The Social

It looks like Google has taken an interest in a start-up called Recyclebank, which offers points and rewards for "green" actions like joining curbside recycling programs and installing eco-friendly appliances--it's using it as a test bed for a new beta version of its Google Analytics tracking tool.

More specifically, along with a consumer research company called ROI Research, Google Analytics will be parsing the progress and results of Recyclebank's impending "Green Your Home Challenge," and then releasing a research paper about the whole process. The contest in question is taking place over the course … Read more

Google has confirmed the resignation of Jonathan "J.R." Rosenberg, its senior vice president of product management, who has been at the company since 2002. Rosenberg's departure was reported today by Business Insider--the same day that co-founder Larry Page returned to the CEO post at Google, taking over from Eric Schmidt.

Business Insider reported that Rosenberg had planned to leave the company in a few years, when his teenage daughter graduated from high school, but that Page wants executives to commit in the long run. So Rosenberg, the report said, decided to bow out early.

"… Read more

Today marks Google co-founder Larry Page's first day back on the job as CEO since he handed over the reins to Eric Schmidt in 2001. He's been deeply involved with the company during Schmidt's tenure, of course, but in a decade's time the job of chief executive of Google has invariably changed. A lot. Instead of a company on a fast rise, it's a conglomerate that in the meantime has gotten itself involved in telecommunications, self-driving cars, television hardware, and venture capital investing.

So maybe this is what Page should be focusing on for his … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--The Web 2.0 Expo this week was missing something. It might've been Tim O'Reilly, the founder of conference co-producer O'Reilly Media and a well-regarded, if slightly granola-inclined, industry sage. He was out of town; gone from the program was his traditional opening keynote, a quick but poignant take on the state of the industry.

Or it might have been the hype missing from the rather quiet halls of the Moscone Convention Center. A few years ago, it was a must-attend event for industry insiders and a launch pad for new start-ups looking to get onto … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--There will be quite the land grab ahead as mobile trends continue to make their way into the e-commerce world. Or at least that's what it seems based on two short talks at this week's Web 2.0 Expo about the future of commerce, one yesterday afternoon from Google vice president of payments Osama Bedier, and one this morning from eBay vice president of global product management Dane Glasgow.

"Shoppers don't distinguish between online and mobile. They think of mobile as an extension of their everyday activities," Glasgow said. "Mobile's clearly having … Read more

The only real surprise is that it took this long: Twitter has released an update to its iPhone app that eradicates the QuickBar, a pop-up display of rotating "trending topics" that users seemed to find almost universally annoying and nonhelpful.

Twitter claimed that people did, in fact, interact with the heavily maligned feature, which was initially released earlier this month. "Rather than continue to make changes to the QuickBar as it exists, we removed the bar from the update appearing in the App Store today," a post on the Twitter blog explained. "We believe there … Read more

Google today launched an experiment called "+1," a small button alongside links in search results that it says users can click "to give something your public stamp of approval, so friends, contacts, and others can find the best stuff when they search."

In other words, it's the company's answer to Facebook's ubiquitous Like button. It'll keep a log of your favorite discoveries on Google, and (almost more importantly) use that to customize what sorts of ads you see. It's also a way for the company to get a better gauge on … Read more

There's some rough news for Topeka, Kan., the city that courted Google's ultra-high-speed municipal broadband project by changing its name to Google. The Mountain View, Calif., tech giant announced Wednesday that the lucky city that gets to be its broadband guinea pig not only isn't Topeka, but it's Kansas City, Kansas--just an hour's drive away. Ouch.

More than 1,100 communities had applied since the call for applicants was announced about a year ago. Kansas City will first see the new developments next year, and Google is already looking for additional communities to join the … Read more

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who served as the company's original CEO and has since gone on to co-found e-commerce start-up Square, will be returning to a day-to-day role at the company as "executive chairman." The move was formally announced in a tweet by Twitter CEO Dick Costolo this morning.

"Excited that Twitter Chairman @jack will be returning to the company day-to-day leading product as Executive Chairman," Costolo's tweet read.

Dorsey came up with the original concept for Twitter--something that has been very noticeable in the company's recent fifth-birthday commemorations--and served as CEO until … Read more