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Google shook up its ruling triumvirate today, announcing that CEO Eric Schmidt would be taking the role of executive chairman, while co-founder Larry Page will become CEO. Sergey Brin, who has also shared power with the two others, will work on "strategic projects," Google said.

Schmidt, who was hired by the co-founders to be Google's CEO in 2001, will focus on external partnerships and business deals starting on April 4, when Page will take over the day-to-day management role. Schmidt said in a blog post that Page, "in my clear opinion, is ready to lead."… Read more

Are you really who Google says you are?

Go ahead, check the first 10 listings that come up on a Google search for your name. Depending on how common a name you have, the results are likely to produce links to your Facebook profile, or a LinkedIn resume, or that time in high school you scored eight points against a bitter rival. But chances are you might also see something on that first page that's either embarrassing, silly, or just plain wrong.

If the prospect of a future employer, customer, or romantic interest seeing that link raises your blood … Read more

For every George Seifert there's a Sammy Hagar: making the change from an iconic leader to even a well-groomed successor can be very tricky.

The tech industry doesn't have a whole lot in common with the San Francisco 49ers or Van Halen, both of which were forced to integrate new leaders into their organizations following the departure of dynamic leaders (Bill Walsh and David Lee Roth) who put their respective groups on the map. But the tech industry is relatively young and hasn't often been forced to confront the tricky question of how to replace an iconic … Read more

Google responded to critics of its decision to drop support for a popular HTML5 video codec by declaring that a royalty-supported standard for Web video will hold the Web hostage.

Much has been made this week of Google's decision to end support for the widely used H.264 video codec as it implements a key portion of the collection of technologies known as HTML5 in its Chrome browser. Mike Jazayeri, a product manager for Google, wrote a blog post today responding to some of the more common critiques of its plan to support only the WebM video codec standard … Read more

The U.S. Department of Justice is gearing up for a possible formal antitrust investigation into whether or not Google should be allowed to purchase travel software company ITA Software, according to a report.

Bloomberg reported today that DOJ lawyers have been asked to start getting ready for a possible challenge to the deal, which was first announced last summer. Such a challenge has seemed inevitable, as following completion of the deal Google would be in a position to control software that powers the reservations systems for many of the online travel booking agencies.

Google has said it plans to … Read more

Google has made what appears to be its first purchase of 2011, snapping up eBook Technologies for an undisclosed amount.

Confirmation came through an updated Web page for the company, which has been stripped of much of its content but states "eBook Technologies, Inc. is excited to announce that we have been acquired by Google. Working together with Google will further our commitment to providing a first-class reading experience on emerging tablets, e-readers and other portable devices." Google confirmed the purchase to TechCrunch but no price has emerged.

Cached versions of eBook Technologies' site available through (where else) … Read more

Choosing strategies based on what you believe to be long-term benefits is generally a good idea when running a business, but if you manage to alienate the world in the process, the long term may become irrelevant.

It was hard to miss the response that accompanied Google's announcement earlier this week that it no longer planned to support the H.264 codec for the HTML5 video tag in its Chrome browser in order to focus on the WebM technology. Depending on what you read, Google is either evil, brilliant, hypocritical, cunning, principled, or confused in dropping support for H.264, … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Few tech industry professionals truly relish the annual trip here each January for the ritual that has become CES, the largest and most important event on the tech calendar. But this year, for the first time in awhile, they were able to get back to complaining about long cab lines and bad food rather than layoffs and budget cuts during their week in the desert.

"Double the energy and enthusiasm at CES compared with last two years," said NPD Group analyst Samir Bhavnani on his Twitter account Friday, summing up a week that lacked a signature announcement … Read more

LAS VEGAS--History may be repeating itself as the Internet draws closer to televisions, but no clear front-runner emerged this year at CES; certainly not Google.

There was a television roughly every 10 feet last week in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, home to the massive CES gathering of the geeks. Samsung, LG, Toshiba, Sony, Panasonic, Sharp, and virtually anyone else you can think of that makes a television constructed a sprawling booth to hawk their wares, with an increasing focus on so-called "smart TVs," or TVs that can access content from both the Internet … Read more