Dear Google Friends,
The past few weeks at Google have been particularly productive ones,
with major news about our partners and our services. Read on to get
the latest scoop on everything from AOL to APIs, with a quick trip
back to April 1 for a peek at the beaks that power our search.
You've Got Search! Google Partners with America Online
By far the biggest buzz at the Googleplex over these past weeks
was the announcement of Google's strategic partnership with America
Online. Google will begin powering the search areas of AOL, CompuServe,
AOL.com, and Netscape this summer, and has already begun providing
targeted paid listings to AOL properties. According to Bob Pittman,
COO-elect of AOL Time Warner: "Google is the reigning champ of online
search. We're committed to providing AOL members and web users with
the very best in online tools, content, and convenience, and we're
very pleased to bring Google's popular platform to our users."
Google is just as pleased to have been selected by AOL to provide
search and advertising services to its 34 million members and tens of
millions of website visitors. The partnership provides an immediate
benefit to advertisers in the Google AdWords Select program, who will
now be able to reach AOL's audience of potential customers as well as
those searching on Google itself.
See a sampling of the press coverage on the AOL-Google partnership
announcement at:
http://www.google.com/press/aol_articles.html
To participate in the Google AdWords Select program, sign up for an
AdWords Select account at:
https://adwords.google.com/select/main
Big Business: B2B Ranks Google a Top 10 B2B Advertising Site
We've always known Google was good for business. In fact, we estimate
we'll get about 10 billion business-to-business search queries over
the next year. That's why we were thrilled to be included in the
B2B magazine Media Power 50, an annual review of the most powerful
targeted B2B advertising outlets. Google now ranks as the #5 business-
to-business advertising property and the #1 B2B website, according to
B2B magazine. We're in good company: The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and
Fortune magazine also made the top ten.
http://www.btobonline.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?id=9089
Google Answers: Tough Questions Answered at a Low, Low Price
Everybody has questions. In most cases, Google search is an incredibly
fast way to answer them. But some ("Should I buy or lease my next car?"
"Why is there air?") are trickier or more time-consuming than others.
To help Google users over those hurdles, we launched Google Answers,
a service powered by human researchers with search expertise. When you
post a question, you say what you're willing to pay (between $5 and
$50) and how quickly you need a reply. If the answer you get back
satisfies, you pony up what you promised. To spread the benefit around,
your answer is posted to the Google Answers site so registered users
can add their two cents or profit from yours.
While queries like "Where did I put my keys?" and "Why did I marry this
guy?" are problematic, plenty of topics remain fair game. For instance:
- How can I keep ice dams from damaging my cathedral ceiling?
- How can I find teacher's salary scales for the Cincinnati area?
- Describe the manufacturing process for commercial soya sauce.
Google Answers boasts a stunning research team with expertise in areas
from biochemical engineering to public policy. Feel like joining this
illustrious crew? Sign up to become one of Google's paid researchers:
https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=apply
To try out Google Answers:
https://answers.google.com/answers/main
Google Web APIs: "Just the Juice We Need"
Software coders are giving the new Google Web APIs an enthusiastic
response, as recorded in developer weblogs, newsgroups, and discussion
sites across the Net. The APIs (Application Programming Interfaces)
enable software programs to query Google directly and draw on more than
2 billion web documents worth of data. The idea is to let developers
use Google for new and useful tasks that would have been impossible
before. To that end, Google released example code for Java, Perl,
and .NET. Outside developers have already kicked in code for more than
25 other environments.
Now that programs can tap directly into Google search, what questions
will they ask? "That's where the mind bombs will come from," replies
noted developer Dave Winer, who expects a flurry of innovation as
coders use the Google Web APIs to make the Internet one big scripting
environment. "Google is just the juice we need," says Winer. Early
entries support his claim. Among the more creative:
- The Google Smackdown pits words and phrases against each other in
a brutal test of online clout.
http://www.onfocus.com/googlesmack/down.asp
- The Google Outline Browser generates outlines of related sites,
taking users on a recursive stroll through Googlespace.
http://www.kasei.com/google/browse
- GoogleMail lets you search Google via email by sending a message
with your query in the subject line.
http://capescience.capeclear.com/google/index.shtml
To dip your fingers in the code, or to learn a little more, visit:
http://www.google.com/apis/
Now It Can Be Told: PigeonRank Technology Gives Google Wings
To mark the arrival of April, Google's research team revealed
for the first time the secret technology that powers the world's
leading search engine.
http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html
Note: No pigeons were harmed in the production of this report.
Nice Folks Are Saying Nice Things About Google
On April 17, Google received the MIT Students' Choice award for
the fourth annual MIT Sloan School of Management eBusiness Awards
in Cambridge, Mass.
On April 24, Google Groups, Google's complete 20-year archive of
more than 700 million Usenet postings, was honored with Software
Development magazine's coveted JOLT Award – a can of Jolt Cola
("Twice the Caffeine") encased in Lucite.
Last but not least, we're going to the Webby Awards again!
Google has been nominated in two categories this time around:
Best Practices, which we won in 2001, and Technical Achievement,
which we won in 2000. Will we double up in 2002? Cross your
fingers for us. Or, better yet, show your love by picking Google
for both categories in the Webby Awards People's Voice voting.
http://www.webbyawards.com/main/
http://www.webbyawards.com/peoplesvoice/
Go from Google User to Bona Fide Googler: We're Hiring
If you'd like to apply your abundant energy and talent to creating
the world's best search service, this may be the moment to take your
love for Google to the next level. The main attraction is making
life better for millions of search users worldwide, but joining the
Google team also involves free lunches and snacks, massage therapy,
and roller hockey. Most of our departments are hiring, notably
our engineering crew and our European offices. Does the prospect
of signing on at Google inspire you? Then check out our jobs page
and send us your resume.
Our current openings can be found at:
http://www.google.com/jobs/great-people-needed.html
These are exciting times at Google. Thanks for your interest and
support as we continue to grow. We look forward to sharing news with
you in the coming months and wish you the very best.
The Google Team
