Defending the future of books

Posted by Laura DeBonis, Library Partnerships Director, Google Book Search team

On Monday, University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman gave a moving speech to the AAP (American Association of Publishers) about the reasons why the university is participating in the Google Book Search Library Project. She explained how copyright law supports fair use, and eloquently observed that the loss of books, whether due to natural disasters or inevitable physical decay, is a significant cultural loss.

"Nature, politics and war have always been the mortal enemies of written works," she said. "Most recently, Hurricane Katrina dealt a blow to the libraries of the Gulf Coast. At Tulane University, the main library sat in nine feet of water -- water that soaked the valuable Government Documents collection: more than 750,000 items -- one of the largest collections of government materials in Louisiana -- 90 percent of it now lost."

President Coleman went on to note that together with Google "the University of Michigan is involved in one of the most extensive preservation projects in world history. ... By digitizing today's books, through our own efforts and in partnership with others, we are protecting the written word for all time."

In the recent debate over making books discoverable online, the value of preserving our culture, knowledge and history has often been ignored. We're honored to partner with institutions like the University of Michigan that staunchly defend this shared heritage.

You can watch her speech on Google Video.

Update: Reposted with working links and Google Video link.

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Chat + Email = Crazy Delicious

Posted by Jon Perlow, Software Engineer, Gmail and Google Talk

When we launched Google Talk, some people told us what a great idea it'd be to add chat to Gmail. True that. So a couple of us Google Talk engineers approached the Gmail team. They were excited about the idea, and we got to work immediately -- spending a lot of not-so-lazy Sundays huddled in a conference room.

At the start, I thought a lot about all the things that bother me about chats. My own chats contained a lot of important information that was always getting lost. I found myself cutting, pasting and emailing important chats to myself so I could find them later. Another thing that bothered me is that whenever I wanted to get in touch with someone, I had to pick a specific application. For email, I'd have to sign into Gmail. For IM, I had to choose between the two or three programs I used regularly.

It seems these things didn't bother only me, but a lot of other people too. Which is why, within a few weeks, when you log into Gmail you'll find a list of your most important contacts on the left-hand side of the window, and you can chat right away with those who are online. You can also save, search for, and view your chat histories just like your Gmail messages.

In line with our belief that communication networks should be open, my fellow geeks will be happy to know that Gmail is now just another XMPP client that connects to the Google Talk network. So Gmail users will be able to chat with any of the millions of users on the Google Talk and Jabber networks.

Now that it's launching, we're going to quit working Sundays. Maybe even throw back a few Mr. Pibbs and celebrate with Red Vines.

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Today's Net Neutrality hearing

Posted by Karen Wickre, Google Blog team

Vint Cerf has already written about network neutrality, and he just testified on this important subject in Washington. Here's his statement before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Updated with working link to statement.

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This Bowl's for you

Posted by Jon Steinback, Product Marketing Manager, Google Video

Until I was ten, I thought the Super Bowl was a contest between two teams of beer bottles. They would scuttle up and down the field, their glass necks miraculously unscathed despite the fact that each bottle wore no padding or protection (except for a tiny helmet). The game was always exciting, with one side hoisting the Bud Bowl trophy in the final moments of that last commercial break.

Even after I realized who was really playing the game (it's hard being a Vikings fan), I still tuned in for the commercials. What's more interesting: a 3-hour game or 30 seconds of Jessica Simpson arguing with Miss Piggy? I think we all know the answer to that one! After all, we live in an era in which a company will pay $2 million so the world can watch a sock puppet.

Which is why I'm excited that this year everyone can see the Super Bowl commercials on Google Video. Finally, a way to enjoy the ads without having to fast-forward TiVo through the game.

UPDATE: We've added a few more (2/7).

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Forget me not

Posted by Avni Shah, Product Manager

In recent years, my window shopping has moved to the web, and Froogle has been there to help me shop smarter. But one thing Froogle couldn't fix was my lack of a short term memory. That's one reason we recently integrated Froogle with Personalized Search. Now you can view and manage your history of Froogle searches and the products you've looked at, just as you already can do with Web Search, Image Search, and News.

Just sign up for Personalized Search and make sure you're signed in to your Google Account when searching on Froogle. If you're like me, that means you'll never have to worry about forgetting Darth Tater's name - ever again.

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Human Rights Caucus briefing

Posted by Andrew McLaughlin, Senior Policy Counsel

For today's Member Briefing of the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Caucus on "Human Rights and the Internet -- The People's Republic of China," we've submitted the following statement:

Congressional Human Rights Caucus Members’ Briefing
“Human Rights and the Internet – The People’s Republic of China”
Submission of Andrew McLaughlin, Google Inc.
February 1, 2006

On behalf of Google, I would like to thank the Members of the Human Rights Caucus for inviting Google to participate in today’s Member Briefing on Human Rights and the Internet in China.

Though previously scheduled commitments prevent me from appearing in person today, I reiterate Google’s offer to participate in a Member Briefing on another date, to brief Members individually, and to continue briefing staff on our activities in China.

I. Google.cn in China

The rationale for launching a domestic version of Google in China – a website subject to China’s local content restrictions – is that our service in China has not been very good, due in large measure to the extensive filtering performed by Chinese Internet service providers (ISPs). Google’s users in China struggle with a service that is often unavailable, or painfully slow. According to our measurements, Google.com appears to be unavailable around 10% of the time. Even when users can reach Google.com, the website is slow, and sometimes produces results that, when clicked on, stall out the user’s browser. The Google News service is almost never available; Google Images is available only half the time.

These problems can only be solved by creating a local presence inside China. By launching Google.cn and making a major ongoing investment in people, infrastructure, and innovation within China, we intend to provide the greatest access to the greatest amount of information to the greatest number of Chinese Internet users. At the same time, the launch of Google.cn did not in any way alter the availability of the uncensored Chinese-language version of Google.com, which Google provides globally to all Internet users without restriction.

In deciding how best to approach the Chinese – or any – market, we must balance our commitments to satisfy the interests of users, expand access to information, and respond to local conditions. Our strategy for doing business in China seeks to achieve that balance through improved disclosure, targeting of services, and local investment.

A. Improved Disclosure to Users of Google.cn. In order to operate Google.cn as a website in China, Google is required to remove some sensitive information from our search results. These restrictions are imposed by Chinese laws, regulations, and policies. However, when we remove content from Google.cn, we disclose that fact to our users. This approach is similar in principle to the disclosures we provide when we have altered our search results to comply with local laws in France, Germany, and the United States. When a Chinese user gets search results from which one or more results has been filtered, the Google webpage includes an explicit notification – an indication that the search results are missing something that might otherwise be relevant. This is not, to be sure, a tremendous advance in transparency to users, but it is at least a meaningful step in the right direction.

B. Targeting of Services on Google.cn. Google.cn today includes three basic Google services (web search, image search, and Google News), together with a local business information and map service. Other products – such as Gmail and Blogger – that involve personal and confidential information will be introduced only when we are comfortable that we can provide them in a way that protects users’ expectations about that information. We are conscious of the reality that data is subject to the laws and regulations of the country in which it is stored, and we make decisions about where to locate our services with that reality squarely in mind.

C. Local Investment and Innovation. Looking beyond the Google.cn launch, we will continue to make significant investments in research and development in China. We believe these investments – and the innovations that will result – will help us to better tailor our products to user demands and better demonstrate how the Internet can help advance key objectives supported by the Chinese government, such as building stronger, more efficient, and more equitable markets, promoting the rule of law, and bolstering the fight against corruption.

While China has made great strides in the past decades, it remains in many ways closed. We are not happy about governmental restrictions on access to information, and we hope that over time everyone in the world will come to enjoy full access to information. Information and communication technology – including the Internet, email, instant messaging, weblogs, peer-to-peer applications, streaming audio and video, mobile telephony, SMS text messages, and so forth – has brought Chinese citizens a greater ability to read, discuss, publish and communicate about a wider range of topics, events, and issues than ever before. We believe that our continued engagement with China is the best (and perhaps only) way for Google to help bring the tremendous benefits of universal information access to all our users there.

II. Next Steps

1. Expanded Dialogue and Outreach. For more than a year, Google has been actively engaged in discussion and debate about China with a wide range of individuals and organizations both inside and outside of China, including technologists, businesspeople, government officials, academic experts, writers, analysts, journalists, activists, and bloggers. We aim to expand these dialogues as our activities in China evolve, in order to improve our understanding, refine our approach, and operate with openness.

2. Voluntary Industry Action. Google supports the idea of Internet industry action to define common principles to guide technology firms’ practices in countries that restrict access to information. Together with colleagues at other leading Internet companies, we are actively exploring the potential for Internet industry guidelines, not only for China but for all countries in which Internet content is subjected to governmental restrictions. Such guidelines might encompass, for example, disclosure to users, and reporting about governmental restrictions and the measures taken in response to them.

3. Government-to-Government Dialogue. In addition to common action by Internet companies, there is an important role for the United States government to address, in the context of its bilateral government-to-government relationships, the larger issues of free expression and open communication. For example, as a U.S.-based company that deals primarily in information, we have urged the United States government to treat censorship as a barrier to trade.

On behalf of Google, I would like to thank the members of the Human Rights Caucus for their attention to these important and pressing issues.

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Looking for a few good (Acumen Fund) Fellows

Posted by Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO, Acumen Fund

The Google Foundation supports select organizations whose work addresses the challenge of global poverty in ways that are effective, sustainable, and scalable. From time to time we invite guest bloggers from grantee organizations to tell their story. This is the second in a series of posts from Acumen Fund.

One of the lessons from Acumen Fund’s work is that people are as great a need as financial capital in building market-driven solutions to poverty. The world needs an "entrepreneurial bench” -- top talent with both the skills and the moral imagination to effect significant change. Which is why we're excited to announce the launch of the Acumen Fund Fellows Program. Our goal is to build a corps of leaders around the world with the imagination, skills and drive to add value to best-in-class organizations in both the social and private sectors.

The one-year, experience-based program begins first in New York, where fellows will build business skills, meet extraordinary leaders and grow their leadership abilities. Each Fellow will then spend nine months with a specific investment in the field, with a concrete set of deliverables. The program will finish with a final month in New York to share experiences and focus on potential job opportunities.

We are seeking extraordinary young professionals to make up our first cohort of Fellows. Applicants must apply by February 17. Fellows will be selected by mid-April, with the program beginning in September 2006.

We're extremely excited by the opportunity to lift a new generation of leaders, and will keep you posted on our progress.

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