromebook has been #1 on Amazon's bestseller list for laptops every day since it launched 125 days ago in the U.S., and Chromebooks now represent more than 10 percent of notebook sales at Currys PC World, the largest electronics retailer in the U.K. The Pixel will be available for purchase on Google Play in the U.S. and U.K., and soon on BestBuy.com. The WiFi version ($1,299 U.S. and £1,049 U.K.) will start shipping next week and the LTE version ($1,449) will ship in the U.S. in April. You can visit select Best Buy (U.S.) and Currys PC World (U.K.) store locations to see the Pixel in person. February 12, 2013 Google Chairman Selling 3.2 Million Shares of Stock Google Chairman Eric Schmidt will be getting a big payday. According to a filing with the SEC, Schmidt plans to sell up to 3.2 million shares of common stock he holds this year. With Google stock hitting a record high last week at $785, Schmidt could reap in $2.5 billion.As of December 31, 2012, Schmidt owned approximately 7.6 million shares of Class A and Class B common stock, which represented approximately 2.3% of Google's outstanding capital stock and approximately 8.2% of the voting power of Google's outstanding capital stock. The stock trading plan is in accordance with rule Rule 10b5-1 which conforms to company policy against insider trading. The stock sales will happen over the next year to reduce market impact. Schmidt is making the sale to diversify his investment holdings and to raise cash. January 23, 2013 Google Reports Strong Fourth Quarter Sales Google Inc. reported consolidated revenues of $14.42 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2012, an increase of 36% compared to the fourth quarter of 2011. The company reported net income of $2.89 billion, compared to $2.71 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011."We ended 2012 with a strong quarter," said Larry Page, CEO of Google. "Revenues were up 36% year-on-year, and 8% quarter-on-quarter. And we hit $50 billion in revenues for the first time last year -- not a bad achievement in just a decade and a half. In today's multi-screen world we face tremendous opportunities as a technology company focused on user benefit. It's an incredibly exciting time to be at Google." Google revenues were $12.91 billion, up 22% from a year ago. Google-owned sites generated $8.64 billion, or 67% of total revenues. Revenues were up 18% from a year ago. Google partner sites through Adsense generated revenues of $3.44 billion or 27% of total revenues. Partner revenues were up 19% from a year ago. Google paid out $3.08 billion to its partners through revenue share. Motorola Mobile revenues were $1.51 billion, or 11% of consolidated revenues in the fourth quarter of 2012. Motorola is a Google subsidiary. On a worldwide basis, Google employed 53,861 full-time employees (37,544 in Google and 11,113 in Motorola Mobile and 5,204 in Motorola Home) as of December 31, 2012, compared to 53,546 full-time employees as of September 30, 2012. January 10, 2013 Google Invests $200 Million in Texas Wind Farm Google has made a $200 million equity investment in a wind farm in west Texas that generates enough energy to power more than 60,000 average U.S. homes.Spinning Spur Wind Project is located in Oldham County, a wide open, windy section of the Texas Panhandle located about 35 miles from Amarillo. The 161 megawatt facility was built by renewable energy developer EDF Renewable Energy, a veteran in the industry that has overseen more than 50 other clean energy projects. Spinning Spur's 70 2.3 MW Siemens turbines started spinning full time just before the end of the year, and the energy they create has been contracted to SPS, a utility that primarily serves Texas and New Mexico. The company says it is looking to make investments in clean energy products that are efficient and boost local economies. Spinning Spur joins 10 other renewable energy investments Google has made since 2010. January 7, 2013 Google Settles With FTC Google Inc. has agreed to change some of its business practices to resolve Federal Trade Commission concerns that those practices could stifle competition in the markets for popular devices such as smart phones, tablets and gaming consoles, as well as the market for online search advertising.Under a settlement reached with the FTC, Google will meet its prior commitments to allow competitors access -- on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms -- to patents on critical standardized technologies needed to make popular devices such as smart phones, laptop and tablet computers, and gaming consoles. In a separate letter of commitment to the Commission, Google has agreed to give online advertisers more flexibility to simultaneously manage ad campaigns on Google's AdWords platform and on rival ad platforms; and to refrain from misappropriating online content from so-called "vertical" websites that focus on specific categories such as shopping or travel for use in its own vertical offerings. "The changes Google has agreed to make will ensure that consumers continue to reap the benefits of competition in the online marketplace and in the market for innovative wireless devices they enjoy," said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. "This was an incredibly thorough and careful investigation by the Commission, and the outcome is a strong and enforceable set of agreements." The FTC said that Google agreed to not seek injunctions to block rivals from using patents essential to key technologies. The company will also remove restrictions hampering advertisers' management of their ad campaigns across competing ad platforms. December 20, 2012 Google Sells Motorola Home Buiness for $2.35 Billion Google announced that Motorola Mobility, a subsidiary of the company, is selling the Motorola Home business to ARRIS for $2.35 billion in a cash-and-stock transaction.Under the terms of the agreement, upon closing of the transaction, Google will receive $2.05 billion in cash and approximately $300 million in newly issued ARRIS shares, subject to certain adjustments provided for in the agreement, representing an approximately 15.7% ownership interest in ARRIS post-closing. Acquiring Motorola Home will enhance ARRIS' ability to provide next-generation consumer video products and services, supporting a more comprehensive product offering while also accelerating its ability to deliver a comprehensive set of industry-leading new products for broadband to a wide spectrum of customers. Motorola Home is a profitable business that generated revenues of $3.4 billion for the last four quarters ended September 30, 2012. The company is a global IP business that is pioneering advancements in the cloud, the network, and the home to enable the desired IP Connected Home and future service provider revenue streams. Its end-to-end platform includes advanced software and network technology, services and systems integration, content security, managed home solutions, and next-gen home devices that deliver rich user experiences. December 13, 2012 Google Releases Maps App for iOS Google has released a new Maps App that can be downloaded for Apple's iOS that gives iPad and iPhone users access to Google Maps once again. Apple introduced its own Maps App with the new iOS 6 this year and got rid of Google Maps for new iPhone 5 users. Apple immediately faced criticism because of inaccuracies from its maps and lack of detailed data like transit information that was found with Google.The maps by Google feature Street View, fast downloads of maps and also turn-by-turn-directions. The Maps App from Google is far superior to what Apple currently offers which does have 3D aerial views but much slower downloads. The new Google Maps app is available for the iPhone and iPod Touch (4th gen) iOS 5.1 and higher, in more than 40 countries and 29 languages, including Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish. Google is also releasing an SDK for developers to include Google Maps in their apps. November 30, 2012 Google Acquires IncentiveTargeting Google has acquired the firm IncentiveTargeting, a firm based in Cambridge, MA. Terms of the acquisition weren't announced.Founded in February of 2007 by Ben Sprecher and Joshua Herzig-Marx, Incentive Targeting partners with retail chains to provide a targeted marketing service to manufacturers of grocery and consumer products. The firm's patent-pending technology allows non-technical marketing executives to design sophisticated, relevant promotions -- and measure Return-on-Investment in real time -- directly over the Internet. The firm allows grocery chains and brands to create targeted promotions and view sales data and trends by logging into the IncentiveTargeting website. November 16, 2012 Google Sells Chromebook From Acer for $199 Google has introduced a new laptop made in partnership with Acer called the Acer C7 Chromebook.The new Acer C7 Chromebook delivers a hassle-free computing experience with speed, built-in security and the simplicity of automatic updates. It features a full-size keyboard, fully clickable trackpad, an extra bright 11.6-inch display and over 3.5 hours of battery life. Powered by an Intel Core processor, the Acer Chromebook boots up in 18 seconds, resumes instantly and plays high-definition videos smoothly. The laptop runs Google's Chrome OS and weighs 3 pounds. It has 2GB of RAM and also 320GB hard drive built-in. The Acer Chromebook will be available for $199 in the U.S. on Google Play, BestBuy.com and rolling out this week in select Best Buy stores. In the U.K., it's available on Google Play, Amazon UK, PC World and Currys. More countries will be able to purchase it soon. It's the second new Chromebook Google has released in the past month with a $249 Chromebook made by Samsung in October. November 12, 2012 Google's Chrome Faster by 26% This Year Google has launched a new version of its Chrome browser called Chrome Beta and says it is getting even faster with performance up 26% year. The speed increase is based on Javascript benchmarks showing Octane scores acccording to a blog post by Google software engineer Toon Verwaest.
In addition to Javascript improvement, Google Chrome is also reducing wait times by making server-side changes to Google Cloud Print so the printer selection dialog shows up twice as fast. Google is also improving browser startup times to make things even faster. October 29, 2012 Google Unveils New Nexus Devices After canceling an Android media event in NYC Monday due to Hurricane Sandy, Google decided to just introduce new versions of its Nexus smartphone and tablets via a blog post.Nexus 4 is Google's latest smartphone developed together with LG. It has a quad-core processor, a crisp 4.7" (320 ppi) display that's perfect for looking at photos and watching YouTube, and with wireless charging you just set the phone down on a charging surface to power it up, no wires needed. The new Nexus 7 tablet is available with 16GB ($199) or 32GB ($249) of storage. Google has also added HSPA+ mobile data. Nexus 7 is now also available with 32GB and HSPA+ mobile ($299), which can operate on more than 200 GSM providers worldwide, including AT&T and T-Mobile in the U.S. Google has partnered with Samsung to build a larger tablet with a 10-inch screen. Nexus 10 is the highest resolution tablet on the planet according to Google with a 10.055" display at 2560-by-1600 (300ppi), that's over 4 million pixels right in your hands. It comes with a powerful battery that will get you up to nine hours of video playback and more than 500 hours of standby time. It also features a set of front-facing stereo speakers to watch movies. You can buy the Nexus 10 with 16GB for $399; 32GB for $499. It will be available on 11/13 in the Google Play Store in the U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Canada and Japan. You'll also be able to purchase the 32GB version in more than 2,000 Walmart stores in the U.S. All new wireless devices run on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. October 23, 2012 Google Sells New Chromebook for $249 Google is now selling a new Chromebook laptop built by Samsung for only $249. The laptop sports an 11.6-inch screen, is less than 0.7-inch thick and weighs just 2.42 pounds. It has up to 6.5 hours of battery life and boots up in less than 10 seconds.The Chromebook runs on Google's own Chromebook OS and features Google's most popular products built-in, including the Chrome browser (of course), Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, Hangouts and YouTube. There is no hard drive included with the laptop but Google is offering 100GB of free storage via the cloud on Google Drive for the first two years. A larger version, known as the Chromebook 550, features a 12.1-inch screen and costs $449. The laptops can be purchased online at Google Play and also retailers including Amazon.com, Best Buy, TigerDirect.com and NewEgg.com. October 18, 2012 Earnings Prerelease Slams Google Stock Google saw its shares get slammed Thursday after its earnings release was mistakenly posted online on the SEC website around noon Eastern time when it was supposed to be made public after the close of trading at 4 p.m.The release also had poor news of quarterly earnings at Google which sent shares in the stock down 9% and caused the stock to be suspended for several hours. Google blamed RRDonnelley for the error, which receives earnings releases from many companies, and posts them as filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company reported consolidated revenues of $14.10 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2012, an increase of 45% compared to the third quarter of 2011. Net income in the third quarter of 2012 was $2.18 billion, down from $2.73 billion in the third quarter of 2011. Google-owned sites generated revenues of $7.73 billion, or 67% of total Google revenues, in the third quarter of 2012. This represents a 15% increase over third quarter 2011 Google sites revenues of $6.74 billion. Google's partner sites through Adsense generated revenues of $3.13 billion, or 27% of total Google revenues, in the third quarter of 2012. This represents a 21% increase from third quarter 2011 Google network revenues of $2.60 billion. International revenues totaled $6.11 billion or 53% of total revenues. Average cost-per-click decreased 15% from last year and 3% from the second quarter. "We had a strong quarter. Revenue was up 45 percent year-on-year, and, at just fourteen years old, we cleared our first $14 billion revenue quarter," said Larry Page, CEO of Google. "I am also really excited about the progress we're making creating a beautifully simple, intuitive Google experience across all devices." Page returned after not appearing in public for several months due to problems with his vocal cords. On a worldwide basis, Google employed 53,546 full-time employees (36,118 in our Google business and 17,428 in our Motorola business) as of September 30, 2012, compared to 54,604 full-time employees as of June 30, 2012. Google has cut nearly 3,000 workers from Motorola which it acquired this year. October 9, 2012 Google Providing Credit Cards to Adwords Advertisers Google is offering a credit card for small business users that can help pay for their Adwords ad campaigns on the search engine.The card is being offered in the United Kingdom and U.S. with more invitations going out to Adwords customers this month. Google wants the card to make it easier for small businesses to pay for their AdWords campaigns and track their spending. Last July, Google piloted AdWords Business Credit in the US, a credit card specifically for AdWords. More than 1,400 businesses from a variety of industries participated in the pilot -- from Kuru Footwear to 'Get Bats Out' bat removal -- and their feedback was overwhelmingly positive. In a survey conducted after the pilot launched, 74% of respondents said they now use AdWords Business Credit as their primary form of AdWords payment. Google is now inviting businesses to use AdWords Business Credit in the UK and extend more invitations in the US later this month. Here are a few details about the cards: In the UK, AdWords Business Credit will have a variable 11.9% APR Representative. In the US, AdWords Business Credit will offer an APR as low as 8.99% up to 18.99%, the same rate as in the pilot. Neither card will have annual fees, and they will both have an ample credit limit for AdWords. The company is teaming up with Barclaycard, part of the Barclays group, in the UK and Comenity Capital Bank in the US to issue the card. Both are MasterCard cards. AdWords Business Credit can only be used for AdWords advertising purchases. October 4, 2012 Google Extends Spring Cleaning Google announced it is winding down several more features as part of a "spring" cleaning announced last fall. This will bring the total to nearly 60 features eliminated or reduced by Google over the past year:- AdSense for Feeds was designed to help publishers earn revenue from their content by placing ads on their RSS feeds. Starting October 2, Google will begin to retire this feature and on December 3 it will be closed. Publishers can continue to use FeedBurner URLs powered by Google, so they won t need to redirect subscribers to different URLs. For more information visit the AdSense Help Center. - Classic Plus is a Google Search feature that lets people upload or select images to use as a background on Google.com. Users won't be able to upload new pictures starting from October 16, and Google plans to turn the service off in November 2012. You'll continue to have access to any images you've uploaded. - Google storage in Picasa and Drive will be consolidated over the next few months, so users will have five GB of free storage across both services. If you're paying for storage, your free storage will now be counted towards your total. So if you buy a 100GB plan, it will give you 100GB of total storage instead of adding to what you already had. We believe this approach will make it much easier for users. For both free and paid storage, people at or near their current storage limits will have the same amount of storage after this change. - Spreadsheet Gadgets were designed to allow people to add customized features to Google Spreadsheets. But most popular gadgets have now been added directly into charts in spreadsheets. Google plans to start turning off Gadgets in Spreadsheets next year. - Starting on October 15, Google will stop issuing and displaying Google News Badges, as well as showing Recommended Sections. People can still tailor their Google News experience by adding custom sections or adjusting the frequency with which news sources appear. - The company has merged Insights for Search into a revamped Google Trends. You can now see search trends and compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, time frames and properties in a single place: google.com/trends. Google will no longer support Trends for Websites, which allowed people to compare traffic to and audiences of different websites. - Places Directory was an Android app that helped people find nearby places of interest. Google has removed the app from Google Play and are taking down the Places Directory site because users can find everything in Google Maps for Mobile, which offers a much better user experience. - Google introduced +1 Reports in Webmaster Tools to help publishers measure +1 activity on their pages. Given that webmasters now use Social Reports in Google Analytics to get a wider view of social activity (including +1s), Google will be discontinuing the stand-alone +1 Reports on November 14. October 2, 2012 Google Maps Providing Underwater Views Google Maps is now offering spectacular views under the ocean as part of its Street View maps. Google is partnering with The Catlin Seaview Survey, a major scientific study of the world's reefs, to make these images available to millions of people through the Street View feature of Google Maps. The Catlin Seaview Survey used a specially designed underwater camera, the SVII, to capture these photos. Now available are underwater panoramas of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and Molokini Crater in Maui, Hawaii. Click here to explore the underwater vistas. September 27, 2012 Google Maps Providing Underwater Views Google Maps is now offering spectacular views under the ocean as part of its Street View maps. Google is partnering with The Catlin Seaview Survey, a major scientific study of the world's reefs, to make these images available to millions of people through the Street View feature of Google Maps. The Catlin Seaview Survey used a specially designed underwater camera, the SVII, to capture these photos. Now available are underwater panoramas of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and Molokini Crater in Maui, Hawaii. Click here to explore the underwater vistas. September 18, 2012 Google Buys Nik Software Google has acquired Nik Software of San Diego, a maker of photography software for digital imaging and consumer markets. Nik is best known for its Snapseed app, which was ranked top iPad app of the year in 2011 by Apple. The company's products have won over 100 industry awards for quality and innovation. Nik Software was founded in 1995. Terms of the acquisition by Google were not released. Snapseed is one of the main competitors of Instagram, a photo app bought by Facebook earlier this year for $1 billion. The deal could help Google attract more visitors to its Google Plus social network. The company announced Google Plus has more than 400 million users. Nik Software is a recognized leader in digital photographic filter development and produces award-winning technology and software products for digital photography and imaging professionals including U Point technology, Dfine, Viveza, Color Efex Pro, HDR Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, and Sharpener Pro software. September 5, 2012 Google Ends TV Ad Sales Google is ending its five-year venture to sell ads on television. The search engine giant has been trying to tap its large base of online advertisers into other media but has prety much failed. In 2007, the company launched Google TV Ads in AdWords to bring digital buying and measurement technologies to traditional TV advertising. In a blog post, Google said it will close the TV Ads product over the next few months and move the team to other areas at the company as video watching moves across various platforms. The company plans to double down on video solutions for clients (like YouTube, AdWords for Video, and ad serving tools for web video publishers). It also sees opportunities to help users access web content on their TV screens, through products like Google TV. Google has also attempted to sell ads for newspapers and radio in the past. Google Print Ads was created in 2006 but the venture ended in 2009. Google also pulled the plug on its radio ad venture in 2009. August 17, 2012 Google Buys Frommer's Travel Guides Google has agreed to buy Frommer's brand of travel guides from John Wiley & Sons. The purchase price was around $25 million according to The Wall Street Journal. Frommer's is a well-known publisher of travel guidebooks starting with Arthur Frommer's first book Europe on $5 a Day in 1957. There are now over 300 guidebooks as well as popular website with travel information and tips. Google is uncertain whether to continue publishing the print version of the travel guides but will be definitely adding content online as it expands into travel bookings. Frommer's will be placed under the Zagat brand that was also acquired by Google last year. Zagat is a publisher of restaurant reviews. Frommer's was purchased by John Wiley & Sons in 2001. August 13, 2012 Google to Cut 4,000 Jobs at Motorola Motorola Mobility, a subsidiary of Google that was acquired in May 2012, will reduce its workforce by 4,000 out of about 20,000 total workers according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Two-thirds of the reduction is set to occur outside of the U.S. In addition, Motorola plans to close or consolidate about one-third of its 90 facilities, as well as simplify its mobile product portfolio -- shifting the emphasis from feature phones to more innovative and profitable devices. These changes are designed to return Motorola's mobile devices unit to profitability, after it lost money in 14 of the last 16 quarters. Motorola will be providing generous severance packages according to the SEC filing, as well as outplacement services to help the employees find new jobs. Google expects to incur a severance-related charge of no greater than $275 million, which will be largely recognized in the third quarter, with the remaining severance-related costs recognized by the end of 2012. Motorola Mobility is a maker of cellphones and tablet devices. August 10, 2012 Google Pays $22.5 Million Fine to FTC Google Inc. has agreed to pay a record $22.5 million civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it misrepresented to users of Apple Inc.'s Safari Internet browser that it would not place tracking 'cookies' or serve targeted ads to those users, violating an earlier privacy settlement between the company and the FTC. The settlement is part of the FTC's ongoing efforts make sure companies live up to the privacy promises they make to consumers, and is the largest penalty the agency has ever obtained for a violation of a Commission order. In addition to the civil penalty, the order also requires Google to disable all the tracking cookies it had said it would not place on consumers ' computers. "The record setting penalty in this matter sends a clear message to all companies under an FTC privacy order," said Jon Leibowitz, Chairman of the FTC. "No matter how big or small, all companies must abide by FTC orders against them and keep their privacy promises to consumers, or they will end up paying many times what it would have cost to comply in the first place." In its complaint, the FTC charged that for several months in 2011 and 2012, Google placed a certain advertising tracking cookie on the computers of Safari users who visited sites within Google's DoubleClick advertising network, although Google had previously told these users they would automatically be opted out of such tracking, as a result of the default settings of the Safari browser used in Macs, iPhones and iPads. According to the FTC's complaint, Google specifically told Safari users that because the Safari browser is set by default to block third-party cookies, as long as users do not change their browser settings, this setting "effectively accomplishes the same thing as [opting out of this particular Google advertising tracking cookie]." In addition, Google represented that it is a member of an industry group called the Network Advertising Initiative, which requires members to adhere to its self-regulatory code of conduct, including disclosure of their data collection and use practices. Despite these promises, the FTC charged that Google placed advertising tracking cookies on consumers' computers, in many cases by circumventing the Safari browser's default cookie-blocking setting. Google exploited an exception to the browser's default setting to place a temporary cookie from the DoubleClick domain. Because of the particular operation of the Safari browser, that initial temporary cookie opened the door to all cookies from the DoubleClick domain, including the Google advertising tracking cookie that Google had represented would be blocked from Safari browsers. August 1, 2012 Google Buys Wildfire Google has acquired social media marketing company Wildfire for a reported $250 million. Based in Redwood City, Wildfire has offices in NY, LA, Chicago, Munich, London, Paris and Singapore.The company was founded in 2008 by Victoria Ransom and Alain Chuard. The company has 400 employees and was a two-time winner of Facebook's fbFund. Investors include Summit Partners, Translink Capital, 500 Startups and SoftTech VC. Wildfire helps businesses like Virgin, Cirque du Soleil, Gilt Group and Spotify manage their social efforts across numerous social websites. It's a platform for brands to manage their pages, apps, tweets, videos, sponsorships, ads, promotions and more, all in one place. Wildfire is a software platform that integrates directly with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. It has 16,000 clients including 30 of the top 50 brands. July 27, 2012 Google to Offer Super Fast Fiber in Kansas City Google is offering high-speed broadband access to Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO. It's called Google Fiber with 100 times the speed of broadband. Fiber has no buffering or loading and can bring new opportunities to using the World Wide Web and also lets users watch high-definition TV.Service could begin this September and Google is planning to expand its offering to other cities. Google is offering Kansas City residents three packages according to its Google Fiber blog: Gigabit + Google Fiber TV: What's better than a gig of Internet? A gig plus TV, designed for how you watch today and how you'll watch tomorrow. Google Fiber TV carries hundreds of channels (including your local favorites) and tens of thousands of shows on demand in crystal clear HD. With eight tuners and 2TB of DVR storage, you'll never have to miss a show again. You'll also get a brand new Nexus 7 tablet that you can use as your remote control. Gigabit + Google Fiber TV will cost $120 per month, and we'll waive the $300 construction fee. Gigabit Internet: With a gig, you can do everything you love on the web at speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans enjoy today. This package will include a gigabit-enabled network box with advanced WiFi and 1TB of cloud storage on Google Drive. Gigabit Internet will cost $70 per month, and we'll waive the $300 construction fee. Free Internet: We know that not everyone is ready to commit to a gig just yet. But we want to make sure you have the opportunity to upgrade when you're ready. So if you pre-register and your fiberhood gets installed, you'll have the option to get a 5 megabit per second (Mbps) connection for zero monthly charge, and your home will be wired and ready for the switch. The Free Internet option will cost $0 per month, although you will have to pay a $300 construction fee (which can either be paid at once, or in $25 monthly installments). July 20, 2012 Google Reports Second Quarter Results Google Inc. reported consolidated revenues of $12.21 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2012, an increase of 35% compared to the second quarter of 2011. Google Inc. reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting traffic acquisition costs (TAC). In the second quarter of 2012, TAC totaled $2.60 billion, or 25% of advertising revenues.Net income was $2.79 billion for the quarter compared to $2.51 billion last year. Google's own site revenues were $7.54 billion for the quarter while network sites through Adsense generated $2.98 billion or 27% of total revenues. Revenues from outside the U.S. were $5.96 billion or 54% of total revenues. Motorola, a new Google acquisition, had revenues of $1.25 billion. "Google standalone had a strong quarter with 21% year-on-year revenue growth, and we launched a bunch of exciting new products at I/O -- in particular the Nexus 7 tablet, which has received rave reviews," said Larry Page, CEO of Google. "This quarter is also special because Motorola is now part of the Google family, and we're excited about the potential to build great devices for users." Google's Page did not make an appearance at the conference call and is reportedly still having problems with his voice. The company said it employed 54,604 full-time employees (34,311 in the Google business and 20,293 in the Motorola business) as of June 30, 2012, compared to 33,077 full-time employees as of March 31, 2012. July 7, 2012 Google Trims More Services Google announced closures of new services out of more than 30 products eliminated or combined as part of spring and summer cleaning first announced last fall.Here's a summary of the changes Google is making: The Google Mini has been an important part of the Enterprise Search offering since it was first introduced in 2005. But beginning July 31 the company is discontinuing the product because its functionality can be better provided by products like Google Search Appliance, Google Site Search and Google Commerce Search. Google Talk Chatback allowed websites to embed a Google Talk widget so that they could engage with their visitors. It's now outdated, so the company is turning off Chatback and encouraging websites to use the Meebo bar. Google Video stopped taking uploads in May 2009. Later this summer, the company will be moving the remaining hosted content to YouTube. Google Video users have until August 20 to migrate, delete or download their content. After this, all remaining Google Video content will be moved to YouTube as private videos that users can access in the YouTube video manager. On November 1, 2013, iGoogle will be retired. iGoogle originally launched in 2005 before anyone could fully imagine the ways that today's web and mobile apps would put personalized, real-time information at your fingertips. With modern apps that run on platforms like Chrome and Android, the need for iGoogle has eroded over time, so it will be shutting down. Users will have 16 months to adjust or export their data. Google will also be retiring the Symbian Search App to focus efforts on the mobile web search experience. June 28, 2012 Google to Sell $199 Nexus 7 Tablet Google announced at its I/O developers conference that it will begin selling a new tablet device with a 7-inch screen beginning in July. The Nexus 7 will be made by Taiwanese computer manufacturer ASUS and will be sold at the Google Play online store and ship in a few weeks.The Nexus 7 features a 7-inch 1280x800 HD display, Tegra-3 chipset, with a quad-core CPU and 12-core GPU. It will weigh 340 grams and include a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera. The tablet will be powered by Android 4.1 software, also known as Jelly Bean. Nexus 7 comes preloaded with entertainment, including the movie "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," the book "The Bourne Dominion," magazines like Condé Nast Traveler and Popular Science, and songs from bands like Coldplay and the Rolling Stones. Google is also including, for a limited time, a $25 credit to purchase your favorite movies, books and more from Google Play. Nexus 7 is available for preorder today from Google Play in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia, and starts at $199 in the U.S. for 8GB of storage and $249 for 16GB of storage. It will start shipping mid-July. The Nexus 7 is priced the same as Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet at $199 and much less than Apple's latest iPad, which costs $499 and has a larger screen. Google also said it will begin selling the Nexus Q, a sphere-shaped device that plugs into speakers in your home and lets you stream music from your online accounts. The Nexus Q will be priced at $299 and also on sale through Google Play in the U.S. in July. June 8, 2012 Google Launches Trusted Stores Program Google is trying to improve customer service and encourage more shopping online through its site with its new Trusted Stores Program.The company has been testing the program since last fall with 50 online merchants and over 10 million orders. Shoppers who use a Google Trusted Store will see a chart listing a merchant's shipping and service reliabity with a letter grade and based on number of orders processed. Google says it will protect your purchase from a Google Trusted Store if certain problems arise. In some cases, Google will offer you a refund of the amount that you paid for your purchase, less any refunds you've received, up to a maximum of $1,000 in lifetime claims. Some types of purchases and problems aren't covered. Only purchases shipped within the U.S. are eligible. Reuters reports that Google has hired a dedicated customer service team at its headquarters in Mountain View to work with customers who have problems with merchants and try to resolve them. Google says the service is free for both shoppers and online stores that apply. Badges for Google Trusted Stores will soon appear in search ads as well as Google shopping results. June 5, 2012 Google Acquires Meebo, QuickOffice Google has made two acquisitions just this week with the purchase of Meebo and QuickOffice.Based in Mountain View and founded in 2005, Meebo is a social media developer best known for its Meebo Bar which lies at the bottom of a computer screen and helps users find content tailored to their interests. The deal for privately held Meebo has been reported at $100 million and will help expand the Google+ networking service. Meebo has received $70 million in venture capital from investors Sequoia Capital, True Ventures, DFJ, Jafco and Khosla Ventures. Google has also bought QuickOffice, which develops a moble app to let users work on documents created with Microsoft Office. Its website was inaccessible on Tuesday evening. QuickOffice has a reported 400 employees and is based in Austin, TX. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Alan Warren, Engineering Director for Google, said in a blog post that QuickOffice technology will be integrated into Google Apps productivity suite, a paid service available for businesses, government and education users. June 1, 2012 Google Offers Free Access to Zagat Reviews Google is now offering reviews of local places including restaurants using Zagat in its search results. Zagat, a leading provider of restaurant reviews in major cities, was bought by Google in September 2011 for over $100 million.Zagat scores and summaries are now featured on Google+ Local pages and also map results. Users can sign up to a Google+ account and also access Zagat's reviews for free which are available in over 95,000 cities in more than 35,000 locations. Zagat used to charge $25 per year for online access to restaurant review or $5 per month. Those charges are no longer needed and anyone who subscribed will receive a refund. Zagat plans to continue publishing printed directories of restaurant reviews in major cities. May 22, 2012 Google Completes Motorola Mobility Deal Google CEO Larry Page announced that the company's deal to acquire Motorola Mobility has closed following approval by Chinese regulators over the weekend.Google announced the deal last August for the cellphone maker and will pay $12.5 billion in cash. In a blog post, Page said, "Motorola is a great American tech company that has driven the mobile revolution, with a track record of over 80 years of innovation, including the creation of the first cell phone. We all remember Motorola's StarTAC, which at the time seemed tiny and showed the real potential of these devices. And as a company who made a big, early bet on Android, Motorola has become an incredibly valuable partner to Google. "Sanjay Jha, who was responsible for building the company and placing that big bet on Android, has stepped down as CEO. I would like to thank him for his efforts and am tremendously pleased that he will be working to ensure a smooth transition as long-time Googler Dennis Woodside takes over as CEO of Motorola Mobility." "I've known Dennis for nearly a decade, and he's been phenomenal at building teams and delivering on some of Google's biggest bets. One of his first jobs at Google was to put on his backpack and build our businesses across the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and Russia. More recently he helped increase our revenue in the U.S. from $10.8 billion to $17.5 billion in under three years as President of the Americas region. Dennis has always been a committed partner to our customers and I know he will be an outstanding leader of Motorola. As an Ironman triathlete, he's got plenty of energy for the journey ahead -- and he's already off to great start with some very strong new hires for the Motorola team." May 7, 2012 Gmail Now Includes Language Translation Google's Gmail service now has language translation built in to messages as of last week. If you receive a message in a foreign language, you can click on the Translate Message button on the header of the page and your e-mail will be instantly translated.The service for Gmail comes from Google Translate, a powerful feature which lets users translate documents or entire webpages into various languages. Google says this has become a popular feature for Google Apps for Business users who have local teams around the world and can help them communicate better from different countries. It's also an amazing tool to communicate with relatives overseas. April 26, 2012 Google Drive Debuts Google has officially introduced a new online storage service called Google Drive. Users can upload and access all of their files, including videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs and more.Google Docs is built right into Google Drive, so you can work with others in real time on documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Once you choose to share content with others, you can add and reply to comments on anything (PDF, image, video file, etc.) and receive notifications when other people comment on shared items. Google Drive can be accessed with your Mac or PC and you can download the Drive app to your Android phone or tablet. The company says it is still working on a Drive app for iOS devices. Blind users can access Drive with a screen reader. You can search for files by keyword and filter by file type, owner and more. Drive can even recognize text in scanned documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. Users get up to 5 GB of storage space for free. You can choose to upgrade to 25GB for $2.49/month, 100GB for $4.99/month or even 1TB for $49.99/month. When you upgrade to a paid account, your Gmail account storage will also expand to 25GB. April 14, 2012 Google to Split Stock Google announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 and plans to split its stock 2-for-1. Shares in the company dropped Friday $26.41 to close at $624.60 per share."Google had another great quarter with revenues up 24% year on year," said Larry Page, CEO of Google. "We also saw tremendous momentum from the big bets we've made in products like Android, Chrome and YouTube. We are still at the very early stages of what technology can do to improve people's lives and we have enormous opportunities ahead. It is a very exciting time to be at Google." Google announced that its Board of Directors unanimously approved a stock dividend proposal designed to preserve the corporate structure that has allowed Google to remain focused on the long term. The stock split will give shareholders a new class of stock that won't include voting rights, allowing Page and Google's other co-founder Sergey Brin to maintain control of the company. These non-voting shares will be primarily for corporate uses such as equity compensation for employees. Page said in a letter that the company is not planning a big acquisition as part of the stock split. Google reported revenues of $10.65 billion in the first quarter of 2012, a 24% increase over first quarter 2011 revenues of $8.58 billion. The company reported net income of $2.89 billion. Google's network revenues which includes Adsense, generated $2.91 billion, or 27% of total revenues, up 20% from the previous year. The company said it has 33,077 full-time employees at the end of March, up from 32,467 the previous quarter. April 7, 2012 Google CEO Gives Company Update Google CEO and co-founder Larry Page wrote an open letter to investors giving an update about the company. It's the one year anniversary for Page as CEO since taking over for Eric Schmidt on April 4, 2011. Some highlights from the letter: - Page says he has reorganized the company to focus on core products and also cleaned up and eliminated unnecessary and underused projects. Google has closed or combined over 30 products, including projects like Knol and Sidewiki. - Google acquired ITA Software last year and is integrating it into the company by adding prices to searches for flights on its site. Page said the company is also working on Hotel Finder, where users can compare hotel prices and book rooms from Google. - Android has become a big hit for the company with over 850,000 devices activated daily through 55 manufacturers and 300 carriers. Google Chrome is now on Android and the company is also looking to build its own devices with the acquisition of Motorola Mobility. - Gmail now has over 350 million users and is also adding more than 5,000 education and business customers each day. - YouTube has over 800 million monthly users and they are uploading an hour of new video every second. - Google Adsense is continuing to support content online and has paid over $30 billion to partners over the past decade. Partner revenue on YouTube has also doubled for the fourth year in a row. April 5, 2012 Google Testing Computerized Glasses Google researchers are working on new computerized glasses that let wearers get information online beamed right in front of their eyes. Called Project Glass, three Google employees - Babak Parviz, Steve Lee, and Sebastain Thurn - are working on the new technology and are welcoming input on their Google Plus page. March 7, 2012 Android Market Becomes Google Play Google is consolidating its Android Market app store and Google Music and eBookstore into a single entertainment destination called Google Play. Google Play will let users find, enjoy and share your favorite music, movies, books and apps on the web and on your Android phone or tablet. Google Play is entirely cloud-based so all your music, movies, books and apps are stored online, always available to you, and you never have to worry about losing them or moving them again. With Google Play you can: February 28, 2012 Google Plus Not Very Sticky Despite Google's claim that its Google Plus service has 90 million members and integration with its Gmail service, Internet users aren't spending a lot of time on it. According to research firm Comscore, U.S. users spent just 3.3 minutes on Google Plus in January, down from 4.8 minutes in December and 5.1 minutes in November. The figures were reported by Bloomberg. Facebook continues its overwhelming dominance in social networks with 7.5 hours of average use per month in January, up from 7 hours in December. Facebook has over 845 million members worldwide and is set to go public later this year. February 14, 2012 Google, Motorola Mobility Deal Approved The U.S. Deparment of Justice and the European Union have approved Google's proposed $12.5 billion deal to acquire Motorola Mobility. Google says the deal with Motorola Mobility will help supercharge its Android operating system. The deal is still awaiting approval from China before it is closed. Motorola Mobility is a maker of cellular phones and tablets with 17,000 issued patents and 6,800 applications. Here is a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division: "After a thorough review of the proposed transactions, the Antitrust Division has determined that each acquisition is unlikely to substantially lessen competition and has closed these three investigations. In all of the transactions, the division conducted an in-depth analysis into the potential ability and incentives of the acquiring firms to use the patents they proposed acquiring to foreclose competitors. In particular, the division focused on standard essential patents (SEPs) that Motorola Mobility and Nortel had committed to license to industry participants through their participation in standard-setting organizations (SSOs). The division's investigations focused on whether the acquiring firms could use these patents to raise rivals' costs or foreclose competition." February 1, 2012 Google Changing Privacy Policy Google plans to consolidate over 60 privacy policies for its different services into one main privacy policy starting March 1. The main change is for users with Google Accounts. The new Privacy Policy makes clear that, if you're signed in, Google may combine information you've provided from one service with information from other services. In short, you'll be treated as a single user across all Google products. This will allow Google to better track your usage and target ads toward your interests. The tracking will let Google tailor search results toward your interests and also determine your age and gender but has upset privacy advocates. Google says you can edit your interest categories in Ad Preferences Manager and turn off certain ads. January 23, 2012 Google Reports $10.58 Billion in Revenue Google reported revenues of $10.58 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2011, an increase of 25% compared to the fourth quarter of 2010. Google-owned sites generated revenues of $7.29 billion, or 69% of total revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2011. This represents a 29% increase over fourth quarter 2010 revenues of $5.67 billion. "Google had a really strong quarter ending a great year. Full year revenue was up 29%, and our quarterly revenue blew past the $10 billion mark for the first time," said Larry Page, CEO of Google. "I am super excited about the growth of Android, Gmail, and Google+, which now has 90 million users globally -- well over double what I announced just three months ago. By building a meaningful relationship with our users through Google+ we will create amazing experiences across our services. I'm very excited about what we can do in 2012 -- there are tremendous opportunities to help users and grow our business." Google's partner sites using Adsense generated revenues of $2.88 billion, or 27% of total revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2011. This represents a 15% increase from fourth quarter 2010 network revenues of $2.50 billion. International Revenues from outside of the United States totaled $5.60 billion, representing 53% of total revenues in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to 55% in the third quarter of 2011 and 52% in the fourth quarter of 2010. net income in the fourth quarter of 2011 was $2.71 billion, compared to $2.54 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010. On a worldwide basis, Google continues to hire. The company employed 32,467 full-time employees as of December 31, 2011, up from 31,353 full-time employees as of September 30, 2011. Wall Street did not like Google's revenue report and shares in the company plunged on Friday. January 18, 2012 Google Blacks Out Logo  Google has blacked out its logo today in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) bills that are before Congress. Google is joining hundreds of other sites in a day of protest including Wikipedia, which has totally shut down access to English language content today. Google is offering users the ability to participate in an online petition that will be sent to Congress protesting these two bills. December 21, 2011 Rebecca Black Most Watched YouTube Video YouTube, a division of Google, announced the most watched videos on its service over the past year and Rebecca Black was No. 1.Black is a 14-year old California teenager who released a single on the site called Friday which quickly became the most watched viral video and derided by critics. YouTube said there were a total of 1 trillion video playbacks this year and Rebecca Black's video was estimated at over 167 million views. Below are the top 10 videos viewed globally on YouTube that were not made by a major music label: Most-viewed YouTube videos globally (excluding videos from major music labels)(playlist)
December 13, 2011 Android Market Tops 10 Billion Downloads Google said its Android Market exceeded 10 billion app downloads last weekend. The Android momentum is equal to a growth rate of one billion app downloads per month. To celebrate the milestone, Google is offering 10 paid apps each day for only 10 cents each. The deal will expire this Friday.
November 17, 2011 Google Music Open for Business Google has officially opened up its long-awaited digital music store at Google Music. The store is part of the Android Market so users can buy digital songs and albums directly to their smartphones, computers or tablets.Popular songs are available for $1.29 with full-length albums priced at $5.94 and up. You can purchase individual songs or entire albums right from your computer or your Android device and they'll be added instantly to your Google Music library, and accessible anywhere. The store offers more than 13 million tracks from artists on Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI, and the global independent rights agency Merlin as well as over 1,000 prominent independent labels including Merge Records, Warp Records, Matador Records, XL Recordings and Naxos. Google has also partnered with the world's largest digital distributors of independent music including IODA, INgrooves, The Orchard and Believe Digital. Google Music is offering the following exclusive songs and albums as part of its launch:
November 7, 2011 Google Brings Fresher Results to Search Google says it has made improvements to its search algorithm to bring fresher and more updated results to users. According to a blog post by Amit Singhal, a Google Fellow, the company has finished a significant improvement to its ranking algorithm that impacts roughly 35 percent of searches and better determines when to give you more up-to-date relevant results.The search improvement includes: recent events or hot topics, regularly recurring events and frequent updates of these hot topics or events. For example, a search for Olympics will provide more results for the upcoming Summer Olympics in 2012 rather than a previous Olympics in 1900. The update comes on top of Google's caffeine web index system which was completed last year. October 31, 2011 Google Bought 57 Companies So Far in 2011 Google has acquired a total of 57 companies this year for total cash payments of $1.443 billion according to a recent quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.The largest acquisition Google made was the purchase of ITA, a flight-information software company, for $676 million in cash. This deal closed in April. In September, Google acquired Zagat, a leading reviewer of restaurants and businesses, for $151 million in cash. Also purchased in the same month was Daily Deals Gmbh, a German-based online commerce deals company, for $114 million in cash. The company made 54 other acquisitions and purchases of intangible assets for approximately $502 million. Google also has agreed to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in a deal announced in August. The purchase isn't expected to close until the end of the year or early 2012. September 30, 2011 Android Dominates Smartphone Market Google's Android operating system makes up 43% of the market for smartphones according to research firm Nielsen in August. But for purchases over the past three months, Android's lead is even wider with 56% of smartphone purchases.Apple iOS remains popular in second place with 28 percent of all smartphone users, and the same percentage among those who recently got a new device. But those figures could change quickly in the months to come. Every time Apple launches a new iPhone or makes it available on a new wireless carrier, there is an increase in their sales according to Nielsen and that's expected to change with the launch of iPhone 5 in October. Changes in share aside, the smartphone pie is getting bigger. While 43 percent of all mobile subscribers in the US had a smartphone as of August, 56 percent of those who got a new device in the last 3 months chose a smartphone over a feature phone. The holiday season and the launch of new devices like the next iPhone could further accelerate smartphone adoption, though this is always tempered by the fact that many consumers are unwilling or unable to break their service contracts before they expire. In any event, the growing popularity of app-and-media friendly smartphones spells tremendous opportunity for those advertisers, publishers and developers eager to leverage mobile media. September 21, 2011 First Version of Google Wallet Launches Google has introduced the first app of its Google Wallet payment system that was first announced in May. The app makes your Android phone your Wallet through partnerships with Citi, MasterCard, Sprint and First Data.With Google Wallet, you can tap, pay and save using your phone and near field communication (NFC). Google is releasing the first version of the app but only to Sprint users with the Sprint Nexus S 4G phones. Google Wallet enables you to pay with your Citi MasterCard credit card and the Google Prepaid Card, which can be funded with any of your existing plastic credit cards. As a thanks to early adopters, Google is adding a $10 free bonus to the Google Prepaid Card if you set it up in Google Wallet before the end of the year. The company also announced that Visa, Discover and American Express have made available their NFC specifications that could enable their cards to be added to future versions of Google Wallet. September 13, 2011 Google to Buy Zagat Google has a agreed to buy Zagat, a New York City-based provider of reviews and ratings for restaurants, nightclubs, hotels and other local attractions. The terms of the deal weren't disclosed but The Wall Street Journal said Google is paying $166 million for Zagat.In a blog post by Marissa Mayer, VP of Local, Maps and Location Services for Google: "Zagat will be a cornerstone of our local offering -- delighting people with their impressive array of reviews, ratings and insights, while enabling people everywhere to find extraordinary (and ordinary) experiences around the corner and around the world." The acquisition will allow Google to offer more user reviews and compete with Yelp, which Google reportedly tried to buy but was turned down. Zagat has over 350,000 surveyors around the globe which helps compile its data and reviews in 13 categories and over 100 cities. It also publishes annual print guides for restaurants in major cities. Zagat was founded in 1979. September 6, 2011 Google to Close 10 Services Google announced a "Fall-Spring cleaning" that will eliminate 10 services and features on its website. The move helps the company free up resources for other parts of the company that will have more impact on users.Here's an overview of the products that will be closed down according to Alan Eustace, Senior Vice President of Google:
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