What exactly is Google doing with BufferBox? On Friday we found out that Google had acquired one of its own Google Ventures investments; however the acquisition price for the Ontario-Canada based startup wasn't disclosed. It couldn't have been that much given that the company was at a relatively early stage and only operating in the Toronto area. BufferBox is essentially a competitor to Amazon Lockers, although the company claims that it had the idea before Amazon. That idea is to allow e-commerce buyers to ship to the larger equivalent of a PO box in various locations throughout a city [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Acquisitions | Google: Business Issues | Top News

Reuters reports that French authorities are talking to Google about paying substantial "back taxes." The wire service says that the French Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac had "convincing proof" that Google owed France money. France is one of several European countries that believe Google should be paying more in taxes. Cahuzac said that if the parties failed to come to some agreement France would take the issue to the courts. All this seems to confirm what was reported earlier this month by satirical French publication Le Canard Enchaine that Google was to be hit with a billion Euro tax b [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Business Issues | Google: International | Google: Legal

Google announced that the number of content removal requests submitted by governments have spiked in the first half of the year. From January through June 2012, there were there were 1,791 requests from government officials around the world to remove 17,746 pieces of content, almost double the previous six-month period. Here is the chart showing the recent spike in content removal requests: From January to June 2012, the following countries made the most requests to remove content: Turkey (501) United States (273) Germany (247) Brazil (191) United Kingdom (97) Gover [...]

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Google cofounder Sergey Brin suggested today that politicians elected tonight in the US elections should resign from their parties and act as independents. As a citizen of the internet, I couldn't help but think I'd like to see the same thing happen among our internet rulers, the major internet companies. So, to rewrite Brin's request from that perspective: It is ironic that whenever I have met with people from our major tech companies, they are invariably thoughtful, well-meaning people. And yet collectively, 90% of their effort seems to be focused on how to stick it to the other tech c [...]

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Nexus smartphones are not unlike concept cars at an auto show. They're ogled and admired but rarely owned. Typically cutting edge in design and software integration, they're models intended to showcase the "next generation" experience rather than necessarily become mainstream bestsellers. So it has been with nearly every Nexus handset to date. The new Nexus 4, built by LG, is in every way (but one) the best Nexus handset so far. I own the Galaxy Nexus, from Samsung, the previous "Android flagship." And it's amazing how this phone handily trounces the Samsung "Next Big Thing." The Nexus 4 [...]

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Google, Facebook, Twitter and even Starbucks are being criticized and investigated for what several European governments consider to be tax avoidance. In the UK and France in particular Google is under scrutiny. And earlier this week a French newspaper (albeit like the satirical Onion) reported that French authorities had served a whopping EUR 1 billion tax bill on Google. Google has denied that it has received such a bill. Google's practice of billing advertisers and running profits through its Irish subsidiary, which is legal, allows the company to minimize taxes. According to a Reuter [...]

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A year ago Google said it had a "mobile [advertising] run rate" of $2.5 billion. That was impressive. But yesterday on the Google Q3 earnings call CEO Larry Page announced a much larger number -- $8 billion: This time last year, I announced that our run-rate for mobile advertising hit $2.5 billion. That seemed like a pretty big number even for Google. But now we have built up additional mobile revenue from users paying for content and apps in Google Play. Including these new sources grossed up, I can announce our new run-rate for mobile is now over $8 billion. That’s quite a business. CFO [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile Marketing | Google: Android | Google: Business Issues | Google: Mobile | Mobile Marketing | Top News

Roughly an hour ago a draft of Google's Q3 earnings press release appeared on the SEC Edgar website. It showed revenues of $14.1 billion, including $2.58 billion from Motorola. The language of the release made it clear that the document wasn't final ("pending Larry quote"). The early release came as a big surprise to tech bloggers and investors alike. Results were supposed to be released after the market closed today. Earnings disappointed investors and reaction was swift sending Google's stock down nearly 10 percent before trading in Google shares was halted. Google blamed the emba [...]

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Once CEO of Google, now executive chairman, if Eric Schmidt could become CEO of Apple, Amazon or Facebook, which would he choose? Asked during an on-stage interview with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher from AllThingsD, Schmidt went for the one with the most cash, Apple. The question came from an audience member at a 92Y event today in New York, where Schmidt was being interviewed. Schmidt responded that he'd been on the board of Apple and would always a special spot in his heart for Apple and plus "they have more cash." He then said each company had different challenges, though he [...]

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The Association of American Publishers (AAP) announced today that it had settled long-standing litigation with Google over its book scanning project. Google was sued in late 2005 by the AAP (and individual publishers) and the Authors Guild on behalf of writers. The litigation sought more than $100 million in damages for copyright violations. The settlement of the AAP claims doesn't impact the Authors Guild class action suit, which lives on. The specific book-publisher plaintiffs in the action were McGraw-Hill, Pearson and Penguin, Wiley & Sons, Inc. and Simon & Schuster. Specifi [...]

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24/7 Wall Street reports Google's Chairman and former CEO sold over $130 million in Google shares over the past week. Here is the breakdown on the shares sold over the past week or so: Sept. 24 sold 63,592 shares worth $47.33 million Sept. 26 sold 44,742 shares worth $33.69 million Sept. 25 sold 31,602 shares worth $23.91 million Sept. 25 sold 22,001 shares worth $16.65 million Sept. 24 sold 6,193 shares worth $4.62 million Sept. 24 sold 2,326 shares worth $1.73 million Sept. 25 sold 1,897 shares worth $1.43 million Sept. 26 sold 1,812 shares worth $1.36 million Schmidt owns ov [...]

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When the markets open this morning, Google will -- for the first time -- be valued higher than Microsoft. Google's stock closed Monday at $761.78 per share, then dropped 68 cents per share in after-hours trading. That gave Google a market cap of a little more than $249 billion. Microsoft's stock closed Monday at $29.49 per share and then gained a penny per share after hours. Microsoft's market cap currently sits at a little more than $247 billion. As the New York Times reports, Google's Monday surge also put its market cap above Walmart, making Google the third-most valuable compa [...]

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Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California, is well known. The Googleplex, as it's commonly called, sports everything from a T-Rex to a replica of SpaceShipOne. But Google's second largest office in New York City has plenty of sights to see of its own. I've been to Google's New York office several times since it officially opened last summer. I've been meaning to get this post together with some photo highlights of those visits for ages. With our SMX East search marketing conference coming to New York next week, I figured now was as good as time as any! Climbing The Google Ladder [...]

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Ironically on iPhone 5 day, Google finds itself about to be embroiled in a fresh debate over how much it controls "open" Android as well as what Android actually is. It's well past time for "Android" to mean the mobile operating system that Google largely controls while some other name is found for the entirely separate open source mobile OS project that Google supports. Android's "Open" Origins When the Android mobile OS project launched at the end of 2007, the idea was that Google wasn't pushing it just for its own purposes. That's part of the reason why Android was made, in my opinion [...]

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This week, Acer abruptly pulled out of a news conference about it produce a smartphone using the Aliyun mobile operating system. Alibaba, which makes Aliyun, said Google pressured Acer to drop out. Now Google is sharing its story. Acer pulled out because by being a member of the Open Handset Alliance, it had to. Here's the Google statement we were sent: Compatibility is at the heart of the Android ecosystem and ensures a consistent experience for developers, manufacturers and consumers. Non-compatible versions of Android, like Aliyun, weaken the ecosystem. All members of the Open Handse [...]

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Reuters is reporting that Google's CEO Larry Page and Apple CEO Tim Cook have been involved in "behind-the-scenes conversations about a range of intellectual property matters." Like Russia and the US during the cold war, Reuters says the "two companies are keeping the lines of communication open at a high level." The article suggests the discussions started before the recent Apple victory over Samsung in the much-watched US patent trial. That litigation was widely thought to be a proxy fight against Google-Android. And many assumed that direct Apple-Google litigation was likely in its wake [...]

Related Topics: Apple: iOS | Channel: Industry | Google: Android | Google: Business Issues | Google: Legal | Legal: Patents

Google Wallet Product Manager Robin Dua says in the video below that Google wants Wallet to "electronify" your wallet and become "the central way [consumers] make purchases." The scope of ambition behind this statement can't be overstated. Beyond consumer purchases, Google envisions Wallet (online and mobile) to be a kind of ecosystem and platform for merchants. If successful, Google Wallet would help merchants (and advertisers) track online marketing to the offline point of sale, "closing the loop." It would also be a loyalty platform and would hook up with AdWords, email marketing, social [...]

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Will Apple's sweeping, yet still preliminary, patent victory over Samsung have a positive or negative impact on Android? Will it have any impact at all? Will it be the death of competition or a boon for competition? Opinions are all over the place. Over the weekend Google issued a statement (via TheVerge) that the decision will have no impact on "core Android" features or capabilities: The court of appeals will review both infringement and the validity of the patent claims. Most of these don’t relate to the core Android operating system, and several are being re-examined by the US Pate [...]

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This is the question on many minds following the dramatic Apple victory over Samsung in its patent case in US federal court on Friday. Many bloggers, pundits and tech journalists are now mulling over the implications and considering "What comes next?" Decrying the $1 billion-plus verdict Samsung immediately predicted the sky will fall on consumers: "It will lead to fewer choices, less innovation and potentially higher prices," the company statement claimed. Mostly hyperbole, that's unlikely to happen. Indeed the verdict is unlikely to impact Samsung in a big way either. Samsung Unlikel [...]

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Of things I imagined when I first started writing about Google as a hot new search engine in 1998, the idea that about 15 years later, Google would buy the venerable Frommer's travel guides or sell "Google Play" gift cards weren't remotely on the list. From Search Engine To Content Engine How did we get from Google being a search engine that pointed to things, like travel guides or gift cards sold by other companies, to being a content company? It's a position that more than ever before makes it hard for Google to assure other companies that it won't play favorites with its search listings [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Search Marketing | Features & Analysis | Google: Business Issues | Search Marketing | Search Marketing Column