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Developers, start your engines
April 7, 2008
Posted by Kevin Gibbs, Tech Lead, Google App Engine
We just launched a preview release of
Google App Engine
, a way for developers to run their web applications on Google's infrastructure. In the same way that Blogger made it easy to create a blog, Google App Engine is designed from the ground up to make it easy to create and run web applications.
With Google App Engine, developers can write web applications based on the same building blocks that Google uses, like
GFS
and
Bigtable
. Google App Engine packages those building blocks and provides access to scalable infrastructure that we hope will make it easier for developers to scale their applications automatically as they grow. This means they can spend less time dealing with system administration and maintenance, and more time building and improving their applications. (There's
more detail
on the new App Engine Blog.)
Google App Engine is free to use during the preview release, but the amount of computing resources any app can use is limited. In the future, developers will be able to purchase additional computing resources as needed, but Google App Engine will always be free to get started.
Today's launch is a preview release. We've got a lot left to do, and there are a lot of features we still want to add to the system. What we'd really like is to get your feedback on it, so we know which features are most important to you. We'll use your suggestions to keep improving the system.
This preview of Google App Engine is available for the first 10,000 developers who sign up; we will increase that number in near future. So, developers, please
sign up
,
download the SDK
, and start your engines.
New C-SPAN channel on YouTube
April 7, 2008
Posted by Steve Grove, Head of News and Politics, YouTube
As the 2008 election progresses, more and more voters are tuning into YouTube to stay on top of the action. Our
You Choose '08
platform now features content from candidates, news organizations, and voters, and we've made it easier than ever to see where the candidates stand on each of the major issues in this election. The next big stop on the campaign trail is Pennsylvania, so we're partnering with C-SPAN to collect videos from voters across the country who will answer the question, "What is the most important issue to you in this election?"
This is our fourth voter video program. We started in
Iowa
, went on to
New Hampshire
, and then went national on
Super Tuesday
. With C-SPAN, we're adding a new twist: in the week leading up to the Pennsylvania primaries on April 22, we'll be on the C-SPAN election bus throughout the state, collecting videos straight from the campaign trail.
We think C-SPAN is the perfect partner for this program. Started in 1979, C-SPAN is a private nonprofit whose mission is to "provide public access to the political process." That mission is closely aligned with our own: to connect voters and candidates through the power of online video. In a way, YouTube politics has given voters everywhere the opportunity to create their own "C-SPANs" and make the election all the more transparent and accessible to voters everywhere. And that's a fundamentally good thing. So tune into
C-SPAN's YouTube channel
in the coming days to check out the videos we're getting from voters -- and to submit your own.
Cone of silence (finally) lifts on the spectrum auction
April 3, 2008
Posted by Richard Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel, and Joseph Faber, Corporate Counsel
For three weeks at the end of January and early February, a small team of us holed up in
double super secret
"war rooms" in Mountain View, CA and Washington, D.C. to bid on Google's behalf in the FCC spectrum auction. Bidding took place electronically, and literally billions of dollars were at stake with every mouse click. And because of the FCC's strict
anti-collusion rules
, we couldn't tell a soul what was going on behind closed doors.
But now that the FCC's rules have lifted, we can. As you probably know by now, Google
didn't pick up any spectrum licenses
in the auction. Nonetheless, partly as a result of our bidding, consumers soon should have new freedom to get the most out of their mobile phones and other wireless devices.
Google's top priority heading into the auction was to make sure that bidding on the so-called "C Block" reached the $4.6 billion reserve price that would trigger the important "open applications" and "open handsets" license conditions. We were also prepared to gain the nationwide C Block licenses at a price somewhat higher than the reserve price; in fact, for many days during the early course of the auction, we were the high bidder. But it was clear, then and now, that Verizon Wireless ultimately was motivated to bid higher (and had
far more financial incentive
to gain the licenses).
You may remember that as the FCC was setting rules for the auction last summer, we urged the Commission to adopt
four openness conditions
. Further, we vowed to bid at least $4.6 billion in the auction if the Commission adopted all four rules. Even though the FCC ultimately agreed to only two of the conditions, which nullified our original pledge, we still believed it was important to demonstrate through action our commitment to a more open wireless world.
We're glad that we did. Based on the way that the bidding played out, our participation in the auction helped ensure that the C Block met the reserve price. In fact, in ten of the bidding rounds we actually raised our own bid -- even though no one was bidding against us -- to ensure aggressive bidding on the C Block. In turn, that helped increase the revenues raised for the U.S. Treasury, while making sure that the openness conditions would be applied to the ultimate licensee.
The end of the auction certainly doesn't mark the end of our efforts toward greater wireless choice and innovation. We will weigh in at the FCC as it sets implementation rules for the C Block, and determines how to move forward with a
D Block re-auction
.
Android
is already off to a successful start, and we are likely to see handsets later this year based on the Android platform. We will continue advocating for the FCC to open up the vacant
"white spaces"
in the TV spectrum band for mobile broadband uses. And as more policymakers and regulators around the world evaluate their own spectrum policies, we'll continue pushing to help make the wireless world look much more like the open platform of the Internet.
Happy birthday, Google Grants
April 2, 2008
Posted by Cynthia Schroeder, Google Grants team
This week marks the fifth year of Google Grants. We're pleased to report that more than 4,000 grantees to date have benefited from approximately $273.3 million in free AdWords advertising -- and that's something to celebrate. Learn more about the history of this in-kind advertising program on the
Google Grants Blog
, and find out how your favorite not-for-profit group can apply by visiting the
Google Grants page
.
Selling Performics Search Marketing
April 2, 2008
Posted by Tom Phillips, Director, DoubleClick Integration
Since we
closed the acquisition of DoubleClick
on March 11, we’ve been immersed in integration planning for each of our products and business units. Recently we completed this process for the DoubleClick Performics businesses, and have decided to split them into two separately-run business units: Affiliate Marketing and Search Marketing.
It’s clear to us that we do not want to be in the search engine marketing business. Maintaining objectivity in both search and advertising is paramount to Google’s mission and core to the trust we ask from our users. For this reason, we plan to sell the Performics search marketing business to a third party. We believe this will allow us to maintain objectivity and the search marketing business to continue to grow and innovate and serve its customers. While we have not yet identified a buyer, we’ve received preliminary interest from a number of our current partners. Search Marketing will continue to run as a separate entity until the division is sold.
We plan to integrate the affiliate marketing business into existing Google operations, providing enhanced value and reach for our affiliate advertisers, and additional tools and monetization opportunities for our publishers. Together, we believe that we can continue to grow this business and deliver on the high expectations from partners.
Where it’s applicable in Europe, these plans and their implications for employees are subject to consultation with staff and employee representatives. During this transition, we will ensure that all affiliate and search marketing customers receive the same high level of service they have always experienced.
Update
on June 10, 2009: We announced that we were
selling Performics to Publicis Groupe
in August 2008. The transaction
closed
in September 2008.
Google Docs mean sharing
April 2, 2008
Posted by Meredith Whittaker, Program Manager
Google Docs is all about being able to share and collaborate, and now we're taking the idea of sharing a step further with a new
Google Docs Community Channel
. This is a place to watch videos from regular folks all about Google Docs, connect with others, and pick up smart tips about all the ways to use the application.
Whether you want an introduction video, step-by-step help instructions, or simply to see what others in the Google Docs community have been doing, stop by,
share your videos
and enjoy this new showcase for your ideas, your voice and your boundless creativity.
Announcing Project Virgle
April 1, 2008
Posted by Sir Richard Branson, President and Founder of Virgin Group
In my life, I've had a lot of exciting adventures and launched a lot of ambitious business ventures. I'm delighted today to announce Virgle, Inc., a joint venture between the Virgin Group and Google which qualifies on both counts.
Virgle's goal is simple: the establishment of a permanent human settlement on Mars. Larry Page, Sergey Brin and I feel strongly that contemporary technology is sufficiently advanced to make such an effort both successful and economical, and that it's high time that humanity moved beyond Earth and began our great, long journey to explore the stars and establish our first lasting foothold on another world.
In the years to come, we'll be sending up a series of spaceships carrying (along with the supplies and tools needed to build the new colony) what eventually will be hundreds of Mars colonists, or Virgle Pioneers -- myself among them. If you think you might want join us (or invest in or otherwise assist this vast venture), I hope you'll
read more here
about how Virgle will work, what our brave Pioneers can expect and what the future holds for what just might be the most ambitious adventure in mankind's long and storied history.
See you on the north side of Kasei Valles!
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