Google has always given thanks. It gives thanks for the content creators around the world who make its own job selling ads so much more satisfying.

But it seems a curiously original step into the future for Google to suddenly attempt to become a thanks taker. For, in celebration of America's most deeply felt feast, the company is offering free Google-sponsored original content.

To reach this new culinary nirvana, you have to click on the new Google doodle, which features carrots, cranberries, and other entirely healthy ingredients, no doubt from the Google canteen.

Once you click, you are taken … Read more

You might be more willing to watch video ads online than you think you are.

According to The New York Times, Turner Broadcasting, which owns TBS and TNT, recently tested how long people will watch television shows online with few ads, compared to how long they will watch shows with a slew of ads embedded in them. Jack Wakshlag, the company's chief research officer, told the Times that when viewers were presented with more ads, they would still "spend approximately the same amount of time watching episodes online."

According to the Times, which cited Turner's internal … Read more

NASA and the White House are tops at using social media and the Web compared with a wide range of other public sector groups in the U.S., according to a study out today from the George Washington University School of Business and digital think tank L2.

Authored by George Washington University School of Business dean Doug Guthrie, New York University professor and L2 founder Scott Galloway, and experts from L2, the first annual Digital IQ Index for the Public Sector (PDF) measured the effectiveness of Web sites, digital marketing, social media, and mobile platform support among 100 different public … Read more

Facebook lately has made controversial legal threats against a number of social-media sites, like Teachbook and Placebook, which it says are unlawfully capitalizing on the popularity of Facebook by using the suffix -book in their names.

But then there's Lamebook, a mischievous parody compendium of funny Facebook content that decided to sue Facebook, citing First Amendment protections, so that Facebook couldn't sue it first. TechCrunch writer Robin Wauters noticed overnight on Monday that Lamebook's Facebook fan page had been blocked, that outbound links to the site were severed, and that "like" buttons to its content … Read more

Turning 20 next month, the World Wide Web has become a ubiquitous part of our lives. But the freedom and open nature of the Web that we sometimes take for granted are threatened, according to its creator.

In a long article published yesterday in Scientific American, Tim Berners-Lee writes that the Web as we know it is affected by elements that have "begun to chip away at its principles."

He points a finger at social-networking sites that he says are "walling off information posted by users from the rest of the Web." Though he acknowledges that … Read more

A setback in federal court last week appears to have prompted the law firm spearheading a litigation campaign against accused film pirates on behalf of independent movie studios to abandon a major part of its legal strategy, CNET has learned.

Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver, the law firm representing makers of such pics as "Far Cry" and Oscar-winner "The Hurt Locker," has filed copyright complaints against thousands of people from across the country this year and sought to pursue those cases in federal court in Washington, D.C., near its base of operations. Among the obstacles facing … Read more

I spent last weekend with the Amazon Kindle 3 and Apple iPhone 4, bought recently as part of my retail-therapy fix.

One's an e-book reader with an experimental WebKit browser built in. The other's a smartphone popular with kids, grannies, and just about everybody in between. Both mobile devices serve distinctly different purposes, but there's at least one overlapping feature: electronic books.

So far, I'm convinced I've made the right decision to go with the Kindle for reading. The 6-inch e-ink screen looks eerily like real paper and is easier on the eyes than a traditional LCD. The size is also just right to hold with one hand, although the leather case I bought added considerable heft. The display isn't a touch screen, though a couple of colleagues automatically starting swiping on it. … Read more

The Google TV platform was already struggling after Hulu and every major TV network started blocking its devices from streaming video, and now things are getting worse.

Viacom properties, including Comedy Central, MTV, and Nickelodeon, are now also blocking Google TV, with users receiving a message that the content "is unavailable for your device." The loss of Viacom content is a major blow to Google TV, as shows like "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" were some of the few high-quality TV shows that allowed streaming. The last we checked, "Conan" is still available, … Read more

Add Panasonic to Vudu's growing list of hardware partners.

As of Wednesday, Vudu's streaming video service will be available on all of Panasonic's 2010 Blu-ray player models. It will join a panoply of other online entertainment options already available through the VieraCast menu on those players, including Netflix, Amazon Video-on-Demand, YouTube, and Pandora.

Also of note: Panasonic becomes only the third vendor (besides Samsung and Vizio) to offer both Vudu and Amazon, both of which offer similar subscription-free, a la carte online video streaming services. (Vudu emphasizes the video and audio quality of its 4,000-plus HD … Read more