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Google’s Eric Schmidt To Speak At CES, YouTube To Keynote

Danny Sullivan on December 13, 2011 at 6:38 pm

Having the top Microsoft executive keynote the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is an annual tradition. For Google, its top executives hardly seem to speak. That’s changing this year, as Google chairman Eric Schmidt will be appearing at CES, at least on a panel.

Schmidt Talks Consumer Electronics

We just got word from Google that Schmidt will be on the CNET Presents the Next Big Thing in Consumer Electronics panel, happening on January 10th. The full panel includes:

Tim Baxter, President, Consumer Electronics Division, Samsung Electronics America
Bill Gurley, General Partner, Benchmark Capital
Blake Krikorian, Cofounder, Sling Media
Eric Schmidt, Chairman, Google

There’s only an hour for the panel, and I have the feeling that the other panelists will get lost among whatever Schmidt has to say. We’ll see. I’ll be out at CES this year providing live blogging and coverage.

The Last Google Keynote

Prior to this, the biggest presence I can recall Google having at CES is when Larry Page, then copresident of Google, did a CES keynote, complete with a visit from comedian Robin Williams. You can watch one recording of it below:

There’s also an official transcript here and the official recording can be awkwardly viewed here.

YouTube To Keynote & Microsoft’s Ballmer Returns

Since that time, as I said, I don’t recall any high-level Google execs speaking, though I perhaps have missed a visit or two. But with Google involved in consumer electronics that range from laptops to TV to cell phones, it’s perhaps overdue for such a visit.

Oddly, Google is doing a keynote again at CES, but it won’t be from Schmidt.

Instead, Robert Kyncl, Vice President Of Global Content Partnerships for Google’s YouTube unit, will be speaking on Thursday, January 12, at 10am PT.

Microsoft is also back, with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer delivering his fourth CES on the evening of January 9. We’ll be covering that, as well.

Danny Sullivan was a journalist and analyst who covered the digital and search marketing space from 1996 through 2017. He was also a cofounder of Third Door Media, which publishes Search Engine Land, Marketing Land, MarTech Today and produces the SMX: Search Marketing Expo and MarTech events. He retired from journalism and Third Door Media in June 2017. You can learn more about him on his personal site & blog He can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.