Google V/s The Best Companies In The World

[abhay 0]

its good he dint come to bbay!

ek jungle mein ek GOOGLE ENTHU aur ek M$uck chaiman nahin reh sakte

its like ek mayan mein do talwaren nahin reh sakti

Edited December 7, 2005 by abhay

[abhay 0]

Japanese Rival to Yahoo!, Google?

The Japanese government is reportedly looking at launching its own internet search engine, which promises to compete with the likes of Yahoo! and Google.

According to official sources the value of the project is pegged at around " 500 million, and it will take about 3 years for completion.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan, says that a research group will soon be formed comprising over 20 companies, including Matsu****a, NTT, Sony, Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC, etc. The group will receive an initial government funding of around 12 billion yen (" 60 million), with additional monies being pumped in later.

The proposed search engine will be designed as the ultimate tool for navigating online content, and will give web users a unique Japanese alternative to the existing US-based favorites.

The impetus for this initiative is said to have come from the top viz. the IT research department of the office of the Prime Minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi. He has emphasized time and again, the country's need to extend its presence in the field of information technology.

http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/artic...9852&cat_id=643

[anujit 0]

Abhay:

Oh everybody is doing it! Even the Europeans are trying to kill Google. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1900447,00.asp

[abhay 0]

hehe so its google V/S the whole world now

[abhay 0]

AOL, Google affair may cost dear

Dissident shareholder Carl Icahn on Monday labelled as “disastrous” a new deal set to be unveiled this week between Time Warner’s America On-line unit and Web search leader Google, as the billionaire investor argued that AOL could do better.

Mr Icahn said in a letter to Time Warner’s board of directors that the company appeared to be on the verge of a “disastrous decision” following reports it is in talks to sell a 5% stake of its AOL Internet unit to Google.

Mr Icahn, whose group has a 3.1% stake in Time Warner, said he feared a Google pact may preclude a merger or other deals with the likes of eBay, Yahoo, IAC/InterActive, or Microsoft.

“Like all shareholders, I am not opposed to Time Warner entering into an AOL transaction that creates long-term value,” Mr Icahn wrote. “However, I am deeply concerned that the Time Warner board may be on the verge of making a disastrous decision concerning an agreement with Google,” he said.

In the past several months, Mr Icahn has blasted Time Warner’s every move as falling short of realising the company’s full value. He has hired investment bank Lazard to wage a campaign to replace a majority of Time Warner’s directors. A Time Warner spokesman declined to comment. “There’s nothing new here, and given that, we’re not going to comment,” spokeswoman Kathy McKiernan said.

A Google spokesman was not immediately available to comment. Shares of Google, which traded to record intra-day high level of $446.21, up 3.7% on the day, turned tail and fell back on news of Icahn’s opposition to the potential new search and advertising deal between AOL and Google. Google shares fell $5.55, or 1.3%, to close at $424.60 on Monday on Nasdaq.

Meanwhile, Time Warner shares finished off 5 cents at $17.95 on the NYSE. Mr Icahn, who has said he is waging an “all-out proxy battle” to force Time Warner to step up asset sales and streamline, cited a recent report by Goldman Sachs that argued that Google may not be the best long-term partner for America Online.

Wall Street analysts debated whether the $1 billion, which sources said Google was prepared to pay AOL for a 5% stake, was a meaningful calculation of the implied overall value of AOL — $20 billion — if it were spun-off.

Some analysts groused that the investment could simply be an expedient way for Google to keep AOL as a key customer and thwart rival Microsoft from gaining a foothold in advertising.

Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney calculated that AOL’s business declined to just 1.9% of Google’s net revenue recently.

Another financial analyst, who declined to be named, said Google may view the $1 billion stake as a small down payment to avert the loss of AOL as its biggest single customer and thereby defend its lofty $125 billion market capitalisation.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articl...608,curpg-1.cms

what say guys do u or do u now support this deal

in my personal opinion if this DEAL is ment to keep microsoft outta compitition then this is the best deal ever

Edited December 21, 2005 by abhay

[anujit 0]

Out of what competition? AOL is pretty much failing as a ISP! Its Netscape browser is in deep sheet and well I dont know how much advantage it gives Google, unless of course Google is really pushing its wireless ISP model and needs AOL for that!

[linuxguy 0]

Anujit, google will never be an ISP. It has too many hassles involved. What they might be thinking is to acquire a huge set of customers and push their products to them. May be under Google, AOL will do much better!

[anujit 0]

Linuxdude:

Ummm wanting to give free Wi-fi to SF does make Google an ISP.

And AOL might do much better under Google although 5% stake doesnt put them under anything! But a lot of companies would do well "under" Google so why did Google suddenly have so much sympathy for AOL?

Acquriing a huge set of customers is good for Google no doubt. But AOL is already Google's biggest customer so in some sense those customers are already acquired! Of course protecting this huge revenue base (around 10% of Google's revenue base comes from AOL) from M$ could be the reason why they bought in.

[abhay 0]

Google Founders Win Men of Year

In a victory-of-sorts for Google, founders of the search giant - Sergey Brin and Larry Page, were awarded the title "Men of the Year" by leading British financial daily - Financial Times (FT) for the "effect their 7-year-old company has had on internet users, and the worlds of business and technology over the past 12 months".

Sergey Brin expressed the view, that the duo does not think of restricting themselves to a 20-year vision, and that they are not averse to doing something new.

Brin and Page see room for a lot of improvement, in the scope of Google's internet search engine. Both 32-year-olds reportedly harbour hopes that reach well beyond their search engine business, to "make the world a better place".

One of Wall Street's stories of the year, Google has registered a stock market value of nearly $130 billion, almost neck-and-neck with IBM and behind only Microsoft and Intel in the technology industry.

Among other distinguished FT nominees, are Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko who have been nominated for the title "Man of the Year".

edit

http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/artic...9980&cat_id=643

Edited December 26, 2005 by abhay

[Rohit Rocker 0]

Hey peeps,

I read in an ICFAI Publication that google was buying optic fiber cable in Europe in Hughe quantities, although this is a rumor. I also read that it was about to provide free internet through wifi in San Francisco.

The article also had many comparisons betwees Google, Yahoo, Maicrosoft, Amazon and E Bay. The graph for income in this year showed that Google was in a completely different orbit!! much high than the other companies. But there were also some concerns like google's income sources are very limited as compared to its rivals like Yahoo, who have many different sources. Googles only source of income is through advertisements. Also, some applications which are being developed at google labs have taken or are taking a lot of time for development, which will affect it. But, GOOGLE IS GOOD , and there is no one close to it currently.

[abhay 0]

give it a break its a 7 yr old company after all

[linuxguy 0]

yep. they have accomplished a hell lot for a 7 year old company!

[abhay 0]

Microsoft vs. Google

It's easy to tell who's the No. 1 high-tech company at any given time. It's the one everybody seems to fear and hate.

It happened with Xerox, IBM, Microsoft and to some extent Intel. None is as dominant as it once was, in part due to antitrust strictures, but also a changing landscape. Instead, a new bogeyman is spooking the corridors of 2006: Google. With a searingly hot stock and a portfolio bursting with world-changing ideas, Google inspires the awe and dread that inevitably accompany the mantle of No. 1.

The bogeyman feeds some intrinsic need for tech denizens to target an enemy. Call it Borg Love: Resistance is futile, we will be assimilated, but we really need you to motivate us!

From the late 1980s through the turn of the century, Microsoft epitomized the Borg complex. But if any one shift marked 2005 in the technology world, it's that Borg changed brands.

By any portfolio measure except one, Microsoft is still the elephant in the doorway. Its head count, revenue, profits and product lineup dwarf Google's and will for some time.

But there's that growth thing. Like a wet-eared Internet qualifier at the World Series of Poker, Google keeps doubling up, while onetime Harvard poker great (and dropout) Bill Gates nurses his stack.

Google is building from a much smaller base, of course. But growth has a way of feeding innovation, and vice versa.

Unfortunately for Microsoft, the cycle also works in reverse. Slower growth has a way of inducing lethargy and vice versa.

Can Microsoft get its groove back? If any year holds the promise, it's 2006. Windows and Office upgrades, Xbox's strong initial showing and a host of vaguely referenced new products suggest a banner year.

But the question doesn't seem to fire up tech folk nearly as much as how far Google can go. As one wag put it, some day we'll all Google our Googles as we Google to Google.

advertising

Microsoft can draw encouragement from two perceptions. First is the sense the Redmond gang represents the only real hope for curbing Google hegemony in the broadband-driven world known as Web 2.0.

Second, the words "Google" and "monopoly" are starting to be whispered in the same breath. In a market so amorphous, it may seem ludicrous to think one company could exert exclusionary force.

But that's what they said about the PC business in late 1989, when federal investigators first looked into possible antitrust activity by a nascent Redmond company.

In its defense, Google might point to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's September vow in BusinessWeek: "We won the desktop. We won the server. We will win the Web."

Faced with having to choose a monopolist, tech minions may spend 2006 hoping Microsoft and Google focus their energy on each other, leaving the little guys free to do real innovation.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/busi...912_paul02.html

some related news :- http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_st...ntent_id=113204

comments :- YUP IT ALL DEPENDS ON WEB 2.0

Edited January 2, 2006 by abhay

[Arun 795]

And talking about Web 2.0, here is an interesting read...

Web 2.0: Dawn of the new Internet?

Leslie D'Monte in Mumbai | January 02, 2006 10:18 IST

- Rediff.com

Web 2.0 is causing tremendous excitement while simultaneously raising a heated debate on the Web - enough to throw up more than 10 million citations on the Web till date.

The term was coined in a brainstorming session between publisher O'Reilly Media and a marketing company, MediaLive International. Two years have passed since.

Yet, bloggers are flogging websites and blogs with arguments for and against the term. While many hail it as the evolution of the Internet, others say it is too early to draw conclusions. Some, though, simply dismiss it as marketing hype.

Co-founder of the concept, Tim Orielly, founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media, told Business Standard: "I do think there's some hype, with many startups claiming to be 'Web 2.0' without any real appreciation of the core of what makes something 'Web 2.0'. But like any label, Web 2.0 is just a pointer."

Wikipedia defines it as "a second phase of development of the World Wide Web". However, there isn't a consensus on its exact meaning. Web 2.0 loosely includes weblogs, wikis, linklogs, podcasts, RSS feeds and other forms of many-to-many publishing; social software, web APIs, web standards, web services and Ajax.

So if this is Web 2.0, what was its earlier avatar - Web 1.0? "Yes, but only by way of contrast. Back when it was happening, it was just 'the web' or the 'dotcom era'," says O'reilly.

The earlier avatar, that is Web 1.0, with clearly demarcated content, was fairly static. You could not interact with it, add your comments or leave your mark. You used the software or the content as is and could not collaborate with other users of the same content.

If Double Click, Akamai, mp3.com, content management systems and page views are a few examples associated with Web 1.0, Google AdSense, BitTorrent, Napster, Wikipedia, blogging, cost per click and web services would comprise Web 2.0, explains O'reilly.

For example, with BitTorrent, the service automatically gets better the more people use it. While Akamai must add servers to improve service, every BitTorrent consumer brings his own resources to the party.

Russel Shaw, whose post on ZDNet (a leading technology portal) weblogs, recently raised a storm, differs. He blogs: "Appending a '2.0' to a term does not imply - at least to me - that some sort of the consensus has been reached about the meaning of the term, or even less that it is based on some collection of standards. It originally meant a new rev of a product, which implies a redesign and the rollout of new features."

The definition of the Web 2.0 technologies is in the eye of the person labelling, notes Thomas Vander Wal, principle and senior consultant, InfoCloud Solutions.

"Web 1.0 is often used satirically. Most often the earlier iteration of the Web is referred to as "the Bubble". The technologies for the Web portion of Web 2.0 are not very different from what has come before it, which is my problem with the term as it is most often used to describe the technologies," he adds.

Vander Wal explains that the previous iteration was focused on people using the web as an "I go get" interaction where people mostly just read pages. Now people are expecting more in the "come to me" web. He cautions that "we have a long way to go to get to this end, but what is labeled Web 2.0 is just a stepping stone to the next improvement."

But there are those who firmly stand by the concept. Google's PageRank; eBay's organic growth as a collective activity of all its users; Amazon's search that leads with the "most popular" rather than sponsored searches - all are touted as Web 2.0 applications.

Gautam Thakar, country manager, eBay India Marketplace, says: "Web 2.0, depending on who you ask, can be titled the Social Web. A key development from Web 2.0 for eBay is that users are much more focused on two-way interaction and collaboration."

Ashok Hingorani, CEO, Computact, (and an avid developer) takes it in his stride: "Every product goes through the notorious Version 1 - the Net, Windows, etc. And they are always incomplete, buggy, with gaps.

"Above all, they were designed with today's technology in mind, and evolved rather than reengineered every few years. The Net is more than 15 years old. Its architecture does not take care of many things learned from hindsight, nor does it handle security/privacy at all. You have to buy special software to do that."

[abhay 0]

hey guys d wait is over

GOOGLE O/S is offcial haha M$UCK

Google to develop a cut-price PC

GOOGLE IS apparently working on plans to release its own cut price PC to connect to the world wide wibble.

According to the LA Times, Google has been chatting to Wal-Mart and other retailers, to peddle a Google PC.

Apparently the machine will not run Windows, but will have its own operating system created by Google and will retail for a couple of hundred dollars.

Larry Page, Google's co-founder and president of products, will give a keynote address Friday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and there is a prediction that he will show off some sort of Google device.

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=28670

some related news

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/03/google_pc_claim/

http://p2pnet.net/story/7482

http://news.com.com/2061-11199_3-6015932.html

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/topnews/...ySeeCPMAds.html

for me guys if the O/S is out then i will be d first person to shift from M$UCK to google !! what say guys ????

just hope they have support for the windows programs that im using! compatibility will be lot of a issue

Edited January 3, 2006 by abhay

[linuxguy 0]

lets just wait and see what Google has to offer...

[abhay 0]

tech world is never static

Google almost denies PC moves

SEARCH OUTFIT Google is almost denying that it is planning to build a cut price PC with Wal-Mart stores.

The story, which first appeared in the LA Times, claimed that Google intends to market a "fully functional" PC running a Google operating system and costing $200.

There was some belief that Google co-founder Larry Page will unveil the "Google PC" during his keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this Friday.

But yesterday Google told Lightreading that it had many PC partners who served their markets exceedingly well and it saw no need to enter that market. A spokesGooglette said that Google would rather partner with such great companies.

While Lightreading saw that as a denial, we are not so sure. There are tremors in the force suggesting that Google is building some form of hardware, with someone, that will get punters cheaply onto the Internet.

One device being suggested is a dumb network computer, or Google 'cube' which will deliver music, video and even VOIP calls from the PC to the televisions, stereos and phones in the home. This would be a long way from the "fully functional" PC suggested by the LA Times, but a fair way towards what its hacks were suggesting.

It could be one of those that we will see at the Consumer Electronics Show on Friday. One thing the LA Times did get wrong was Google was working with Wal-Mart on the deal. Wal-Mart has said that there was "absolutely no truth to the rumor" which is about as categorical denial as you can get.

one day they say somethign other day they almost deny it

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=28697

Edited January 4, 2006 by abhay

[abhay 0]

Google's Software, Video Plan

Google founder Larry Page is expected to announce on Friday that the search giant will start selling video content through its site and will also debut a bundle of downloadable consumer software called Google Pack, intensifying its competition with Microsoft.

The Wall Street Journal reported Mr. Page will make the announcement on Friday at the Computer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where he is scheduled to deliver a keynote address.

The moves would show that the Mountain View, California-based search giant is making inroads on the desktop. During October, Google entered into a relationship with Sun, which essentially was about distributing its toolbar (see Sun, Google in Software Promo). This, analysts said, is an extension.

“Google Pack reiterates what Google has a strong desire to do—it wants to distribute software,” said Rick Summer, an analyst with Morningstar. “It’s about getting on your desktop. You’re not a browser-click away. The fear of Microsoft in the land of search is that they’re on everyone’s desktop.”

Google’s stock rose $2.37 to $447.61 in recent trading.

Google Pack will include a group of Google’s own services, such as its toolbar, desktop search software, Google Earth maps and imaging, the photo management tool Picasa, as well as the instant messaging program Google Talk.

However, it will also offer products from other companies, such as the Firefox web browser, a version of Norton AntiVirus software, Adobe Systems’ Reader software, RealNetworks’ RealPlayer, Trillian instant messaging software, and Ad-Aware anti-spyware software, according to the Journal.

It will not have the kinds of applications that compete more directly with Microsoft’s core software business, such as word processing.

Jason Avilio, an analyst with First Albany Capital, noted Microsoft already offers something comparable and dismissed Google Pack, saying it did not seem to be “such a compelling product.”

Video for Sale

By selling video, Google would in some ways be bringing a business model to the world of video search. The practice of searching for video is still in its infancy, and companies haven’t quite figured out how to make money from it. But the amount of video on the Net is fast increasing, as are online video ads (see Online Video Ads Surging).

The Journal said consumers will be able to buy videos from major content partners such as CBS and the National Basketball Association on Google’s site.

Until now, Google had occasionally streamed episodes from TV shows on its site, but had primarily relied on user-generated content to build up its video offering. And Mr. Avilio thinks that’s what it’ll mainly be selling through its networks.

“It would be an incremental revenue stream,” he said. “It does not have broad implications, such as cinema-type theatrical releases or DVD. It’ll be more on the user-generated side.”

That’s not to say it’ll be exclusively user-generated. He expects to see non-theater content or sports content, but not complete movies.

In the Living Room

Mr. Summer doesn’t see this as a big deal in itself, but said if Google figured out how to get into the living room, its expertise in targeted advertising would give it an edge over cable companies and broadcasters.

“They might be able to offer ad-supported content that’s both time-shifted and place-shifted, and is a real pain for paid TV operators to deal with,” said Mr. Summer. He added it was important for the search company to embrace popular standards, especially with video devices, going forward, instead of the go-it-alone attitude it tends to demonstrate at times.

To really make video search work, Google would have to bring several players on board—content owners, software players, and hardware companies. And it is still some ways from doing that.

Google’s representatives did not immediately return calls seeking comment about the software or video sales, but did say earlier this week that the company planned to work with its many hardware partners. That comment came in reaction to speculation that Google plans to help launch a low-cost computer that could be used to access the Internet and control home media centers (see Google Computer Talk Mounts).

http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=1...ed=Google's Software,+Video+Plan

Motorola joins Google for mobile search

Motorola has announced that it will build Google search technology into some of its mobile phones.

The deal, announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, will see a Google icon built into internet-ready Motorola phones. The first models will be out in the first quarter of this year.

"Access to information is imperative for people on the go. Whether checking the local weather or locating a restaurant, consumers require personalised search services tailored to their needs," said Nikesh Arora, vice president of European operations at Google.

"With immediate access to Google, millions of Motorola users worldwide will be able to quickly and easily find information that's important to them."

But other software houses have warned that the deal may not be in the mobile phone manufacturers' best interests.

"The mobile industry must seriously think through the implications of this development," said Mike Brady, senior director of business development at enterprise search firm Fast.

"Google is not just a search engine; it's a global brand right up there with Coca-Cola. By partnering with Google, Motorola is allowing its own brand to be diluted.

"It might seem a smart move in the short term, but this will definitely impede future business models and revenue potential."

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2148182/...s-google-mobile

[abhay 0]

hey guys! its like me talkiing to myself here! common show some enthu

CES analysis: Why I know Google will do an office suite and a desktop OS in 2006.

I got to spend some time with Eric, Larry, and a dozen other journalists yesterday after the amazing keynote.

The story everyone wanted to talk about--and Eric and Larry didn't--was Google going into the operating system, deskop computer, and office suite business (let's call those three things "Google Desktop" for simplicity).

Eric kept saying the Google vision is to index the worlds information, but we all know that is a smoke screen. Google's business is to make money from targeted advertising (i.e. AdSense).

Let's look at the facts:

1. 99.9% of Google revenue comes from Adsense.

2. Google search is not necessarily the most efficient carrier of Google Adsense (content based websites and applications are very good at carrying Adsense as well)

3. Google is doing projects like Google Pack, GTalk, Orkut, and GMail that have NOTHING to do with indexing the worlds data--these projects are all carriers for Adsense.

4. Google has built the largest grid computing networking in the world with hundreds of thousands of computers--extending this to a desktop OS would be a cake walk.

5. Google has hired folks who worked on Open Office.

6. GMail's WYSIWYG is 90% of Microsoft Word. Everyone and their brother is making web-based word processors and spreadsheets today.

7. Google is about to launch a calendar according to reports. That's a no brainer since they have contacts and email already.

7a. Email, contacts, and calendar=Outlook. Outlook=Microsoft Office. Office=Microsoft's main revenue stream.

8. Most folks are fine with web-based applications now. AJAX has made web-based email competitive with desktop email--case is closed on that issue.

9. Google's server network is the only one in existence that could handle a hosted office suite--GMAIL has proven that.

10. Google is getting involved in the light $100 laptop project--which is really close to the Google Desktop concept.

11. Bill Gates himself said that there will be a huge market for advertising-based software, and Microsoft is making a web-based version of Office a major priority.

12. Tech CEOs lie through their teeth all the time--they have to. Steve Jobs said that he would never make a video iPod for two years--then he did. I would task Eric's comments that they are not interested in making a desktop OS, Office Suite, etc. with a grain of salt. If they were interested--and i know they are--they would never tip their cards.

Now, I don't think Google will make a PC. I think Google will:

a. launch calendar and office suite in the next six months.

b. by the end of the year they will come out with a Linux-based OS and offer it for free to PC makers. Those PC makers will love Google for giving them a free OS and Google will love extending the reach of their money maker: google Adsense.

The big win: Google can offer PC makers something they have never had: reoccurring revenue. Not only can Google give a free OS and office suite, they could offer them 10% of the Google Adsense revenue of that computer/user--FOR LIFE!

Can you imagine if Dell or Compaq could not only sell a computer for $500 with $50 in profit, but also make another $25-50 a year in Adsense revenue? The person keeps the computer for another two years and Dell makes more from the Adsense than the computer.

The Google Desktop is the greatest growth opportunity for Google right now, and Google needs to find growth if they are going to live up to their valuation. For those reasons I think this is a done deal. Thoughts?

http://www.calacanis.com/2006/01/07/ces-an...-desktop-os-in/

some related news

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=2375

[abhay 0]

Google clashes with feds

Should Google share its data?

Google fights Bush on search data

Google refuses to oblige US govt on search query info

Google in legal stand-off with US government

Google Inc. is rebuffing the Bush administration’s demand for a peek at what millions of people have been looking up on the Internet’s leading search engine—a request that underscores the potential for online databases to become tools for government surveillance.

Mountain View, California-based Google has refused to comply with a White House subpoena first issued last summer, prompting US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales this week to ask a federal judge in San Jose for an order to hand over the requested records.

The government wants a list of all requests entered into Google’s search engine during an unspecified single week—a breakdown that could conceivably span tens of millions of queries. In addition, it seeks 1 million randomly selected Web addresses from various Google databases.

In court papers that the San Jose Mercury News reported on after seeing them Wednesday, the Bush administration depicts the information as vital in its effort to restore online child protection laws that have been struck down by the US Supreme Court.

Yahoo Inc., which runs the Internet’s second-most used search engine behind Google, confirmed Thursday that it had complied with a similar government subpoena.

Although the government says it isn’t seeking any data that ties personal information to search requests, the subpoena still raises serious privacy concerns, experts said. Those worries have been magnified by recent revelations that the White House authorized eavesdropping on civilian communications after the September 11 attacks without obtaining court approval.

Every other search engine served similar subpoenas by the Bush administration has complied so far, according to court documents. The cooperating search engines weren’t identified.

Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo stressed that it didn’t reveal any personal information.

Microsoft Corp. MSN, the No. 3 search engine, declined to say whether it even received a similar subpoena.

As the Internet’s dominant search engine, Google has built up a valuable storehouse of information that "makes it a very attractive target for law enforcement," said Chris Hoofnagle, senior counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

The Department of Justice argues that Google’s cooperation is essential in its effort to simulate how people navigate the Web

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=27937

MORE RELATED

[Honest 836]

i agree with all of you, google should expand its services to beat Microsoft.

Enjoy!

Regards

[linuxguy 0]

i think 2006 has a lot in store for google!

[abhay 0]

Start-up hopes to challenge Google

Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan, who knew Google's co-founders while the four studied at Stanford University together, are launching an ambitious new search engine company, Kosmix.

They're betting they can challenge Google on many types of searches by gleaning more about the overall content of Web pages searched.

Kosmix hopes to make online search even better and more relevant than Google -- especially when people are researching information on specific topics.

So far, Google, has searched for pages based on a sort of popularity contest. You enter a word or phrase, and Google will search its database of Web pages to find out which pages with that word or phrase have been linked to the most. Google has made many refinements, but a page's popularity -- not necessarily its content -- still drives its approach.

Kosmix, operating from a Mountain View high-rise, says it is jettisoning that formula.

Instead, the start-up has developed a new kind of technology called ``categorization.''

First, it asks users to define a category for a search. If a search term is related to health, for example, users can make a query in a health-related search box. That way, Kosmix can find Web pages that are more closely associated in meaning with the search terms.

Kosmix then looks at what pages that link to other pages are saying -- to take a bigger stab at judging the meaning or subject of the page. If a page is saying something similar to the page it links to, you can get enough information to categorize it by topic, Harinarayan says.

The company will officially launch at the DEMO conference for start-ups in Phoenix next week.

Kosmix has started testing a health search, which can be found at www.Kosmix.com. Over the next year, the company will unleash numerous categories of search -- from health to travel, politics and finance. They'll appear on its site as ``tabs'' with separate search boxes. Within a year, Kosmix plans to unveil a general search box.

Rajaraman and Harinarayan hope their deep search technology, which they've developed over the past year with 20 employees, including several Ph.Ds from Stanford, can improve upon Google's one-size-fits-all approach for search.

Helpful categories

For example, say you are researching prostate cancer. Type in ``prostate cancer'' into Google, and you get millions of results, and most on the first page are highly relevant -- offering information about symptoms and treatments. But it is hard to know what comes after the first page, without doing a lot of scanning.

Type ``prostate cancer'' into Kosmix's health search, and you'll get relevant pages straight off, but also a helpful categorization of results along the left-hand column, including things like ``men's health,'' indicating it is a male problem, ``alternative medicine,'' something you may not have thought about looking for, ``blogs'' and ``message boards.''

This categorization is something Google doesn't offer.

There is lots of competition in thematic search -- such as Become.com (www.Become.com) for shopping or Mobissimo (www.Mobissimo.com) for travel.

However, analysts say Kosmix's effort to crawl the entire Web sets it apart from some niche search engines, which tend to crawl only 500 or fewer Web sites in their niches. ``I think they're going to do great,'' said Charlene Li, analyst at Forrester.

Li and others said that Kosmix may do well if it sticks to thematic searches but has little chance of making a serious dent in Google's lead in more general search. ``I'd be very surprised if they jumped in to really oust any of the major search players,'' said Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Watch.

Founded last year, Kosmix has raised $7.4 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners and Cambrian Ventures, a venture firm created by Rajaraman and Harinarayan. It had an earlier seed round of $700,000, which included money from Amazon's chief executive, Jeff Bezos.

Turned down by Brin

If there's anyone itching to take on Google, it is the two Kosmix founders.

The Kosmix guys say they almost joined up with the Google guys in the early days. They were students in the Stanford graduate computer science department at the same time as Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin. After Stanford, Rajaraman and Harinarayan co-founded Junglee, an early Web database company.

At one point, the two said, they considered approaching a nascent Google for merger talks, but found Brin brashly confident about Google's future.

After Junglee was acquired by Amazon, they approached Google on behalf of Amazon, they said.

Brin turned them down, saying he would consider selling Google only if they offered $1 billion or more. At the time, Amazon wasn't willing to pay that much, said Rajaraman.

Google did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

But with Google now worth over $100 billion, turns out Brin wasn't asking that much.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews...ss/13791484.htm

the good thing in here is that the guys are from india

something related

[abhay 0]

Google puts IM, e-mail together

Users will be able to easily chat from Gmail home page

Google Inc. has narrowed the divide between instant messaging and e-mail services by placing both within the same Web browser, ratcheting up competition with rivals Yahoo and Microsoft, which do not offer such a convenience.

The Mountain View search engine company planned to add chat to its Gmail home page Monday night.

"It's surprising that it's taken so long to bring the two together," said Brian Haven, an analyst with Forrester Research.

By making both communications services available from the same Web page, Google is hoping to lure more users. The company has offered separate e-mail and instant messaging services for some time, but they both lag in popularity behind the industry's leaders -- Yahoo, Microsoft and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL.

With the update Monday, Google's Gmail users who log in will automatically see a list of their existing e-mail contacts and whether those individuals are available or busy. Users can then click on any of the names to open a chat box and start an online conversation.

Chatting is only possible with other people who have Gmail accounts or a chat service that is compatible with Google's preexisting instant messaging service, Google Talk.

The chat feature through Gmail is available without a download, unlike other instant messaging services. A chat box simply appears on top of the Gmail page that can be moved by users to wherever they want on the computer screen.

Instant messaging conversations started through Gmail are archived on Google's servers. Users can sift through their old chats using the Gmail search box, a more convenient option than most services that require users to dig through folders stored on their computer hard drives.

In instances where users don't want conversations to be saved, they can click on a button to go off the record.

Gmail is available only to users who receive an invitation or use their cell phones to sign up. For now, the chat feature on Gmail will work only in Internet Explorer browsers versions 6.0 and above and in Firefox browsers 1.0 and above.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...2/07/GOOGLE.TMP

morerelated

Edited February 7, 2006 by abhay

[abhay 0]

Search up by 55 Percent!! bigG crushes em all

According to latest reports by Nielsen/NetRatings - global leaders in Internet media and market research, the total number of searches conducted across approximately 60 search engines in the US grew 55 percent from December 2004 to December 2005.

While around 3.3 billion searches were conducted on search engines in December 2004, the figure rose to nearly 5.1 billion searches in 2005, thereby accounting for the 55 percent increase.

As regards the increase in total searches, Google climbed up by almost 6 percent to garner a 49 percent share of all searches in December 2005. Meanwhile Yahoo! Search and MSN Search experienced a slight decline in their fortunes, with respect to search share points.

Commenting on the growth in search, Ken Cassar, senior director - analytics, Nielsen//NetRatings, said, "The double-digit increase in online search activity marks a significant milestone in the evolution of Internet consumer behavior. Online search is the primary tool most people rely on to do everyday research."

However Internet users did not grow at the same rate like search volume. Nielsen/Net Ratings has reported a rise of only about 3 percent in the number of Internet users.

http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/artic...1281&cat_id=643

Edited February 12, 2006 by abhay