Google

Monthly ArchiveFebruary 2007



News Peter Kersbergen - 28 Feb 2007 04:29 pm

Google under fire over adsense banning in Korea

The Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has told Google to rewrite sections of its AdSense contracts which empower Google to unilaterally cancel any deal, and are considered unfair under Korean law.

AdSense displays adverts on a website and the owner of the website gets a share of the money made by Google. Because payments are based on the number of clicks each advert gets, the scheme is susceptible to click fraud, or allegations of fraud.

Humor University used the AdSense scheme, but from October to November did not get paid. When it complained to Google’s US headquarters it was told its contract had been terminated because of suspicious activities.

Continue Reading »

News Peter Kersbergen - 22 Feb 2007 04:33 pm

Google Apps Premier Edition suite - serious competitor for Microsoft Office

Google will try to chill Microsoft’s post-Office launch glow today, adding Docs & Spreadsheets to its apps suite and pitching a pay per seat version of the bundle to corporate customers.

Google will charge companies, or individuals, $50 a seat per year for its Google Apps Premier Edition suite. Likes its free stable mate, PE now contains Google Docs & Spreadsheets, as well as Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, and the Google customizable Start Page feature. Unlike Microsoft, Google seems to have a working currency converter, with UK punters being charged £26 a seat.

Continue Reading »

News Peter Kersbergen - 15 Feb 2007 01:03 am

Google’s Master Plan - The Movie

Anybody who vaguely has something to do with Google is aware of Google’s Master Plan; the brainwave of Google employees on a whiteboard at the Google headquarters.

The University of Applied Sciences ulm, in Germany, has now made and released a movie about this. It isn’t about the Master Plan in specific, but more about the information gathering of Google and the always rising question regarding privacy. Does Google maintain it’s own mission: Don’t be evil?

Are the film makers going too far in their vision on the future or will it really reach the stage they predict…

News Peter Kersbergen - 14 Feb 2007 11:01 pm

Belgian newspapers win suit against Google

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Google Inc. lost a copyright lawsuit Tuesday to Belgian newspapers that had demanded that it remove headlines and links to articles posted on its news site without their permission.

The ruling, if it stands on appeal, could set a precedent for how Web search engines link to copyrighted material in the tumultuous arena of online news, according to the Belgian copyright group that launched the case.

Google said it would appeal, claiming that its Google News service was “entirely legal” and that the Belgian ruling did not set any precedent.

The Brussels Court of First Instance ruled that Mountain View, Calif.-based Google could not rely on exemptions, such as claiming “fair use,” because it says it reviews news articles when it displays headlines, a few lines of text, photos and links to the original page.

Continue Reading »