Nach ein paar Tagen Pause vom Internet, zumindest von diesem Blog, wieder zurück. Man hat eben auch als Halbrentner viel zu tun. Eigentlich wollte ich nahezu täglich meinen Alltag bloggen, aber manchmal schafft man’s nicht oder ist zu luschig, setzt andere Prios, etc. Vielleicht sollte ich mir vornehmen, morgens nach dem Frühstück ein paar Zeilen zu schreiben. Werd’s mal probieren.
Meine Teilnahme an der Quodlibet, der hamburger Antiquariatsverkaufsmesse, habe ich sehr genossen. Nicht übermässig viel verkauft, aber doch zufriedenstellend. Die gemachten Erfahrungen, den direkten Umgang mit Kunden und Besuchern, Kollegen usw. fand ich sehr erfrischend. Insgesamt bestärkte mich der Ablauf der Messe darin, dass das Gutenbergzeitalter seinem Ende entgegengeht. Viele Kollegen wollen das nicht wahrhaben, aber die Zeichen hierzu scheinen nicht nur am Horizont auf, sondern verwandeln sich in gleissende Spots, denen man nicht mehr ausweichen kann. Es wird mich dennoch nicht aufhalten und entmutigen, meiner Nebenbeschäftigung mit dem gedruckten Buch nachzugehen.

Gestern abend war eine tolle Runde bei Beckmann mit sehr interessantem Thema: Internet und wie es uns und unsere Welt verändert, der gläserne Mensch und die Allmacht des Netzes.. Die öffentliche Diskussion über diesen “Machtkampf” zwischen Mensch und System wird spürbar stärker und findet Eingang in sonst flaue Talkshows. Ich bin überzeugt, dass es nur noch wenige Jahre dauern wird, dass das Internet-System noch  rasantere Geschwindigkeit aufnehmen wird zur Vervollkommnung und Entwicklung eines eigenen Handelns und Bewußtseins. Vielleicht wird es schrecklich werden für uns Menschen oder segensreich, noch kann man das nicht sagen. Aber der Weg zur allumfassenden Verselbständigung und Mächtigkeit ist weit beschritten und nicht mehr aufzuhalten.
Karl Olsberg hat eine mögliche schreckliche Variante in seinem Thriller “Das System” vorweggenommen.

Wahrscheinlich sind die Zeiten nicht mehr fern, wo die beiden Google Gründer Sergey Brin und Larry Page sich nichts sehnlicher wünschen, sie könnten die Büchse der Pandora, die sie mit ihrer Suchmaschine und allen Konsequenzen, Entwicklungen daraus geöffnet haben, wieder schliessen. Aber diese Lawine wird weiterlaufen und vieles begraben. Die Firma Google hatte die besten Absichten, wird es eines Tages heissen.
Aufregende Zeiten in denen wir leben; man braucht wirklich keine SF mehr zu lesen, wenn sich in der Realität mit der Entwicklung des Internets und allen damit zusammenhängenden Themen eine Entwicklung zeigt, die weit über die Phantasien von Philip K. Dick oder Arthur C. Clarke hinausgehen. Bei mir formen sich auch einige Themen und Ideen für aktuelle SF-Geschichten; vielleicht sollte ich mir Zeit nehmen und versuchen, es zu Papier (haha) zu bringen.

Heute stand im Hamburger Abendblatt, dass die Post ihr normales Briefgeschäft bald einstellen wird, zumindest ein völlig neues Konzept anbieten will, nämlich eine Umstellung der besonderen Art: angeboten wird dann, dass E-Mails postalisch auf Papier den Empfängern zugestellt wird. Damit ist dann das Schreiben, das Anfertigen eines papierenen Briefes oder Dokumentes völlig out, aber man kann dann über die Post dem Empfänger noch etwas Materielles zustellen lassen. Ich glaube durchaus, dass dieses Konzept erfolgversprechend ist, aber es wird zu  einem Nischendasein führen, zumal sich die Post das bezahlen lassen will/muss. Damit ist für mich das Schicksal der Post auch klar. der Konzern wird sich auf diesem Sektor zum Nischenbetrieb entwickeln, mit der Folge von unzähligen Arbeitsplatzverlusten. Howard Rheingold, ein sehr kluger Internetbeobachter und Autor,  hat schon vor mehr als zehn Jahren derartige Entwicklungen (völlige Digitalisierung/ Virtualisierung) vorausgesehen.

Leo

On March 6, 2009, Google CEO Eric Schmidt appeared on the Charlie Rose program, and made a profound statement about Google’s mission:

Charlie Rose: What was the original mission for Google?

Eric Schmidt: All the world’s information, universally accessible and useful.

Charlie Rose: And how we doing on that?

Eric Schmidt: Well, we’ve just started. And I would tell you that when you are 23 years old and you state that’s your mission, you’ve got a lot of years ahead of you. And Larry and Sergey still have a long way to go in that.

Google stores every single search, along with the IP address of the computer doing the search, and has done so since the beginning.

Google’s motto is “don’t be evil.” However, that didn’t stop them from cooperating with the communist Chinese government to further cement The Great Firewall of China, by restricting access to certain information deemed unacceptable by the regime. So much for their commitment to the universally accessible component of their mission.

While it’s falling behind in making the world’s information universally accessible, it’s moving ahead at breakneck speed in storing all the world’s information. This recent article talks about how much Google knows about you, and how their new tool, Google Dashboard, introduced this November, will show you exactly that.

It should be clear that Schmidt wasn’t speaking metaphorically when he said “all the world’s information,” he literally meant it. All the world’s information, stored by Google.

The company that made electric vehicles cool again and dispelled the ugly golf cart stereotypes is rumored to file for an IPO very soon according to a recent Reuters report. What makes this CleanTech startup unique from say the recent A123 Systems IPO? Tesla is currently profitable! Profitability is one way to counter the IPO risks noted in this well blogged article about Goldman Sachs and their IPO business.

Tesla is on a mission to prove that Silicon Valley can do what Detroit, Tokyo and Frankfurt cannot. While some may think their Tesla Roadster (costs approx. $109k), which has a range of approximately 220 miles and Ferrari like performance, is a toy for the rich- a new Tesla Model S is in the works to dispel this theory and open the company to those with a smaller budget. The Model S will cost around $50,000, have 4 doors and appear similar to a nice Lexus, but more beautiful in my opinion. It also will not have any tailpipe emissions and will cost about $2 to power for 300 miles.

While Tesla’s automobiles are an evolutionary step as far as design, production and backing- they will nonetheless need to compete with companies like Nissan, GM, Fisker  and Ford who all have both government backing, and either an EV or Plug-in EV in the works. Along with several battery makers including A123 Systems, Ener1 and Johnson Controls, Tesla received $465MM in low cost loans from the US government to help spur development. It is interesting to ponder whether or not the market for efficient automobiles will prefer plug in electrics, pure electrics or if it is large and wealthy enough for both. Signs point to the latter as several of these planned or existing cars, including Tesla’s, have a lengthy customer waiting list.

Tesla’s investors include Google, founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Daimler AG, Aabar Investments, Valor Equity Partners, Technology Partners, The Westly Group, Compass Venture Partners. Tesla has also received an ‘opportunistic’ US$82.5m equity investment from a group led by Fjord Capital Management, a private equity firm which focuses exclusively on clean energy. “Daimler, which invested US$50m in Tesla earlier in 2009, along with Aabar Investments, which is also Daimler’s largest shareholder, contributed to the offering to keep its stake at just under 10%. The new money was earmarked for Tesla’s expansion of its retail store network globally.”

The IPO would be the first from a US Automaker since Ford in 1956.

Google to anoint Android, Chrome OS love (eventually) • The Register.

Google has confessed that its Chrome OS and Android projects are likely to come together at some stage down the line as the firm continues to tinker with its operating system vision of the future.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin told CNet that “Android and Chrome will likely converge over time”. He pointed out the underlying Linux and Webkit code that’s present in both platforms.

anointment

Google sure seems hung up on the speed of the web these days, and I have to say, I like it. After announcing the SPDY protocol they’re working on to speed up page loading time, it has come out that Google is seriously considering using page loading time as a factor when returning search results. This isn’t some unsubstantiated rumor, either; it comes from none other than Matt Cutts, the high-profile Google employee who works on Google’s web spam team.

Cutts said that the directive to speed up searching comes right from the top, Google’s co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. According to Search Engine Land he said they want searching to be as fast as flipping through a magazine.

At first blush it seems counter to Google’s accuracy goals to favor fast pages over slow pages when a slow page might be more relevant to a user’s search, but I know that I have often not even bothered letting a slow page finish loading when I was busy searching for something specific. If Google can shield me from the slow sites, it will help me find what I’m looking for more quickly.

Every once in a while a business deal gets done that ‘those in the know’ believe will have major impact on business in America and possibly worldwide.  The Bank of America/Merrill Lynch merger was one, the AOL/Time Warner merger was thought to be one, AT&T/BellSouth was another, Kraft/Phillip Morris was one that worked, Sony/Columbia and Walt Disney/ABC also seem to have worked.  This week, another was announced; this one is anticipated to have impact worldwide – first in the advertising industry, and then in the industries which will be affected by those changes in the advertising industry.  This week’s announcement is the purchase of Admob by Google. 

Below is a detailed analysis by Mobile Marketer on the anticipated impact this purchase will have on advertising in general, mobile advertising specifically, and overall business.  Those of you who have read this blog on a regular basis are well aware of our contention that mobile marketing is the next big growth area in marketing/advertising.  To us, this announcement further confirms our thoughts on this issue.  Read the article to see if you believe the same, we would love to have your comments.

November 10, 2009, Mobile Marketer

Google now has three out of four bases covered Google Inc. has signed a game-changing agreement to acquire mobile ad network AdMob for $750 million in stock in a move that validates mobile advertising as an effective marketing medium.

Google is hoping that this acquisition will enhance its existing expertise and technology in mobile advertising, while also giving advertisers and publishers more choice in this fast-growing area. The deal will help Google in its efforts to develop more effective tools for creating, serving and analyzing emerging mobile ads formats and expand beyond its traditional focus on search advertising.

“We’ve been talking about the awesome opportunity that mobile marketing brings to the world,” said Mike Wehrs, president/CEO of the Mobile Marketing Association, New York. “Some people understand that, and this deal shows that the largest and best-known advertising company—Google—understands the awesomeness of the opportunity, and they understand where this is going.

“If anything, it’s absolutely proof-positive of the value of the mobile channel and it encourages brands to take a very hard look at their priorities,” he said. “If they’re not already increasing their mobile spend, this is a wake-up call.

“It sets to rest any questions as to whether mobile ad networks had a sustainable, profitable business model, and this will cause people to pay attention, wow, there is significant large-player interest, so it spells opportunity.”

Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google is a top Web property in all major global markets, albeit largely monetarily successful in its search advertising business. It has recently made mobile an increasing focus of its business.

AdMob, San Mateo, CA, is one of the leading mobile ad networks specializing in banner ads for brands such as adidas, MTV, Land Rover and Toshiba that run on publisher sites such as CBS, AccuWeather, Cellufun, MovieTickets.com, Lonely Planet and Stitcher. These ads run across iPhone sites and applications, as well as those based on Google’s Android platform.

Founded in 2006, the 140-employee AdMob won $47 million in funding from investors such as venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and Accel Partners.  AdMob and Google share a common investor in Sequoia Capital, a well-known Silicon Valley eminence.

Google’s rationale

Mobile advertising is a rapidly growing and competitive space, and Google and AdMob are currently specializing in different areas. Though Google offers many forms of mobile advertising, its focus to date has been on mobile search ads, while AdMob’s focus has been mobile display ads and in-application ads.

Google dubbed AdMob the quintessential Silicon Valley startup and claims that it is generating impressive year-on-year revenue growth. Both companies have approved the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions.

As this ecosystem continues to grow, the company expects these new marketing media to offer significant benefits. Google believes that advertisers will be better able to engage mobile users with AdMob’s ad formats. The deal will bring new innovation and competition to mobile advertising and will lead to more effective tools for creating, serving and analyzing emerging mobile ad formats, per Google.

The company claims that, by improving the performance of mobile advertising, publishers and developers will be able to monetize their content more effectively, which will hopefully have benefits for the wider mobile ecosystem. Google also claims that users will see more relevant ads and ultimately get access to more free or low-cost ad-supported content and applications, improving their mobile experience. The mobile advertising space will remain highly competitive, with more than a dozen mobile ad networks. The deal is similar to mobile advertising acquisitions that AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo have made in the past two years.

Analysts abuzz

Industry analysts are buzzing about the news of the acquisition, and many were eager to chime in with their thoughts about the potential impact of the deal. “This definitely puts Google in a good position—it really helps them with display ads,” said Tole Hart, Philadelphia-based research director of consumer services at Gartner. “AdMob is definitely a large ad network, and this is taking a large competitor out of the market, but there are still enough ad networks out there to make it a fairly competitive market. “There is less competition, but still some competition in the market, Yahoo in search, and other mobile ad networks such as Quattro Wireless, Millennial Media, Jumptap and a few others still in the market,” he said. “It’s still going to be competitive.”

Many analysts believe that mobile advertising has nowhere to go but up, so there will be plenty of room for multiple players in the space. This definitely helps Google position itself well for strategic growth in the ecosystem. “We think the mobile advertising market is going to grow a lot, and to me it seems like a pretty good deal,” Mr. Hart said. “If it’s going to help you in this market going forward, it’s money well spent—the current revenues aren’t going to add up, but if it gets you going and gives you some assurance that you’ll be a leader, it’s worth it. “Five years from now, everyone will have a smartphone or a really good feature phone, so there will be a lot of eyeballs and a lot of revenue,” he said.

Gartner projects that the worldwide revenue for mobile advertising will be $13.5 billion in 2013, up from around $500 million in 2008. This includes mobile banner ads, SMS, text links, search and maps, ads in applications and games, ads in videos and TV shown on a mobile phone. Up until now, Google has focused mainly on search advertising, but this deal signals that it has its sights set on other areas as well.

“This one move underscores Google’s ongoing insistence that their strategy is to look at mobile and be a big player there, and this gives them one more piece of that puzzle, one more tool to pursue that strategy,” said Neil Strother, analyst at Forrester Research, Kirkland, WA. “They do OK with AdSense for mobile already, and this gives them a platform to go into display more and play in the smartphone space, because AdMob has leveraged that pretty well.

“Mobile advertising is still a fairly small chunk of the interactive marketing spend, it’s still relatively early, but now Google can get in and marshal their resources, and they will become a major player,” he said. “It probably solidifies them as the leader in the mobile marketing ecosystem.

“The potential is rather high to reach more mainstream users, because even mid-tier phones come with browsers and more people are signing up for data plans that come with Web browsing, so they can search and discover things that are entertaining and can have advertising in some way.”

Some analysts focused on the potential for integrating AdMob with AdSense to some degree, and the various synergies the AdMob acquisition could create for Google. “First off, this is a big deal, both in deal size and what it could mean for Google,” said Michael Boland, San Francisco-based senior analyst and program director at BIA/Kelsey. “Google is clearly keen on replicating its online dominance to the mobile world as growing smartphone penetration drives the growth of the mobile Web.

“What it’s done so far has mostly been text advertising on Google searches and throughout its AdSense for mobile network mirroring its online strategy,” he said. What AdMob brings is an extensive network of display ad inventory on 15,000 mobile Web sites and applications for iPhone and Android, according to Mr. Boland.

“It’s been the largest ad network for in-app ad inventory on the iPhone, which has important implications for demographic targeting and audience segmentation,” Mr. Boland said. “With AdMob, Google can now reach incremental mobile users and beef up its ability to serve mobile display advertising. “This is a strong position if you combine it with the fact that Google has so many existing online advertisers,” he said. “It can transition many into mobile marketing with a one-stop-shop approach. “This has implications for many more advertisers entering AdMob’s network—otherwise ad networks rely on a combination of direct sales and some self service, so in that respect, Google’s front door to advertisers gives AdMob an advantage over other ad networks.”

Self-service mobile advertising will grow in usage, which suggests Google’s approach will position it well, according to Mr. Boland. “We could see more and more mobile distribution options integrate with its existing AdWords dashboard, again, a one-stop-shop approach,” Mr. Boland said. “If you think about it, this again mirrors Google’s online approach. “Other mobile ad networks have meanwhile begun to ad self-service tools to reach more mid-market and SMB long-tail advertisers,” he said. “This will be a growing source of mobile ad revenue as mobile marketing reaches these segments of the market, just like they did online.”

Focusing on display, search and messaging-based advertising, eMarketer predicts that U.S. mobile advertising spending will grow from $320 million last year to $416 million this year to more than $1.5 billion by 2013. “Google’s acquisition of AdMob obviously gives a lot of legitimacy to mobile marketing in general and mobile display advertising specifically,” said Noah Elkin, senior analyst at eMarketer, New York. “It signals, as on the desktop, that the combination of display and search are going to be what drives the advertising ecosystem, including mobile advertising. “I’m sure that all of the mobile ad networks have been thinking about a combination like this, they’ve all received quite a bit of venture capital money over the past few years, and they’ve been contemplating something like this as a potential exit strategy,” he said. “This deal could help accelerate that timetable. “Google putting a lot of money into the space speeds things up a bit.”

Mr. Elkin would not rule out the possibility that this deal could lead to an acquisition by Microsoft or another Google rival. “Microsoft getting involved is certainly possible—AOL bought Third Screen Media and merged that into Platform-A,” Mr. Elkin said. “Microsoft has invested pretty heavily in voice search with the TellMe acquisition a couple of years ago, and I’m sure they’re looking pretty closely at mobile display as well. “This is the beginning of a dance or musical chairs, with everyone looking for a partner,” he said. “It’s all leading mobile ad networks to cater to slightly different constituencies, there’s not a lot of overlapping reach, so they are viable acquisition targets—AdMob is very strong with iPhone users, while Quattro and Millennial have different user bases, so there are lots of ways into this market. “We’ve pointed to display and search as the two main components driving the market, increasing smartphone adoption and the increase in mobile Web surfing and applications usage is driving that.”

Open letter from Omar Hamoui, founder/CEO of AdMob, San Mateo, CA, to publishers, advertisers and visitors to AdMob.com

This morning we announced that AdMob has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Google. I’m obviously excited, and not only for our customers, partners, and employees. I’m excited because I believe this will be an important moment for everyone involved in producing, consuming, or monetizing engaging products on mobile. The truth is that the mobile industry has had no shortage of creative energy, amazing products, and talented entrepreneurs. But until now, it has always felt like those of us involved in this space played second fiddle to our online brethren. I believe that time is over.

I’ve been working in mobile for over 7 years now. Before AdMob, I founded two separate mobile startups that never got significant traction. It was so frustrating to build what I knew was an incredible service only to find myself unable to distribute or monetize the product without a carrier or handset deal. Turns out, I wasn’t the only one. Talk to any veteran in mobile and they will tell you just how hard it was to get things done only a few years ago. I remember we used to have a cynical saying that summarized both the promise that mobile possessed and the monumental barriers we could not cross: “Mobile is the future, and always will be.”

That frustration is what led me to found AdMob a few years ago while I was in grad school. Over the years I’ve been fortunate enough to gather a tremendously talented group of employees. Together we’ve been a part of helping to create a healthy and vibrant environment where developers and publishers, small and large, can both promote their services as well as benefit from the attention and usage their products attract. In our early days we were focused primarily on the mobile web, and gained immense satisfaction from each new business that our service made possible within the mobile browser.

Then came the iPhone. Suddenly, Apple solved so many problems that had plagued mobile for so long. They showed all of us the way forward and their efforts have led to a landslide of rapid improvements in our space. We were so excited by the promise the iPhone represented that we shifted a significant portion of our attention to that device in its very early days. We launched the first iPhone ad units focused on the web and quickly added the capability to run ads in applications. Now with the addition of excellent devices from Palm, Nokia, RIM, and plethora of Android powered smartphones, we have all the preconditions necessary for what will be a tidal wave of mobile browsing and app usage. But let there be no mistake. Our business, and the mobile industry in general, owes Apple a debt of gratitude.

We now operate in an environment that is much more advanced than the one we entered into a few years ago. There are literally hundreds of competitors, small and large, with different areas of focus and expertise. Lately, it seems that almost every week we hear about a new idea or company in the mobile advertising space. This has led to rapid innovation, and we’re excited about the positive attention this deal will bring to mobile advertising. We have no doubt this will bring even more players into the space and accelerate all the innovation that is already taking place.

There are so many people to thank for getting us to this point. We’ve benefited from the advice and support of the best investors and advisers in the world. We’ve had tremendous publishers, advertisers, and partners. We’re very excited by all the very real benefits this will bring for them. Our ads will become more relevant, our products more robust, and our monetization capabilities more significant. Most importantly, I’ve had the honor of working with a team of people that were all, top to bottom, completely committed to our mission. I’ve never in my career seen such dedication, excellence, and passion. This is a group that is smart, fun, and very focused on building and launching amazing products. We’ve been able to keep the bar so high that I often tell people that I’m very lucky to have founded the company in the first place, as I am fairly certain I wouldn’t have made it through the interviews. So let me be plain: None of this would have this happened without the team at AdMob, and I will be forever in their debt.

The best part of all this is what’s next. We are not going away. After our deal with Google closes, we will work together to accelerate the pace of innovation in this area. Our product and engineering teams will keep building great products for all of our customers. Our business development team will keep working to maximize ad revenue for the more than 15,000 mobile Web sites and applications that make up AdMob’s publisher network. Our sales teams will keep working with our thousands advertisers to deliver successful campaigns and our marketing group will keep pushing to get the word out about mobile. It’s just that now we will be able to do an even better job for all of our customers.

I have one important thank you left and it is for Google. We’ve been blown away by their entrepreneurial attitude, their speed, and their insight. My management team and I have been lucky enough to spend time with some key people at Google, and we’ve always walked away excited about our shared values and similar cultures. In all of our interactions we’ve felt their passion for innovation and new ideas. Obviously this transaction represents only a part of their overall interest in mobile but all of us at AdMob are looking forward to working with them to make sure that the future of mobile is no longer so far away.

Mobile industry’s two cents

With the deal sending shockwaves through the industry, many competing mobile ad networks and other players in the mobile ecosystem were eager to share their views about the potential impact of Google’s acquisition of AdMob.

Here is what they had to say:

Andy Miller, CEO of Quattro Wireless, Waltham, MA

I think it has a huge impact. We’ve been hearing rumblings, and I was hoping that it would be Google. It’s a huge validation point for the industry, as Google is the most sophisticated mobile player, and it wanted to accelerate on this with a mobile ad specialist like AdMob. Google said that the mobile Web is different and we need to accelerate in this space. It’s an exciting development for Quattro, as well.

Agencies are the ones putting it on the table in front of brands, and a lot them are partners with Google, so this further validates the space for them. It’s further justification to present mobile plans to their clients. This ups everyone’s ante. Hopefully we’ll lead the way with our targeting. It’s a pretty robust ecosystem of folks trying to move the market, and this will accelerate it and move it forward by years.

This is the first big domino to fall. When Google comes out and said mobile is different and we want to dominate it, people will take notice.

Paul Palmieri, president/CEO of Millennial Media, Baltimore, MD

What happened today is astounding. Google’s perspective has always been that mobile is just the Internet. Today Google validated what many companies including Millennial have thought for years—that mobile is a different market with a huge potential for advertising, possibly a bigger opportunity than online media. As the clear leader in mobile brand advertising, we are happy to see a player like Google bring economies of scale to the performance advertising space in mobile.

Millennial Media has generated our substantial lead in the market by focusing on the advertiser, delivering results, and has been rewarded with the largest reach of any media company large or small. Reaching 80 percent of the U.S. mobile audience, we look forward to working alongside the Google/AdMob pairing to fully realize the vast potential of the mobile advertising market. Congratulations to Google and to AdMob.

Paran Johar, New York-based chief marketing officer of Jumptap

The announcement is causing tremendous excitement as it validates the enormous potential of mobile advertising. We predicted consolidation in the industry and AdMob’s broad high-volume business model is highly synergistic for Google.

The industry frontrunner will be determined by who can deliver the most advanced targeting capabilities for better ROI for advertisers and publishers.

Patrick Moorhead, director of emerging media at Razorfish, Chicago

It’s obviously super-exciting—it’s obviously a landmark deal, not only the scale of it, but the fact that it’s Google. It’s a sign that mobile is no longer emerging media, because they bought scale, they bought the leader in the space. I’m a huge fan of those guys, we do a lot of business with them and with Google, and this is good news for everyone in the industry.

What it means for other ad networks is that there is a future for their business and it’s growing—a rising tide floats all boats. Other players shouldn’t be thinking ‘game over,’ they should be thinking ‘game on.’

If you take the model that happened with our company (see story), Google picked up DoubleClick and Microsoft picked up aQuantive, this signals that Google played their cards, bought a leader and, based on precedent, it won’t be long before Microsoft looks around and says ‘wow, we have to make a move.’

Brands are the only people who aren’t playing effectively in the mobile space, and this is a wake-up call to clients who says mobile is not a real opportunity, because it is. Google doesn’t get involved in anything it doesn’t think has scale.

Michael Chang, CEO of Greystripe, San Francisco

This is an unprecedented validation of mobile advertising and demonstrates the value of rapidly growing a mobile-only advertising platform.

It is also a clear sign that Google understands the value of the mobile channel and brought in a company that has created a mobile-specific solution. We congratulate all of our industry colleges over at AdMob on their hard work.

Gib Bassett, director of marketing at Interactive Mediums, Chicago

Upon hearing this news today, my initial reaction was ‘validation for mobile advertising,’ but definitely not ‘game over for ad networks as a competitive segment.’ Given the high valuation placed on AdMob, Google clearly sees what AdMob has created as very compelling and a strategic fit with its pre-existing ad program, AdSense.

I think the value of ads displayed in rich apps, such as ones served by AdMob, may have more value than AdWords served on search results pages and sites across the AdSense network, simply because an app user has so much more invested in the experience and therefore is paying a lot more attention to what’s being displayed for them.

I thought the news was especially interesting given recent word that AOL was likely exiting the mobile ad business despite a lot of investment and an acquisition [of Third Screen Media]. So although mobile advertising is a relatively new category, it’s matured a lot in a short period of time, having seen large efforts like AOL’s come and go, and a giant like Google coming in and making a statement like it has buying AdMob.

I’d also say that this is another indicator of the ‘mobile customer experience’ driving the smart moves in the industry. Google knows that to provide the best mobile ad offering, it needs to consider all the ways ads can be most effectively served to consumers on mobile devices—across mobile-optimized Web-search results through rich smartphone applications. They have done that exactly and now have a stronger offering which blends AdSense and AdMob.

For other ad networks, there is still room to move, but they need to more clearly differentiate their offerings. As the nature of the mobile channel continues to morph and lines among disconnected categories like SMS text messaging, the mobile Web and applications start to blur, there should still be room for other ad networks to come up with innovative ways of helping marketers connect with their customers in the most timely and relevant manner possible.

Gary Schwartz, president/CEO of Impact Mobile, New York

AdMob has done a tremendous job globally of positioning mobile as extension of the digital buy. Although display advertising on mobile is still relatively embryonic, digital standards bodies like the Interactive Advertising Bureau are actively positioning mobile as an extension of the more mature online cousin. There is no doubt that this Google deal will further legitimize the mobile display buy with brands and agencies.

Eric Harber, president and chief operating officer of HipCricket, Kirkland, WA

Given that Google is the buyer and the size of the deal is so large, this is certainly a milestone moment for mobile advertising and marketing. It provides additional validation to our firm belief and experience that mobile marketing has moved beyond the test phase and now has a seat at the table when the brand’s marketing mix is developed and dollars are allocated. However, mobile advertising isn’t an end-all solution for brand managers seeking to reach consumers via mobile. Oftentimes, SMS is the gateway to engagement because of its ability to reach the great majority of mobile subscribers who have text messaging capabilities on their devices. Calls-to-action and the resulting activity by consumers have proven to drive sales and give brands a valuable, permission-based ongoing relationship with consumers looking for ongoing information and offers. This personalized loyalty and relationship marketing aspect is uniquely driven via SMS mobile marketing and is growing in importance.

Dave Gwozdz, CEO of Mojiva, New York

The news that Google acquired mobile advertising player AdMob for $750 million confirms the legitimacy of the mobile advertising industry, and overcomes any skepticism of whether small screens can offer big opportunities to reach mobile consumers.

The fact that Google has placed a premium on owning a mobile ad network is very notable. The market has definitely matured to the point where it makes sense for online behemoths to try to combine networks, analytics and delivery technologies in the hopes of capturing a share of this growing market.

Zohar Levkovitz, CEO of Amobee, Redwood City, CA

The recent marriage between Google and AdMob is a clear indicator that the mobile advertising industry has a bright future. Industry innovation will also stand to benefit from Google entering the competitive mix.

However, Google’s recent financial commitment also signals to operators developing their own mobile advertising offerings that there is no time for complacency. While operators still own the mobile market in terms of reach and the subscriber in terms of trust, billing relationships, user demographics and targeting information, it is undeniable that Google’s recent acquisition is a game-changer.

Nevertheless, there are still challenges to overcome and fragmentation continues to be a stumbling block. In order for mobile advertising to have a strong, viable future, we believe that the solution must be more centralized around the unbeatable assets of the mobile operators. Major brands and media buyers want a one-stop shop solution and access to the operator’s premium inventory. An operator-centric approach will play a key role in making this possible and further accelerate adoption.

Ken Willner, CEO of Zumobi, Seattle

AdMob is a Zumobi partner and this is a great validation of the potential of the mobile advertising space.

Zaw Thet, CEO of 4Info, San Mateo, CA

Beyond our obvious joy for Omar, Tony [Nethercutt, vice president of sales at AdMob], Jason [Spero, vice president of marketing at AdMob] and all our friends at AdMob, there’s much more to this story, such as:

• Thus far, nobody has talked about what this means for Android/Droid – and whether this will hurt iPhone developers and/or help other mobile ad networks as Google influences AdMob to spend more time on Android.
• We believe this is great news for the mobile industry as it indicates the momentum and growth we’ve experienced over the past two years. That said, the rumor we’ve heard has Apple also bidding for the business – maybe one reason the price was so good.
• Lastly, we want to clear something up. It has been pointed out that 4Info’s primary short code [44636] is featured in the SMS ads picture on Google’s announcement page – this does not imply any kind of special relationship with Google or AdMob. We do work with both companies, but it does reinforce that SMS is a critical part of the industry, and that no mobile marketing/advertising program is complete without SMS. We also believe it speaks to our leadership position in the SMS space.

Susan Marshall, vice president of marketing at ChaCha Mobile, Indianapolis, IN

We think the acquisition validates the claim that we have all been saying: There is enormous opportunity in mobile advertising and we have just begun to see what’s possible.

There is plenty of room for innovation and competition in the mobile advertising space. Interestingly, AdMob only works well on less than 17 percent of the phones out there, including iPhones and BlackBerrys. So, there is big upside. SMS works on all phones, i.e. the overwhelming majority of 83 percent of the other phones out there.

In the end, it’s all about what the brand is trying to achieve with mobile advertising. We believe in a multichannel approach. Web, SMS and display make the most sense, with a heavy emphasis on conversational SMS when you are trying to reach youth.

Alec S. Andronikov, CEO of MoVoxx Inc., Los Angeles

I actually still think that when we come to mobile advertising, the industry is just starting to cross the “chasm” (per Geoff Moore’s analogy) between early adopters and not yet adopted by the early majority of advertisers. This acquisition allows AdMob to get into the “early majority” because of Google’s ad relationships.

I think it could potentially start what I call a second round of mobile “musical chairs,” as other big guys are going to start looking for acquisitions that give them similar capabilities but are cheaper plays, as not a lot of folks out there have nine figures to spend on mobile acquisitions.

Staff Reporter Dan Butcher covers ad networks, banking and payments, carrier networks, manufacturers, and software and technology Reach him at dan@mobilemarketer.com.

(written by: Willy Yanto Wijaya)

The lecture about University Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation by Prof. Shigeo Kagami coincided with current situation of employee slash by many companies in the world. One interesting point of Japan that I had noticed for a long time is about the tendency of the most university graduates to only have one choice in their mind: working in a company. Why this phenomenon happens? We’ll see through this again after going through several notable points of lectures delivered by Prof. Shigeo Kagami from University of Tokyo.

Prof. Kagami started the lecture by posing the most exciting and notably successful university entrepreneurship, i.e. Hewlett-Packard, Genentech, and Google. All these companies were founded by the professors and students of Stanford University. Google is one interesting and up-to-date example. Stanford University tried to license out the technology and Intellectual Property (IP) of Google to some companies such as Netscape, Yahoo, but failed. The university eventually helped Larry Page and Sergey Brin to found Google in 1998 and just in 10 years, the market capitalization of Google has reached $150 billion (August 2008). Since Google used its equity to pay royalty for the licensed technology from Stanford University, Stanford gained $400 million just by selling its 1% of ownership of Google¹.

Here we can see how, as a matter of fact, universities could get considerable benefits by the entrepreneur spin-off. In Japan itself, since 2004, a policy by the Monbukagakusho, had start reforming the corporate national universities (including University of Tokyo, Tokyo Institute of Technology, etc) to gain more autonomy, at the expenses of continuous deduction of operational grants from the government (1% deduction per annum)². Such a condition like this should have pushed the universities to diversify and restructure the composition of their income. One way is to increase the external funding which comes from the sponsored research and donations. In this case, the sponsored research could be accelerated by the university spin-off companies.

However, Japan universities are still facing several problems regarding this entrepreneur spin-off. Annually, the number of university start-up companies is about 100 companies³. This number might look big enough, but there’s still no clear definition about how to count those companies, or whether they are really ignited by the technology license from the universities. Therefore, for now, only low output of university ignited-companies could be expected. This phenomenon goes along with low willingness of university graduates to become entrepreneurs.

Then, coming back to our previous question of why most students after their graduation from universities in Japan, would prefer choosing to work at companies? This is rather a tough question. One main reason, in my opinion, is caused by the rather already-established of Japan’s economy. Big companies are established and agglomerated in Keiretsu⁴, and it’s just not easy to compete with such companies. The other reason is that the entrepreneurship education is not nurtured sufficiently in most Japanese universities. Students, after undergoing their deep academic research, will feel further and further away from the sense of entrepreneurship.

How to solve the problems then? One of the possibilities is to create the entrepreneurship-related education as well as university business incubators. One example conducted by University of Tokyo is to create DUCR (Division of University Corporate Relations) which could handle the IP-related problems, entrepreneurship and enterprise development and education, as well as even holding the business plan competition. By this kind of education, hopefully, the courage to create new business entrepreneurship, amidst the Keiretsu dominance, could be accelerated. As a saying goes, “Smart people are people who dare to take the risks”.

References

¹ http://www.stanford.edu

² http://www.mext.go.jp

³ http://www.meti.go.jp

⁴ Willy Yanto Wijaya. 公器 and Japanese Shareholder Orientation, Report no. 7, Managerial Perspective for Sustainable Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, 2008.

Are books really becoming outdated? Will there really be any need for libraries in the future? I would answer yes, and no! It seems with more people vying to implement the permanent use of  computers in schools, the more we are telling students that books are useless. I enjoyed reading this article because it reminded me of my 4 years in high school. I was in a “school within a school” an Advanced Placement program for students who had over a 3.5 and could keep a 3.0 in AP classes. Now within this “school” we had our own principal, teachers, selective hallways, outside private funding, EVERYTHING! And that private funding paid for us to have laptops, used as a part of our curriculum. The other students who were not in the program, did not have continuous access to laptops as we did, they were subjected to the outdated laptops in the library where they were only to use them for limited time frames. I agree with Sergey Brin in his thoughts that it is essential for students the have computers in schools because it provides alternatives to research and how students learn, it widens the spectrum, but it is also important for students to STILL use books as resources, and understand how important they are as well. Brin advocates putting al textbooks on computers which sounds good, but seriously, how many of us even enjoy reading PDF files of books? I know I don’t. Sometimes I like to just pick up a book and read it. And I believe that reading books make people more well rounded, and the internet will just provide a way for textbooks to be in a shorter version.

“Brin foresees computers getting cheaper and cheaper, and broadband access becoming more ubiquitous, which will make computers more a part of education than ever. A relatively new parent, Brin was asked by moderator James Bennett editor of Atlantic magazine, what kind of technological world he envisions 15 or 20 years from now.

Brin said he hoped that the increasingly powerful access to information would free people up to become more capable individuals. But he did see a downside.”

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/10/sergey-brin-put-computers-in-schools-.html#more

Se não fosse pelo Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (Sociedade de Assistência aos Imigrantes Hebreus), o Google não existiria.

Há exatamente 30 anos, Sergey Brin, garoto soviético de seis anos com um futuro incerto, chegou aos EUA com a ajuda da sociedade. Brin, o bilionário co-fundador do Google, presenteou a sociedade, conhecida como HIAS, com um milhão de dólares. A instituição ajudou sua família a escapar do anti-semitismo na União Soviética e a se estabelecer no país.

“Eu nunca teria oportunidades assim na União Soviética, ou mesmo na Rússia atual”, disse Brin em uma entrevista. “Eu queria ver qualquer pessoa ter a possibilidade de alcançar seus sonhos e é isso que essa empresa faz”.

O presente é pequeno, dado a riqueza pessoal do empresário, estimada em US$ 16 milhões, mas ele disse significou um comprometimento crescente dele e sua esposa, Anne Wojcicki, em se envolverem em filantropia de forma mais substancial.

“Já doamos mais de US$ 30 milhões, que não é pouco, mas obviamente é diminuto para os termos de nossa riqueza teórica”, disse Brin. “Nossa filantropia é algo com a qual quero me envolver com desenvolvimento e de forma sistematizada”.

Ele já aprendeu o suficiente sobre filantropia, para imediatamente acrescentar: “nossa fundação não está pedindo propostas. Não se esqueça de incluir isso.”

Brin mencionou Bill Gates, presidente da Microsoft, era amplamente criticado por não doar dinheiro suficiente, mas agora é conhecido como um dos maiores filantropos do mundo. “Enquanto todo mundo o criticava, ele gerava mais um monte de dinheiro para sua fundação e, recentemente, quando começou a levar a filantropia a sério, ele fez isso muito bem”, disse Brin. “Eu gosto de aprender com esse exemplo”.

A quantia que os Brins doaram foi para a Fundação Michael J. Fox e outras organizações de pesquisas voltadas para a doença de Parkinson. Mas, neste ano, em homenagem ao 30º aniversário da imigração da família Brin para os EUA, eles estão presenteando diversas organizações judaicas, que forneceram ajuda ao longo da história. A HIAS, que os ajudou a suportar o pesado processo de deixar a União Soviética e ir para os EUA, pagou suas passagens e lhes deu dinheiro, além de ajudá-los a conseguir vistos de entrada no país, foi a organização que recebeu a maior quantia.

A família morou em Paris por muitos meses enquanto esperavam seus vistos e então se mudaram para Maryland, e a relação com a HIAS acabou. “Apesar de eles ter nos fornecido uma grande ajuda, não mantivemos contato”, disse Eugenia Brin, mãe do empresário. “Então, há alguns anos, acho que por causa do Google, nós recebemos uma ligação da HIAS perguntando se poderíamos ajudá-los a digitalizar seus arquivos”.

Finalmente, Eugenia Brin entrou no conselho da HIAS e criou um site de rede social, mystory.hias.org, inicialmente para encorajar imigrantes judeus russos a postar suas histórias e eventualmente atrair a história de outras pessoas que foram para o país.

Gideon Aeronoff, chefe-executivo da HIAS, disse que a doação pode ser usada de várias maneiras, como no desenvolvimento do uso da tecnologia na organização ou de políticasde defesa e imigração.
“Uma das coisas mais importantes no significado do presente de Sergey Brin, não apenas para a HIAS, mas mais ainda para a nação”, disse Aernoff, “são as possibilidades inerentes ao refugiado. O debate sobre a imigração frequentemente chama atenção para um elemento importante que os imigrantes perderam: refugiados têm habilidades e contribuições tão valiáveis que nós”.

Fonte: Último Segundo

Să privim putin (foarte rapid) povestea Google din cei 13 ani de activitate. De la Stanford pînă la Mountain View şi în întreaga lume, prezentând diverse produse, începând cu BackRub (Motorul de căutare) până la Google Wave, Street View şi Chrome.

Infatisarea motorului de cautare google din perioada 01 ianuarie 1996 30 aprilie 2009 o gasiti pe archive.org

Un articol detaliat despre istoria google gasim pe wikipedia

Archive.org au inceput cu arhivarea tuturor paginilor internet, datorita lor putem vedea orice pagina care a existat si poate nu mai exista, sau cum sau schimbat in timp. O adevarata Arhiva, nu cu prea mult timp in urma au inceput sa permita arhivarea fisierelor Video si Audio (Un articol pe Wikipedia va poate satisface toata curioziatatea despre istoricul acestei organizatii).

There is no escaping Google.

More details leaked today on Google’s upcoming music service, which which will allow streaming and purchasing of results from any music search performed on Google. The internet giant is reportedly in negotiations with the big-four major record labels for content rights and has already announced its partnership with LaLa, MySpace and ILike for streaming options. The formal announcement is expected to come a week form now in Mountain View.

How many people pop on their computers and have iGoogle pages pop up, leading them to check Gmail for invitations to parties, which they arrive at thanks to directions from Google Maps, bearing gifts they bought after doing consumer research on Google, conversing about topics they saw on Google Reader, after which they take pictures and post them to Picassa and videos destined for YouTube?

Throw in the super creepy Google Books which Sergey Brin defended in a hollow NYT op-ed last week, and the flow of information all goes through the same primary coloured pipes. This isn’t a new or groundbreaking realization. I am simply continually amazed at what an ideal capitalistic venture Google is constantly evolving to be — providing the absolute best services and products by-and-large for free — making money off transaction facilitation to the point where they become more ubiquitous than the transactions themselves.

Remember when Gmail crashed a few weeks ago? The world spun to a halt. Have you ever had google.com not work for a bit? You feel like you’re incapable of knowing anything — absolutely crippled.

Throw music in the mix, make all of this technology even more prevalent via mobile technology, add all the information housed in the clouds on GoogleDocs, Google Scholar, all those random services they’re throwing money at and now, the inevitable evolution of Google Wave into a next gen internet phenomenon; you have easily a company to rival any of the historic titans of American industry.

This is like saying you got to watch Michael Jordan in his prime. Except… it crept up on us so slowly we don’t stop in awe anymore when we Google “Kanye West”.

Fittingly, Google is down for me now, so I can’t even image search to find a picture for this post. Well fuck.

David Carr(l) and Ken Auletta have a Google chat

Did you know that employees at Google’s Mountain View, CA campus get free oil changes and car washes on Thursdays? Or that there are five doctors on campus? How about the fact that engineers can spend 20% of their time working on what they want? This 80/20 rule, which has spawned Google Wave, Google News and Gmail, is part of a corporate culture where boss and cofounder Sergey Brin rollerblades (late) to meetings in his gym shorts. Every building has its own cafeteria serving everything from Mexican food to sushi and free food is everywhere.

These delicious facts emerged at the Magazine Publishers Association of America’s first ever Magazine Innovation Summit, where David Carr, media columnist for The New York Times, interviewed New Yorker writer Ken Auletta, author of the new book “Googled: The End of the World as We Know It.”  “I went to Google and walked out of there with my pockets full,” confessed Carr. “Why wouldn’t you? It’s free!”

The laughter that followed was one of the lighter moments in a conference where Google loomed large for its success in contrast to the devastating loss of magazine advertising revenue in the last 18 months. As Auletta pointed out, Google got it right in more ways than their unique corporate culture: they manage to give away much of their content while generating more money from search than  the combined revenues of all the major magazines companies gathered for the MPA conference.

In fact, the quest to avoid the mistakes of the music industry through innovation and collaboration were leitmotifs at the conference. Instead of the false optimism or beleaguered pessimism that have prevailed at recent MPA conferences, this time participants talked excitedly about new e-readers, shared magazine digital storefronts, mobile as the bridge to truly engaged content, and paid content as a no-brainer–the secret sauce that will hopefully do for magazines what Adwords did for Google. “In the end you have to have guts to say I’m not going to give content away for free,” said John Squires, Time Inc.’s Executive Vice President, who is leading an effort to join Time Inc., Hearst and Condé Nast in the creation of a shared digital storefront to showcase their magazines. The principle focus, Squires added, was the development of new paid mobile apps. “People will pay for content on mobile,” he said with great assurance.

At points in the conference, the technology talk was deafening. Doug Carlson, CEO of Viv and Managing Director of Zinio,  prophesized that “the world is going wireless and mobile. The future of the magazine industry is portable tablet devices so that consumers can have content with them wherever they are.”  Mary Lou Jepson, CEO of Pixel QI, confidently predicted that e-readers and laptops would soon merge. Josh Quittner, former editor of Business 2.0 and now Editor-at-Large at Time Inc., hailed the arrival of the Apple Tablet. “We all know it’s coming,” he said. “When Apple’s [tablet] device is announced, there will be a mass ascension and everyone will go to media heaven.” Those on the ground, he noted, can look forward to even more advances in the next six months including devices that give a great reading experiences through color, eight-inch-on a diagonal, multi-touch screens and broadband-only network access. “Tell your readers not to buy e-readers for the holidays,” he urged the audience. “They will be stuck with TV’s with rabbit ears.”  And speaking of TV’s, Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings professed with great certainly that Wi-Fi- enabled TV’s will be here by Christmas.

Of course, whenever magazine executives gather, there’s no shortage of talk about the longevity of print, no matter how snazzy the new technology that threatens to eclipse it. When Scott Donaton, President and CEO of Ensemble, asked his panelists whether they cared if their brand existed in print, David Carey, Group President, Condé Nast publications, neatly sidestepped the issue: “Each platform will create a new audience,” he answered.  Efrem (Skip) Zimbalist III, President and CEO of Active Interest Media, shrugged and said it really didn’t matter. “A great e-reader can help the environment and make edited content very immediate.” But Maria Rodale, Chairman and CEO of Rodale, Inc., would have no part of that debate. “Fifteen to twenty years from now, what matters is that our brands stay relevant and viable,” she declared. “Magazines will still be here because everyone likes to read in bed.”

For more about the longevity of magazines, check out the MPA Video: The Twenty Tweetable Truths About Magazines

Andrea Chambers

by Ellen Brandt, Ph.D.

1. John McCain, most recent GOP candidate for President, is not a Boomer. He’s about ten years older than the eldest Boomer, in fact, aged 73, born August, 1936, in the Panama Canal Zone. But wife Cindy, nee Cindy Lou Hensley, is a Boomer, at age 55.

2. Sarah Palin, most recent GOP candidate for Vice-President, isn’t a Boomer, either – though she’s close. She’s 45, born February, 1964, in Idaho. Neither is Todd Palin, born in Alaska in September, 1964, making him seven months younger than his wife.

3. Glenn Beck, political pundit and possible future candidate, isn’t a Boomer. He’s exactly one day older than Palin, also born February, 1964, in the state of Washington.

Some commentators have classed people born throughout 1964 as Boomers. Officially, though, the generation ends on the first of January of that year. We are willing to welcome 1964 babies as honorary Boomers, if they so choose, because we Boomers are magnanimous!

4. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, isn’t a Boomer. She’s 69, born March, 1940, in Maryland. All five of Pelosi’s children are members of Gen-X, ranging in age from 38-44.

5. Harry Reid, Senator from Nevada and US Senate Majority Leader, isn’t a Boomer. He’s also 69, born December, 1939, in Nevada. The eldest of Reid’s five children, Rory Reid, a Clark County, Nevada, Commissioner, is a Boomer, at age 46.

6. Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, isn’t a Boomer. He, too, is 69, born March, 1940, in New Jersey. Frank’s long-time former boyfriend, Sergio Pombo, 45, a bureaucrat at the World Bank, and current boyfriend Jim Ready, 39, a shopkeeper, are both Gen-X’ers. So Frank seems to have skipped the Baby Boom generation completely.

There must be some significance to the fact that the Democrats’ Holy or Unholy Trinity, depending on your viewpoint – Pelosi, Reid, and Frank – are all the same age, but I have no idea what it is it.

7. Joe Biden, Vice-President of the United States, isn’t a Boomer. He’s 66, born November, 1942, in Pennsylvania. But wife Jill, nee Jill Jacobs, is a Boomer, at age 58.

8. Ron Paul, member of the US House of Representatives and doyen of Libertarians, isn’t a Boomer. He’s 74, born August, 1935, in Pennsylvania. But the three eldest of Paul’s five children, Ron, Jr., 50, Lori, 48, and Randal, 46, are all Boomers. Randal, an opthamologist, has announced that he will seek the Republican nomination for the Senate seat of Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning, who is retiring next year.

9. Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana and a rising Republican star, isn’t a Boomer. The youngest US governor is 38, born June, 1971, in Louisiana. But his Dad, Amar, a civil engineer, and Mom, Raj, a computer scientist, are Boomers.

10. Luke Ravenstahl, Mayor of Pittsburgh, and a rising Democratic star, isn’t a Boomer. The youngest mayor of a major US city is just 29, born February, 1980, in Pennsylvania. His Dad, Robert, Jr., a judge, and Mom, Cynthia, are both Boomers.

11. Tom Brokaw, former NBC anchor and ubiquitous media personality, isn’t a Boomer, although many think he is. At 69, he’s actually six years older than the eldest Boomer, born February, 1940, in South Dakota. Brokaw’s three daughters are all Gen-X’ers.

12. Bret Baier, Fox News host, isn’t a Boomer. He’s 39, born August, 1970, in New Jersey. Baier’s predecessor at Fox’s Special Report, isn’t a Boomer, either. Brit Hume is 66, three years older than the oldest Boomer.

13. Martha Stewart, ex-convict and media mogul, isn’t a Boomer. She’s 68, born August, 1941, in New Jersey. Only daughter Alexis, who hosts both radio and cable television shows, is just shy of being a Boomer, at age 44. Stewart’s Mom, also named Martha, lived to be 93.

14. Rachael Ray, whom many call the mini-Martha, isn’t a Boomer. She’s 41, born August, 1968, in New York. Neither Ray’s parents, Elsa and James, nor her husband, John, are Boomers. But her culinary protegee, Daisy Martinez, whose Food Network show she produces, is a Boomer, at age 51.

15. Angelina Jolie, acclaimed actress and mother of many, isn’t a Boomer. She’s 34, born June, 1975, in California. Jolie’s father, actor Jon Voight, is five years older than the oldest Boomer, at age 68. But her late mother, actress Marcheline Bertrand, was a Boomer, born in 1950. Two of Jolie’s three husbands, actor Billy Bob Thornton, 54, and actor Brad Pitt, 46 in two months, are also Boomers.

16. Jennifer Lopez, actress, singer, and producer, isn’t a Boomer. She’s 40, born July, 1969, in New York. Lopez is the middle of three sisters, all Gen-X’ers, as are all three of Lopez’s husbands, Ojani Noa, 35, Cris Judd, 40, and Marc Anthony,41.

17. Tyler Perry, comedian, writer, and media phenomenon, isn’t a Boomer. He’s 40, born September, 1969, in Louisiana. It is likely that his most famous character, Mabel “Madea” Simmons, is also not a Boomer.

18. George Lucas, director and producer whose films are often associated with Boomers, isn’t a Boomer himself. He’s 65, born May, 1944, in California. Lucas’s film American Graffiti, 1973, was widely seen as being a group coming-of-age portrait of the Baby Boom generation, and most of its stars were, indeed, Boomers, including Richard Dreyfuss, 61, Ron Howard, 55, Paul Le Mat, 63, Cindy Williams, 62, and Candy Clark, 62.

19. Martin Scorsese, director and screenwriter, isn’t a Boomer. He’s about to turn 67, born November, 1942, in New York. Friends and fellow wunderkind directors of the 1970’s Brian De Palma and Francis Ford Coppola are also pre-Boomers. De Palma is 69, Coppola 70.

20. Queen Latifah, singer, composer, actress and model, isn’t a Boomer. She’s 39, born March, 1970, in New Jersey. Latifah recently appeared as a spokesperson for the Jenny Craig diet program, saying she’s lost 35 lbs. on the plan. Weight-loss mogul Craig, you may be surpised to hear, just turned 77 – 14 years older than the oldest Boomer.

21. Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Computer, isn’t a Boomer. He’s 44, born February, 1965, in Texas. But Dell Computer’s former CEO, Kevin Rollins, whom Michael Dell replaced as CEO in 2007, is a Boomer. He’s 56, born July, 1953, and is now Chairman of the American Enterprise Institute.

22. Sergey Brin, Google co-founder, isn’t a Boomer. He’s 36, born August, 1973, in Moscow, Russia. But both of Brin’s parents, Michael, a math professor, and Eugenia, literally a rocket scientist at NASA, are Boomers.

23. Larry Page, the other Google co-founder, also isn’t a Boomer. He, too, is 36, born March, 1973, in Michigan. Neither Page’s Mom Gloria nor his late father, Steven, both computer science professors, were Boomers, both being a few years older.

24. Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress, isn’t a Boomer. Amazingly, he’s only 25, born August, 1984, in Texas. Mullenweg is theoretically young enough to be the grandchild of Boomers! But both his parents, Kathleen and Chuck, are Boomers. His somewhat unusual surname, by the way, is Swedish.

25. Paris Hilton, famous for being herself, isn’t a Boomer. She’s 28, born February, 1981, in New York. Both of Paris’s parents, Richard, 54, a real estate developer, and Kathy, 50, a Home Shopping Network host, are Boomers.

And 26. Tinkerbell Hilton, Paris’s teacup chihuahua, born 2001 in California, while 8 in human years, is 56 in dog years, making her a sorta kinda Boomer.

For the beginning of this story, please click here: http://wp.me/pxD3J-1Q

For the Intro to Baby Boomers-The Angriest Generation, see: http://bit.ly/6kby6

For Ellen’s hard-hitting story on Anti-Boomer propaganda: http://bit.ly/4kd3Hy

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/tale-of-10000000-books.html

Here is a blog post by Googles Sergey Brin about the Google Book project.

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Google co-founder Sergey Brin lashed out at critics of Google’s Book Search settlement with authors and publishers, arguing that no other company or organization has stepped up to offer to scan the millions of out-of-print books and make them available to users. Brin argued against the claims that Google Book Search is a compulsory license and was sympathetic to concerns about user privacy. However, he sarcastically disputed Amazon and Microsoft’s notion that the deal stunted competition or limited consumer choice with respect to out-of-print books.

Sergey Brin Fires Back at Google Book Search

Google Book Search is the search engine giant’s proposed settlement with the Author’s Guild and Association of American Publishers to scan millions of books online and offer them to people for fees, with authors and publishers receiving the bulk of licensing revenues. The deal, announced one year ago this month, would settle a class-action lawsuit going back to 2005, but has been bogged down in a New York district court.

Nearly 400 parties have filed positions on the matter, with the majority of them opposing the deal for various reasons. The Department of Justice expressed concerns about the agreement’s treatment of book licensing rights and myriad other issues. Privacy advocates, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, fear Google’s Book Search system will not adequately protect data on users’ reading habits.

Rivals such as Amazon, Yahoo and Microsoft oppose the deal because they fear it will give Google too much control over orphan works, those books whose authors are unknown or cannot be found.

Brin, who is also Google’s president of technology, addressed all of these concerns in an op-ed published in the New York Times Oct. 8. It was a rare move for Brin, who like co-founder Larry Page prefers to steer clear from public speaking and let Google CEO Eric Schmidt serve as the company’s top spokesman.

Brin argued against the claims that Google Book Search is a compulsory license, noting that rights holders can set pricing and access rights for their works or withdraw them from Google at any time. He was sympathetic to concerns about user privacy, noting that Google has created a privacy policy specifically for Google Book Search.

Brin also sarcastically disputed the notion that the deal stunted competition or limited consumer choice with respect to out-of-print books. He wrote:

“In reality, nothing in this agreement precludes any other company or organization from pursuing their own similar effort. The agreement limits consumer choice in out-of-print books about as much as it limits consumer choice in unicorns. Today, if you want to access a typical out-of-print book, you have only one choice—fly to one of a handful of leading libraries in the country and hope to find it in the stacks.”