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Google New Products Launched
By Find2k | May 12, 2006
Google Press Day and Product Announcements
Whenever Google comes with its new features it make the market rock……….. And that is happening now when Google came with all new Trends and Notebook.
Google Desktop 4, Google Trends, Google Notebook — just more Google
Google this week held a press conference to announce where the company was going, what it had achieved in the past year and what it believes it can do to empower users to better find information.
Among the first few things that Google spoke about was its technology: crawling, ranking, and indexing. Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt emphasized that the company was growing rapidly, but despite the huge growth, the technology that Google had developed was able to scale without breaking a sweat.
In terms of corporate growth, Google is still looking into different markets and Schmidt mentioned that acquiring smaller companies was something that was going to be a normal practice. Google also shared a few product launches at the event. The company introduced a new version of Google Desktop, which is its downloadable local search application.
Being introduced with Google Desktop 4 is a feature called Gadgets, which will be familiar to users of Apple’s OS X. Similar to OS X’s widgets feature, Google’s Gadgets allows users to develop tiny applications that can be called up and used. Focused on convenience and easy access, Gadgets can be anything, ranging from clocks, to calculators, stock tickers, tiny games and more.
Off the desktop and back on line, Google moved its Trends application out of beta status. Trends allow users to learn about what other people are using Google for. While not quite as extensive as Google Finance, Trends will be a unique tool for advertisers, web developers, and general market study.
Another unique product that Google is introducing is called Google Notebook. The online application, which is integrated into Google, follows a user’s search behavior. Tracking what they search for and what information is in the results that they traverse to. Google Notebook collects information gathered from all these sources and compiles them into an extensive journal that can be used later for finding more detailed and relevant information. With all the new announcements about Google’s corporate strategy and product announcements, one thing is clear: Google’s pace of development will not be slowing down. Recently, we reported that Google may be launching a health website dedicated to medical information.
Earlier in the year, we revealed that information was leaked about Google thinking of providing users unlimited storage for all types of files. For webmasters, Google recently introduced a new feature to its AdSense advertisement program that pays for users to install Google Pack, which is a collection of desktop software. Google will also pay for users to install Picasa, its photo library application.
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AS Per The Mercury News
Google shareholders heap praise on management in annual meeting
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Google Inc. shareholders hailed management during the online search engine leader’s annual meeting Thursday, heaping praise on a company that has created $55 billion in investor wealth during the past year.
The only serious criticism lodged during the 75-minute meeting attended by about 200 shareholders focused on Google’s recent decision to censor some of its search results in China to adhere to the country’s restrictions on free speech.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin sparred briefly with the critic, Tony Cruz of Amnesty
International USA. Brin pointed out that rival search engine Yahoo had been cooperating with China far longer, going so far as to provide personal information that has helped land dissidents in jail.
Reiterating previous management comments on the issue, Brin said Google believes its presence in China ultimately will force the government to become less repressive.
He noted that Google’s January launch of a search engine under a Chinese domain name already has helped trigger Congressional hearings and drawn widespread media attention to the issue.
Shareholders otherwise were mostly upbeat.
The mood reflected the performance of Google’s stock, which has climbed by 70 percent during the past year as the company widened its leadership in Internet search - gains that have put the company on a pace to generate about $10 billion in revenue just eight years after its inception in a Silicon Valley garage.
Google’s shares dropped $15.98, or 4 percent, to close Thursday at $387 on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange.
That kind of volatility bothers Stephen Moress, who traveled from Los Angeles to attend Thursday’s meeting. “It’s been a real roller coaster and a little scary,” said Moress, who owns 1,000 Google shares. “They need to come up with a better plan to communicate with the press and put a better spin on things.”
Oakland, Calif. resident Jack Easterling, who owns 400 Google shares, said he has been feeling more nervous about the stock’s turbulence since the price began dropping from its peak of $475.11 in early January.
Easterling, 74, still has made a lot of money on the stock so far, leaving him with few complaints. “I am happy with the way the company is performing.”
The high cost to buy Google shares prompted one stockholder to ask if the company’s board will split the stock to make it more affordable to the masses.
Brin said a split isn’t planned because Google wants prospective investors to be highly motivated to conduct a thorough financial analysis of the company before buying. “We would rather not have shareholders who say, ‘Look, it’s $20, it’s cheap, so I’ll buy it,’” Brin said.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt assured shareholders that Google is working diligently to develop even more products to build upon the company’s success story, which included a $592 million profit on revenue of $2.25 billion during the first three months of this year.
“We have lots more stuff coming,” Schmidt said. “The rate of innovation and impact of Google is just beginning.”
Toward the end of the meeting, Schmidt reminded investors that Google eventually won’t be able to deliver the high level of the earnings growth that enabled the stock to more quadruple from its August 2004 initial public offering price of $85. Google’s earnings have increased by at least 60 percent in every quarter since the IPO.
“It’s safe to say, over time, that our growth rates will slow,” Schmidt said. “It’s the law of diminishing returns. It’s real difficult to know when this will occur.”
A similar cautionary remark by Google’s chief financial officer triggered a sharp slide in the company’s stock price in late February.
While shareholders flattered them Thursday, Google executives complimented Apple Computer Inc., which, like Google, is one of Microsoft Corp.’s biggest rivals.
“I think we have a lot of shared values and shared principles with Apple,” Brin said.
Schmidt went even further, calling Apple “one of the great innovators. They are amazingly impressive.”
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Topics: New Updates on Google |