Google

Google ranked best workplace

Not surprisingly, Google is ranked the No. 1 place to work in the United States by Fortune.

Why? Well, start with the free food, the "college-like atmosphere," the lap pool, free laundry facilities, child care, and the bring-your-dog-to-work policy, among a host of other perks. And then there's the $485.65 share price. (The San Francisco Chronicle reports that by one estimate more than 900 Google employees became millionaires when the company went public in 2004.)

Another Bay Area company, Genentech, is ranked second, falling from first place in the ranking last year. And Yahoo, Google's … Read more

EarthLink, San Francisco finalize Wi-Fi contract

The city of San Francisco and EarthLink have finalized a contract that will enable EarthLink to build a citywide wireless network and Google to provide free Internet access.

Details of the contract, completed on Friday, can be seen here. The agreement must be approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

"This agreement catapults San Francisco into a leadership position in wireless technology: the network ensures universal, affordable wireless broadband access for all San Franciscans, especially low-income and disadvantaged residents; and through the Mayor's digital divide program, children and students will have the digital tools to ensure that … Read more

NBC exec joins Google

Google is beefing up its video division with an experienced television executive. Google has hired Michael Steib, general manager of strategic ventures at NBC Universal, to lead a new video ad sales team at Google, paidContent.org reported. Steib founded the National Broadband Company, or NBBC, which was designed to distribute NBC video programming to Internet sites.

Self-promoting Google 'Tips' disappear

Google appears to have listened to criticism and pulled its controversial "Tips," in which it promoted its products above organic results on the company's Web search page.

For instance, searches for "Calendar," "Blogging" and "Photo Sharing" showed links to Google products like Google Calendar, Blogger and Picasa above the regular search results. Google's self promotion was roundly criticized in blogs.

TechCrunch blogger Michael Arrington wrote about the "Tips" disappearing: "There's been no official announcement on this by Google, so the removal could be temporary. My guess … Read more

Google turns to China in latest Web video investment

Google might have purchased YouTube for $1.65 billion last year, but that certainly hasn't marked the end of the Mountain View, Calif. company's forays into online video. Last week, Bloomberg reported that Google would be investing in Shenzhen Xunlei Network Technology, a video download service based in China. Google operates its own Chinese search engine, and unlike its American counterpart, it's an underdog: the Beijing-based Baidu holds the largest share of the Chinese search market. Both Google China and Baidu had been looking to expand into online video services over the past month, and Google's … Read more

Blogger's sloppy stumble out of beta

Blogger's new makeover, launched in a selective beta back in August, was supposed to make the personal publishing software easier to use. After all, in order to remain a blogging platform for everyday users, the Google-owned service was going to have to do something. Its previous incarnation required a basic knowledge of HTML, which is practically prehistoric in today's world of Ajax-spiced platforms like Six Apart's Vox, which launched earlier this year. So Blogger released a new beta version that featured tags (or "labels" in Googlespeak), "friends-only" posts, and drag-and-drop capabilities. On Thursday, … Read more

Google throttles one search API, many wonder why

Google earlier this month decided to cut off access to its Google Search SOAP API to new customers, a move that has set of concerns from developers and others who wondered about the bigger technology and business implications.

The Google Search API, which was in beta, is designed to let people to write programs that use SOAP--Simple Object Access Protocol--to perform a Google search. Closing the API to new users appears to have first been reported on the O'Reilly Radar blog.

On a discussion board, Google product manager Tom Stocky said that Google will allow existing users to continue … Read more

Google in talks for branded phone, newspaper reports

Will Orange soon be Google's favorite color?

France Telecom Group's mobile-telephony division Orange is in discussions with Google about a prospective "branded Google phone," according to a report in the Observer.

"Manufactured by HTC, a Taiwanese firm specializing in smart phones and Personal Data Assistants, it might have a screen similar to a video iPod. It would have built-in Google software (for) surfing the Web from a mobile handset," reported the Observer. "The companies believe that they have an affinity as brands that are perceived as both 'positive' and 'innovative.'"

Orange is … Read more

Pension fund nudges Google, Yahoo on censorship

The New York City Pension Fund wants shareholders to force Google and Yahoo to refuse Internet censorship requests by governments.

The fund, which owns nearly $280 million worth of Google shares and $110 million in Yahoo shares, filed resolutions for shareholders at the two Internet companies to vote on at the next shareholder meetings. The resolution states that U.S.-based technology companies "that operate in countries controlled by authoritarian governments have an obligation to comply with the principles of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights."

Specifically, the resolution calls for the companies to: refrain from hosting … Read more