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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Some of Google's next big opportunities may not come out of its traditional product development organization; look out for the do-gooders.

It's been almost two years since Google announced a philosophy shift at Google.org to focus more on attacking "problems in ways that make the most of Google's strengths in technology and information," Larry Brilliant, the former head of Google.org, said at the time. One of the first successes from that shift--Google Earth Engine--may not only help developing countries get accurate data about their environments for the first time, but … Read more

Google is taking the real-estate listings in Google Maps off the market.

Citing "low usage, the proliferation of excellent property-search tools on real-estate Web sites, and the infrastructure challenge posed by the impending retirement of the Google Base API," Brian McClendon, vice president of Google Earth and Maps, said today that the listings would disappear by February 10. For a few years Google has allowed Google Maps users to search for both rental and for-sale listings in a given area, relying on listings uploaded by real-estate companies.

Search Engine Land notes the comment of a U.K. real-estate … Read more

Yahoo's overall revenue is still declining, but its fourth-quarter numbers were in line with expectations as the company continues to tread water.

For the period ending December 31, Yahoo reported gross revenue of $1.5 billion, which when traffic-acquisition costs are factored out results in net revenue of $1.2 billion, just ahead of analyst estimates. It's a 4 percent decline from last year's fourth quarter, and can be mostly blamed on the loss of search advertising revenue as Yahoo transitioned its search technology to Microsoft under their 2009 agreement.

Net earnings, however, rose 104 percent to $… Read more

Google's going to do its part to reduce the unemployment rate in 2011, declaring plans to hire more people this year than it ever has before.

Worrying about the economy is so 2008, said Alan Eustace, senior vice president of engineering and research, in a blog post today outlining plans for "our biggest hiring year in company history." Like most companies, Google scaled back its hiring after hitting a high-water mark in 2007 with slightly more than 6,000 new employees, but after adding 4,500 people in 2010 it vowed to get back to those pre-bust … Read more

Google just released a new extension for its Chrome browser that will make it easier to avoid ads on the Web.

"Keep My Opt-Outs" stores the settings that users lodge with ad industry opt-out programs like the Network Advertising Initiative and the Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising in one place, ensuring you don't have to rely on cookies to track those preferences. It's a nod to the Do Not Track movement that has been gaining a little steam, which Google acknowledged in a blog post announcing the extension.

"A better "Do Not Track&… Read more

Google's Eric Schmidt, who, the company said Thursday, will move from CEO to executive chairman in the spring, has received an award of $100 million in stock and stock options, according to a report.

Following on an initial report from Bloomberg, and citing compensation specialists and data, The Wall Street Journal called the award "highly unusual" for a sitting CEO, adding that equity awards like this are usually given to new chief executives.

The Journal said Schmidt's award, which vests over four years, is the largest in grant-dollars for a sitting CEO since Sanjay Jha, Motorola'… Read more

Updated 1:20 p.m. PT with additional analysis that comes to a different conclusion.

Did Google take code from Java when it built Android? Oracle sure thinks so, and now an expert on software patents seems to agree.

Florian Mueller, who writes the blog FOSS Patents, posted a lengthy examination today of 37 files within the Android 2.2 source code. Those files match files found in Oracle's Java technology, and were even marked "PROPRIETARY/CONFIDENTIAL" by Sun Microsystems, the inventor of Java which Oracle acquired last year.

Oracle sued Google in August alleging that Android … Read more

Google is ready to fire a shot across the bow of the so-called content farms, willing to acknowledge recent criticism of the quality of its search results but still not quite ready to detail specific remedies.

The company plans to announce this morning that it has heard the complaints over the past several months regarding the quality of Google search, without question the most important component of Google's public image. While no hard details were provided in an interview prior to the announcement, Google's Matt Cutts, principal engineer and lead voice on search-quality issues, told CNET that the … Read more

Back in 2001, Larry Page wasn't ready to lead Google's 200 employees. Ten years later, with 24,400 employees, Page takes control of a much more complex operation, and both still have much to prove.

Ready or not, it's Page's company now, following news that former CEO Eric Schmidt would be moving up and out of the way to assume a traveling statesman role as Google's public face. Page's longtime partner Sergey Brin will focus more on product and technology direction while Page assumes control of Google's overall strategy and financial performance, which … Read more