healthy4u

Keeping kids safe in a digital world

Posted by Liz Eraker, Policy Analyst In the spirit of <a title="National Internet Safety Month" href="http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:sr567is.txt.pdf" id="f_so">National Internet Safety Month</a>, we welcomed Ernie Allen, co-founder and president of the <a title="National Center for Missing and Exploited Children" href="http://www.missingkids.com/" id="riwi">National Center for Missing and Exploited Children</a> (NCMEC) to the Googleplex last week to discuss child protection issues. For those not familiar with it, NCMEC works closely with federal law enforcement across the U.S. to help prevent child abduction and sexual exploitation and to help find missing children. From serving as the clearinghouse for reports of online child pornography to issuing Amber Alerts when children go missing to reuniting families in the wake of Katrina, NCMEC is at the forefront of efforts to protect society's most vulnerable members. In a policy talk called "Beyond Milk Cartons: Keeping kids safe in a digital world", Ernie provided an overview of NCMEC's work and chatted with Googlers about the ever-changing landscape of child protection challenges shared by parents, educators, advocacy organizations, and technology companies like Google as we work to help families make smart choices online. <a title="Watch" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOC5MVDj5nk" id="b_u2">Watch Ernie's talk</a> on YouTube. Technology is an invaluable tool for addressing some of these challenges. In a recent example, a team of Google engineers dedicated their 20 percent time over the last year and a half to build <a title="cutting-edge software" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/building-software-tools-to-find-child.html" id="epnr">cutting-edge software</a> for NCMEC that uses image and video recognition technology to help NCMEC analysts more effectively sort and review incoming reports of child exploitation. NCMEC analysts sort through tens of millions of images in child sexual abuse investigations, and we've tried to leverage our expertise in organizing huge amounts of data to help make their important work more automated and efficient. When it comes to keeping kids safe on the Internet, we believe that <a title="education for families" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/common-sense-approach-to-internet.html" id="q019">education for families</a>, <a title="support for law enforcement" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/helping-law-enforcement-to-combat.html" id="fqzu">support for law enforcement</a>, and empowering technology tools, like our <a title="SafeSearch" href="http://www.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=searchguides.html&ctx=preferences&hl=en" id="fgab">SafeSearch</a> filter and the NCMEC software, are all critical pieces of the puzzle. Tackling online child safety issues is no small task, but we'll continue our collaboration with organizations like NCMEC, along with other partners in schools, government and industry, to take collective strides in the right direction.

Keeping kids safe in a digital world

Posted by Liz Eraker, Policy Analyst In the spirit of National Internet Safety Month , we welcomed Ernie Allen, co-founder and president of ...

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More real-time quotes on Google Finance

Posted by Matt Simmons, Market Data Gnome We're excited to let you know we're adding more real-time market data to Google Finance, Google.com and other Google properties. Starting today, you'll have access to real-time, last sale prices from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), along with those from NASDAQ, which we <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/at-long-last-real-time-stock-quotes-are.html">recently launched</a>. Here's the <a href="http://www.nyse.com/press/1214302996534.html">NYSE press release</a>. What this means is that you can now get the latest real-time stock quotes on Google for free. Wondering what Ford (F) is trading at today? Search for it on <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=F">Google</a> or <a href="http://finance.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:F">Google Finance</a> and keep the page up to have the quotes stream live. If you use iGoogle, add the Google Finance <a href="http://www.google.com/ig/directory?url=www.google.com/ig/modules/finance_portfolios.xml">portfolio gadget</a> to your homepage, and monitor all your NYSE and NASDAQ traded stocks in real time throughout the day. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPRcLkOgp_RAD4OYVIqmUOevWVTX6s8RHiYxwKNEI6hCZNrBakbXocXQPcaOu8c2JzqJxrHnKxL8NLGdUOFHuJrfsGQVng0c4Qzmuxe06pEX6Y1ajVieGjAgadhWjUwmCcsJEhBDVcyKt/s1600-h/Portfolio+Gadget.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215270065430322290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPRcLkOgp_RAD4OYVIqmUOevWVTX6s8RHiYxwKNEI6hCZNrBakbXocXQPcaOu8c2JzqJxrHnKxL8NLGdUOFHuJrfsGQVng0c4Qzmuxe06pEX6Y1ajVieGjAgadhWjUwmCcsJEhBDVcyKt/s400/Portfolio+Gadget.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a> And if you're on the road with no access to a computer, real-time, up-to-the-second price quotes from these two exchanges are available from your mobile phone as well: <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFnMhKDR4zlcAk52ZeQ6cA7PwUT8RIj0x_oKilOvpgMO9uFVJ17EjZb385dVVy_nkeyeh2FkGCJeM3vo3pATmmqYZFPbTFqUQuDbEcszSGLX6RTIk8h2CQxB_JFdshNTTzWcwDpciMY5n/s1600-h/Mobile+Finance.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215270061125833570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFnMhKDR4zlcAk52ZeQ6cA7PwUT8RIj0x_oKilOvpgMO9uFVJ17EjZb385dVVy_nkeyeh2FkGCJeM3vo3pATmmqYZFPbTFqUQuDbEcszSGLX6RTIk8h2CQxB_JFdshNTTzWcwDpciMY5n/s400/Mobile+Finance.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a>We hope this makes it easier for you to track your investments and make more informed and timely financial decisions.

More real-time quotes on Google Finance

Posted by Matt Simmons, Market Data Gnome We're excited to let you know we're adding more real-time market data to Google Finance, G...

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Get outdoors with GO Georgia!

Posted by Maureen Schumacher, Regional Sales Director, Atlanta Our Atlanta office recently teamed up with the Parks, Recreation and Historic Sites Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to support an initiative called Get Outdoors Georgia (GO Georgia). An effort to help Georgians get outdoors, get fit and enjoy their diverse natural resources, the initiative focuses on family-friendly, nature-based, healthy outdoor recreation opportunities throughout the state. As a founding sponsor of the program, Google will offer consultation on products including AdWords, Analytics, Maps, Earth, Picasa, Gadgets and a branded <a href="http://www.youtube.com/gastateparks" id="lsma" title="branded YouTube channel">YouTube channel</a> According to a 2007 report from the Trust for America's Health, Georgia is one of the "heaviest" states in the union, ranking 14th for adult obesity and 12th for overweight children (16+ percent of its youth overweight or obese). We're pleased that our products will play a part in an historic effort to improve the health and well-being of all Georgians. And today, we're expanding our relationship with GO Georgia by spending a day in <a href="http://www.gastateparks.org/info/panolamt/">Panola Mountain State Park</a>. Atlanta Googlers will help to restore the park and remove growth not indigenous to the area, improving the experience for Georgians and other visitors when they get out and visit the park. For more info on this forward-looking new program, visit the <a href="http://www.getoutdoorsgeorgia.org/">GO Georgia site</a>.

Get outdoors with GO Georgia!

Posted by Maureen Schumacher, Regional Sales Director, Atlanta Our Atlanta office recently teamed up with the Parks, Recreation and Historic...

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Google Code Jam is back

Posted by Bartholomew Furrow, 20% Tech Lead for Google Code Jam If you're a great sprinter, you've probably been in a few races. And if you're a great chess player, you've probably had your share of matches. But what do you do if you're a great programmer? Well, if you're looking for the rush of competition, the feeling of matching your mind up against the greatest in the world, you can't do better than Google Code Jam. The contests are intense: you'll have two short hours to solve some fiendish algorithmic challenges. You'll read a problem, write your code, download our test cases, and tell us what you think the right answers are. If you're right, it's time to move on to another problem -- but if you're wrong, it's time to make a decision. Debug, or look for an easier challenge...? <a title="Registration is now open" href="http://code.google.com/codejam" id="n2wz">Registration is now open</a>, so you can find out more about the contest, and practice on some sample problems. Practice hard! If you make it to the top 500, you'll travel to a nearby Google office for our semifinal round. If you're in the top 100, we'll fly you to our Mountain View <a title="Google's headquarters" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1600+Amphitheatre+Pkwy,+Mountain+View,+CA+94043&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=37.735377,91.054688&ie=UTF8&ll=37.424094,-122.083361&spn=0.009253,0.02223&z=16&iwloc=addr" id="g70q">headquarters</a> to compete with the world's very best.

Google Code Jam is back

Posted by Bartholomew Furrow, 20% Tech Lead for Google Code Jam If you're a great sprinter, you've probably been in a few races. And...

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Elections in the Internet era

Posted by Bob Boorstin, Washington Director of Policy Communications Days after the close of the U.S. presidential primaries, political pundits, campaign strategists, journalists, technologists, and others gathered at our Washington office to discuss how the "<a href="http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2008/06/event-next-wednesday-first-21st-century.html" title="the first 21st century campaign" target="_blank">first 21st century campaign</a>" is changing politics as we know it. Topics ranged from the democratization of voices in the media to the power of small donors and community organizers to Lindsay Lohan's political clout. "Obama Girl" producer <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnT6YE2aNd4&feature=PlayList&p=F8096078344659E8&index=0" title="Ben Relles" target="_blank">Ben Relles</a> gave us a sneak peek at his upcoming YouTube video. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS1I9emdXBU&feature=PlayList&p=F8096078344659E8&index=2" title="Lizz Winstead" target="_blank">Lizz Winstead</a>, co-creator of the Daily Show, gave her thoughts on TV journalism today, and why it gave rise to political comedy online and on television. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1SUua85RNQ&feature=PlayList&p=F8096078344659E8&index=9" title="Christopher Hitchens" target="_blank">Christopher Hitchens</a> shared why he thinks everyone wants to vote in an American election. And the Internet directors from the McCain, Obama, Romney and Clinton campaigns assessed the role of technology in getting out the vote. Visit our <a href="http://youtube.com/user/AtGoogleTalks" title="YouTube channel" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a> to see all of the panel discussions in their entirety (<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=7Hf47rOwT0s" style="font-family: georgia;" title="Pop Culture Politics" target="_blank">Pop Culture Politics</a>, <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=PS3Oy2DlccU" title="Running the 21st Century Campaign" target="_blank">Running the 21st Century Campaign</a> and <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=iPSMbB8ndM8" title="Covering the 21st Century Campaign" target="_blank">Covering the 21st Century Campaign</a>) and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/citizentube" title="Citizentube" target="_blank">Citizentube</a> for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=F8096078344659E8" style="font-family: georgia;" title="1-on-1 interviews with panelists" target="_blank">1-on-1 interviews with panelists</a>. And special thanks to our friends at <a href="http://www.c-span.org/" title="C-SPAN" target="_blank">C-SPAN</a> for recording and broadcasting the panels. Check out some <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/zena987/TheFirst21stCenturyCampaignGoogleAndNationalJournal#" title="photos" target="_blank">photos</a> from the event, which we hope contributes to the conversation about the Internet's <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/252/report_display.asp" title="growing influence" target="_blank">growing influence</a> on American democracy.

Elections in the Internet era

Posted by Bob Boorstin, Washington Director of Policy Communications Days after the close of the U.S. presidential primaries, political pund...

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Plug-ins converge on Washington

Posted by Michael Terrell, Program Manager, Google.org <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdjk2qjMUcrl8egifNHK5se0mOHcslO0icdwIQ7lFRtOWecLRf3YmxGa0ybp9EIGDakDhZJXbnDlBMWn8WfGp8643ycuSSgAWpx-WW0gPDj9mVOT2wxhKZf41u7HW0d_7WoBLDWJcVBa2t/s1600-h/Brookings+panel+photo.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212598260249501170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdjk2qjMUcrl8egifNHK5se0mOHcslO0icdwIQ7lFRtOWecLRf3YmxGa0ybp9EIGDakDhZJXbnDlBMWn8WfGp8643ycuSSgAWpx-WW0gPDj9mVOT2wxhKZf41u7HW0d_7WoBLDWJcVBa2t/s400/Brookings+panel+photo.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a> Last week Google.org and the Brookings Institution hosted a two-day <a title="conference" href="http://www.google.org/recharge/dcpluginsconference/index.html" id="pmd-">conference</a> in Washington to showcase plug-in electric vehicles and examine how the government can support their widespread adoption. An impressive lineup of Members of Congress, auto and utility executives, and technology experts spoke to a packed house about the potential of plug-ins to reduce oil dependence, lower the cost of driving, and fight global warming. Between panels, participants were treated to a <a title="display" href="http://blog.google.org/2008/06/participants-plug-in.html" id="j:df">display</a> of the latest plug-in cars, including one of Google.org's <a title="RechargeIT" href="http://www.google.org/recharge/" id="lclg">RechargeIT cars</a>, an <a title="electric sportscar" href="http://www.teslamotors.com/" id="oufb">electric sportscar</a>, and <a title="Detroit's answer" href="http://gm-volt.com/" id="xibs">Detroit's answer</a> to high gas prices. There appeared to be overwhelming agreement that government <a title="leadership" href="http://blog.google.org/2008/06/plug-in-conference-highlights-day-2.html" id="jo32">leadership</a> is necessary to make this industry transformation a reality. (A recent <a title="poll" href="http://blog.google.org/2008/06/survey-says-plug-in-washington.html" id="az43">poll</a> commissioned by Google.org shows that voters agree.) A second theme was the need to modernize and green the power grid as the country moves toward electrifying transportation. But with gas prices at record highs and enthusiasm for the promise of electric cars growing, the feeling in Washington last week was that plug-ins' time has come.

Plug-ins converge on Washington

Posted by Michael Terrell, Program Manager, Google.org Last week Google.org and the Brookings Institution hosted a two-day conference in Wa...

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Our agreement to provide ad technology to Yahoo!

Posted by Omid Kordestani, Senior VP, Global Sales and Business Development Today, <a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/20080612_yahoo.html">we announced</a> a non-exclusive advertising agreement that will provide Yahoo! with access to our AdSense for search and AdSense for content advertising programs on their U.S. and Canadian web properties. In addition, we will work to enable interoperability between our respective instant messaging services allowing users better, broader communication online. We are proud of the advertising technologies we have built, which show users a relevant ad whether they are searching for a specific item or browsing the internet. This arrangement extends those benefits to Yahoo! and its many users, advertisers and publisher partners. We currently provide similar services to sites like AOL and Ask.com as well as many other partners, and we work closely with all of our partners to ensure that our partnership drives their long term success. Why did we make this agreement? Quite simply, we think it is good for users, advertisers and publishers. By offering Google's industry-leading technology to Yahoo!, the whole system becomes more efficient, and everyone benefits: <ul id="bqhv1"><li id="bqhv2"> Consumers will see more relevant ads when they are looking for information and browsing the web. And with interoperability between IM services, users will have easier access to even more of their contacts. </li></ul><ul id="bqhv1"><li id="bqhv2">Publishers currently in the Yahoo! Publisher Network will benefit from Google's advertising technology, potentially increasing the revenue they earn from their sites.</li></ul><ul id="bqhv1"><li id="bqhv2"> Advertisers will have new ways to reach their target customers online more efficiently. </li></ul> We also think this is good for competition. The truth is, this kind of arrangement is commonplace in many industries, and it doesn't foreclose robust competition. Toyota sells its hybrid technology to General Motors, even though they are the number one and number two car manufacturers globally. Canon provides laser printer engines for HP, despite also competing in the broader laser printer market. Google and Yahoo will continue to be vigorous competitors, and that competition will help fuel innovation that is good for users. It is important to say what this agreement is not: <ul id="ebqz4"><li id="ebqz5"> This is not a merger. Rather, we are merely providing access to our advertising technology to Yahoo! through our AdSense program. </li><li id="ebqz5"> This does not remove a competitor from the playing field. Yahoo! will remain in the business of search and content advertising, which gives the company a continued incentive to keep improving and innovating. Even during this agreement, Yahoo! can use our technology as much or as little as it chooses. </li><li id="ebqz5"> This does not prevent Yahoo! from making similar arrangements with others. This arrangement is not exclusive, meaning that Yahoo! could enter into similar arrangements with other companies. </li><li id="ebqz6"> This does not increase Google's share of search traffic. Yahoo! will continue to run its own search engine and advertising programs, and the agreement will not increase Google's share of search traffic. </li><li id="ebqz6"> This does not let Google raise prices for advertisers. Google <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-auctions-set-ad-prices.html" id="c..s" title="does not set the prices manually for ads">does not set the prices manually for ads</a>; rather, advertisers themselves determine prices through an ongoing competitive auction. We have found over years of research that an auction is by far the most efficient way to price search advertising and have no intention of changing that. </li></ul> We have been in contact with regulators about this arrangement, and we expect to work closely with them to answer their questions about the transaction. Ultimately we believe that the efficiencies of this agreement will help preserve competition. The Internet is a healthy, competitive environment where content creators, advertisers and users come together to access information, communicate and create new business opportunities. We think this deal extends these benefits -- it's good for users, advertisers and publishers and good for the industry.

Our agreement to provide ad technology to Yahoo!

Posted by Omid Kordestani, Senior VP, Global Sales and Business Development Today, we announced a non-exclusive advertising agreement that ...

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