October State Of Mind Characterizes The Weekly Google Zeitgeist

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Google Announces Winner of Global Code Jam 2006

Petr Mitrichev of Russia bests field of 21,000 to take home top prize in New York City

2006 Winner
Petr Mitrichev

NEW YORK, NY – Oct. 27, 2006 – Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced that Petr Mitrichev won today’s Global Code Jam competition and was awarded with a $10,000 first prize. Mitrichev topped a field of over 21,000 registered competitors from around the world, a record number for GCJ. Second place went to Ying Wang of the United States. Andrey Stankevich came in third. Second through tenth places carry a cash prize of $5,000.

Additional cash prizes went to the other top 100 finalists, who represented 24 different countries. Each finalist was flown to New York this week to compete in the championship round and see firsthand what is happening in the Google New York office. Last year, Marek Cygan of Poland took home the grand prize.

"We’re thrilled to bring together such a talented, diverse group of programmers here in New York to celebrate the best in engineering," said Craig Nevill Manning, engineering director. "Google is passionate about fostering a community of people who want to build the next generation of tools for users around the globe and providing them with the opportunity to meet and discuss challenging problems."

This is the fourth annual Global Code Jam, which is produced in conjunction with TopCoder, the leader in online programming competition, skills assessment and competitive software development. Google’s Global Code Jam is a celebration of the art of computer science and demonstrates the value Google places on excellent coding.

The competition, which began Sept. 5, attracted 21,000 registrants from more than 100 countries. All entrants participated in an initial qualification round, and 1000 of those went on to a two-round competition field. The top 100 scorers from round two of this phase came to Google’s New York offices for the finals. All of the programming for any round could be done in Java, C++, C#, Python or VB.NET.

More information about Google Code Jam 2006 can be found at www.google.com/codejam.

About Google Inc.

Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

Media Contact:

Megan Lamb
Google Inc.
703-926-5292
mlamb@google.com

###

Google is a registered trademark of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

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Celebrity Foibles, Showings And Celebrations Dominate Weekly Google Zeitgeist

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The Power of Google Search is Now Customizable

Announcement
October 23, 2006

Today, Google is launching the Google Custom Search Engine, a new way to bring tailored search to websites and blogs. In just minutes, anyone can use the Google search platform to create a search engine focused on any content they like – from Hollywood heartthrobs, to favorite sports team, to personal hobbies, and more.

Google Custom Search Engines empower users to choose which pages they want to include in their index, how the content should be prioritized, whether others can contribute to their index, and what the search results page will look like. With this launch, we’re extending the power of Google search beyond Google.com.

A number of sites have already created Custom Search Engines. For example, Intuit’s JumpUp.com site, which provides information and resources to small businesses, is combining a Custom Search Engine with its years of experience in small business to provide the most useful resources on the Web to its users. Or take RealClimate.org, a site that offers expert opinion on the science of climate change. They have created a searchable subset of the Web to provide reliable scientific information to its visitors. In a more everyday use of the product, users can create search engines pointing their friends to sites about their favorite pop stars and place them on their personal homepages.

"We want to make it easy for anyone to create a search engine about all of their favorite topics, without needing a Ph.D.," said Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. "Everyone – businesses, organizations, moms, dads, teenagers, and teachers – can harness the power of Google technology to create a personalized search experience that reflects specific knowledge and interests."

Here’s how a Custom Search Engine works: organizations or individuals simply go to www.google.com/coop/cse and select the websites or pages they’d like to include in their search index. Users can choose to restrict their search results to include only those pages and sites, or they can give those pages and sites higher priority and ranking within the larger Google index for their site. Users can then customize the look, feel and functionality of their search engine.

Custom Search Engines are monetized through the Google AdSense program so they can even generate revenue with it. Universities, non-profits and government organizations can choose not to run ads on their search results if they’d rather not.

Google Custom Search Engine is available at www.google.com/coop/cse. We plan to expand the offering internationally in the coming weeks.

Some comments from our partners:

JumpUp.com from Intuit
"Finding the most useful resources on the web is a challenge for small businesses," said Lisa Gevelber, general manager of Quicken Small Business. "That’s why we created JumpUp.com and added Google Custom Search Engine. We combined Google’s technology with our nearly 15 years of small business experience to evaluate and select the most useful small business resources on the web and provide them to JumpUp.com users."

RealClimate
"RealClimate.org is a site that tries to give credible expert opinion on the science of climate change. Unfortunately, since this topical subject has become rather politicized, the quality of information available on the web is very variable, ranging from the excellent to the atrocious. With the Custom Google Search facility, we are able to create a searchable subset of the web that in our expert judgment provides solid and reliable information. Hopefully, it will allow users to get to the good stuff faster, without some of the confusion that currently occurs." – Gavin Schmidt, RealClimate

Macworld
"Macworld is excited to implement Google’s Custom Search as our site’s search engine," said Jason Snell, Vice President and Editorial Director of Mac Publishing, LLC. "Implementing Google Custom Search for our site took very little time, and we expect it to improve our site’s traffic by dramatically improving our users’ search experience."

Penton Media, Inc.
"Utilizing the Google Custom Search Engine, Excavator gets immediate results for the user while acting as a filter for unwanted information. The topic targeting and site filtering has created an all-in-one opportunity to find independent Microsoft news, product information, and resources that have been technically vetted by Windows IT Media content experts," said Chad Phelps, Group Director of eMedia, Windows IT Pro / SQL Server Magazine / MSD2D. "We have an unparalleled network of sites available to us, all of which we’ve made accessible through Excavator in conjunction with the Google Custom Search Engine."

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Google Releases 2006 Google Earth Election Guide

Combination Will Create New Opportunities for Users and Content Owners Everywhere

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – October 23, 2006 – Google (NASDAQ: GOOG):

WHO: Google Earth

WHAT: Google Releases 2006 Google Earth Election Guide

WHERE: Available in Google Earth (download at www.google.com/earth)

WHEN: Monday, October 23, 2006 – Countdown to the 2006 US elections

WHY: Today Google Earth celebrates the election season with the launch of the 2006 Google Earth Election Guide.

Conceived by Google Earth engineers who found it difficult to find aggregated election information online about races country-wide, the 2006 Google Earth Election Guide serves as an easily accessible resource for users to find information about candidates, voter registration, and campaign financing for the November 7th elections.

"We’re excited to connect voters across the country to timely and locally relevant information about the upcoming elections and the candidates," said John Hanke, director of Google Earth and Maps. "We continue to believe that Google Earth can serve as the ultimate tool for organizing and sharing similar geo-based information."

The 2006 Google Earth Election Guide includes clickable place marks for all 435 Congressional districts. Each place mark includes:

• The slate of candidates running for office in that district, with live feeds from Google Web, Image, and News Search for each candidate
• Campaign finance information from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and Center for Responsive Politics (www.opensecrets.org) for the district’s candidates
• A link to voter registration and voter information sites, localized to each state

The 2006 Google Earth Election Guide is available under the Layers tab of the Google Earth sidebar.

Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to make the world’s geographic information easily accessible and useful. There have been over 100 million downloads of Google Earth since the product’s launch in June, 2005.

About Google Inc.

Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

Press Contact:

Megan Quinn
Google Inc.
meganq@google.com

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Google Hispanic College Fund Scholarship

Announcement
October 11, 2006

We congratulate the 18 winners of the inaugural Google Hispanic College Fund Scholarship who will be recognized at the Hispanic College Fund’s Gala tonight in Washington, D.C. This accomplished group of men and women demonstrated excellence in the field of computer science, and we are pleased to be able to assist them in their educational pursuits.

2006-2007 Google Hispanic College Fund Winners

• Jesus Abrego, University of Texas at San Antonio
• Daniel Catarino, University of Texas at San Antonio
• Carolina Gomez, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Sandra Gonzalez, University of Colorado at Denver
• Asad Kalantarian, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Roxanne Martinez, Stanford University
• Josh Morales, University of Texas-Pan American
• Richard Morris, Del Mar College
• Eilyn Quesada, DeVry University
• Susann Revolorio, Dominican University
• Alejandro Rodriguez, University of Illinois at Chicago
• Andres Rojas, Midwestern State University
• Amanda Ryan, University of Houston-Victoria
• Marlies Santos Deas, Miami-Dade Community College
• Christopher Soghoian, Indian University-Bloomington
• Yuly Tenorio, University of California-Berkeley
• Guikubi Van Woerkom, Indiana University-Bloomington
• Joshua Zuniga, Oregon State University

The Google Hispanic College Fund Scholarship provides $5,000 to a junior or senior who has demonstrated academic excellence in the field of computer science and computer engineering. Winners will also be invited to Google’s Mountain View Campus in April 2007. This scholarship program is a part of Google’s ongoing commitment to removing barriers to pursuing a career in advancing computing and technology, providing scholarships to encourage students to excel in their studies and become active role models and leaders. The various Google scholarship programs are described at www.google.com/jobs/scholarships.

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Google Announces Third Quarter 2006 Results*

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Website Optimizer Now Available in Beta for AdWords Advertisers

Announcement
October 18, 2006

Google is always considering new ways to help advertisers make smart business decisions and increase the return on their marketing investments. Today at the Emetrics Summit in Washington, D.C., Google announced the beta launch of a new tool, Website Optimizer. Website Optimizer is designed to help AdWords advertisers test different landing pages in order to determine which one drives the most conversions – whether they are sales, sign-ups or downloads. This multivariate landing page optimization tool enables marketers to test different ideas for variations of headlines, promotional copy, or images and provides easy-to-read graphs showing which variation resonated best with their site visitors.

The beta launch of Website Optimizer is a limited release that is offered to AdWords advertisers on a sign-up and acceptance basis. Website Optimizer is fully integrated with Google AdWords and is free to AdWords advertisers. By giving website owners the tools they need to improve their website content, Google is helping improve user experience on the internet as a whole.

Any advertiser who is interested in increasing conversions on their website will find Website Optimizer useful. It is a self-service tool that enables non-technical users to set-up and run multivariate landing page experiments. Website Optimizer uses Google Analytics technology for tracking and reporting which landing page variation had the highest conversions.

Google is collaborating with partners to leverage their expertise to provide a range of professional, consulting and implementation services for customers. For example, we’re working closely with EpikOne and Optimost, who include Website Optimizer within their suite of professional services offerings.

"As a Web and Search Analytics Consultancy we help clients identify the key conversion elements of their site,” said Alex Broussard, Vice President, EpikOne, “Google’s Website Optimizer enables us to quickly and confidently implement our recommendations and determine the best placement for those elements."

"We are excited to be working with Google on the launch of their Website Optimizer tool. Website Optimizer will provide an exceptional opportunity for companies of all sizes to experience the benefits of multivariable testing. The Website Optimizer tool will fit perfectly within our portfolio of technology and services," said Mark Wachen, CEO of Optimost.

This tool does not require consulting or professional services to implement. By allowing site visitors to determine what content is most useful, as indicated by the highest conversion rate, we are removing the guesswork and trial-and-error experiments that used to be the norm for determining landing page optimization.

For more information, please visit the Google AdWords Blog: adwords.blogspot.com or the Google Analytics Blog: analytics.blogspot.com.

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Highs, Lows, And Daily Life Characterize The Weekly Google Zeitgeist

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Google Announces Google Docs & Spreadsheets

Announcement
October 11, 2006

Ever found yourself trading email attachments with several colleagues, trying to collaborate on a document, only to have someone chime in at the last moment with corrections to an outdated version? Or emailing yourself a document just so you can move it from one computer to another? What about trying to manage a large guest list – say, for a wedding – when you have updates coming at you from all different directions and at all different times of the day, with other people trying to make their own changes?

Today, at the Office 2.0 Conference in San Francisco, Google launched a solution to these collaborative and document-management challenges. Google Docs & Spreadsheets is a web-based word-processing and spreadsheet product that makes it easier for people to create, manage, and share documents and spreadsheets online. Google Docs & Spreadsheets integrates Writely and Google Spreadsheets into a single, easy-to-use product that takes an innovative approach to a very specific problem in the productivity-software space: enabling people to manage and collaborate on the documents and spreadsheets they rely on in their personal and professional lives, no matter where they are or when they need to access them.

With Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Google is taking a set of important tasks and offering an online solution to completing them individually or with a broader group. With a Google Account, a compatible web browser, and an Internet connection, users will now easily be able to:

-- Create documents and spreadsheets, and then manage and access them in a single, secure location

-- Easily collaborate with others, online and in real time

-- Export to and import from a wide variety of file formats

-- Share them with others as view-only

-- Publish them to a blog or as an HTML page

Simply put, Google Docs & Spreadsheets is focused on providing users with an innovative and efficient way to create and share information on the Web.

There are many products in the productivity-software space, addressing a broad range of user needs, and Google Docs & Spreadsheets is intended to both complement these existing solutions and introduce new ones, adding its collaboration and document-management features to the productivity options people already enjoy.

Google Docs & Spreadsheets is currently in beta, available for free, and open for sign-ups. To learn more about the product, visit docs.google.com.

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K-12 Educators Put New Google Resource Center to the Test

Announcement
October 11, 2006

We’ve been hearing stories from classrooms across the US where teachers at all grade levels are using Google products to bring assignments to life, shine light on new sources of information, and encourage sharing and collaboration. What we also heard loud and clear was teachers’ desire for more information about our products and more connections to other educators who are using the web creatively. That’s why we’ve launched a set of resources for K-12 educators today at www.google.com/educators.

A teacher in Virginia uses Picasa with his students to create picture collages of famous Americans. At a school in California, teachers use Google Calendar to schedule events and reserve resources such as the computer lab and projectors. One teacher in Chicago has her students practice graphing data using Google Earth, the spreadsheets in Google Docs & Spreadsheets, and earthquake data from the U.S. Geological Survey. And students across the country completing their English homework on the word processor in Google Docs & Spreadsheets will always be able to find that assignment, no matter what computer they’re working on.

At the new site, you’ll find teachers’ guides for 12 Google products, including basic information about each tool, examples of how educators across the country are using them, and lesson ideas. The featured products are:

• Google web search
• Google Earth
• Google Book Search
• Google Maps
• Google Video
• Google Docs & Spreadsheets
• Blogger
• Google SketchUp
• Google Calendar
• Picasa
• Google Apps for Your Domain
• Google Personalized Homepage

We’re also offering educators some additional multimedia content. We have lesson plans and videos on Google Earth and SketchUp from Discovery Education, and a series of podcasts from WestEd at www.infinitethinking.org that showcase innovative ways to use the web in the classroom.

So much for that "my dog ate my floppy disk" excuse…

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University of Wisconsin-Madison and Google Make Rich Historical Collection Available Online

Announcement
October 11, 2006

If you’re a history buff – whether it’s the history of government, medicine, engineering, or even Wisconsin cheddar – searching for historical information just got a little bit easier, as the University of Wisconsin-Madison becomes the latest library to join the Google Books Library Project.

Together, the UW-Madison and Google will expand access to hundreds of thousands of public and historical materials from the UW-Madison libraries and the Wisconsin Historical Society Library. Some wonderful examples from their collection can be found here: www.news.wisc.edu/newsphotos/libraryGoogle.html.

The combined 7.2 million holdings of these libraries comprise one of the largest collections of historical documents and books to be found in the United States. The collections are ranked 11th in North America by the Association of Research Libraries in Washington, D.C.

"Wisconsin is in a position to take a leading role in making the primary documents of U. S. government history freely accessible on the Internet for anyone to find and use," says UW-Madison Provost Patrick Farrell.

The Wisconsin project will initially focus on library collections that are free of copyright restrictions. An individual looking for information will be able to use Google Book Search to search the full text and locate the printed works digitized from the UW-Madison and WHS collections.

Anyone will be able to freely view, browse, and read the UW-Madison’s public domain documents, including many of the treasures in the libraries’ historic and special collections. For books protected by copyright, users just get basic background (such as the book’s title and the author’s name), at most a few lines of text related to their search, and information about where they can buy or borrow a book. If publishers or authors don’t want to have their books digitized, they will be excluded.

UW-Madison is the latest partner to join the Google Books Library Project, which also includes the University of California, University of Michigan, Harvard University, Stanford University, the New York Public Library, Oxford University and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Google is also conducting a pilot project with the Library of Congress.

The Google Books Library Project digitizes books from major libraries around the world and makes their collections searchable on Google Book Search. More information can be found at: books.google.com.

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Google to Announce Third Quarter 2006 Financial Results

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. October 11, 2006 – Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) today announced that it will hold its quarterly conference call to discuss third quarter 2006 financial results on Thursday, October 19, 2006 at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (4:30 p.m. Eastern Time).

The live webcast of Google’s earnings conference call can be accessed at investor.google.com/webcast. The webcast version of the conference call will be available through the same link following the conference call.

About Google Inc.

Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

Contacts:

Maria Shim
Investor Relations
650-253-7663
marias@google.com

Jon Murchinson
Corporate Communications
650-253-4437
jonm@google.com

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Google Announces Education News at Educause

Announcement
October 10, 2006

This week, at the Educause tradeshow in Dallas, Google is introducing new ways that educational institutions can use Google technologies to power communication, collaboration and search for their campus communities. These updates include new features of Google Apps for Education, as well as new partnerships for our search products.

Since launching Google Apps for Your Domain at the end of August, tens of thousands of businesses and schools have begun using Google’s communication applications for free. The service requires no hardware or software other than a standard internet browser, and the user interfaces can be customized easily by each organization. In one of the largest implementations of Google Apps for Education, starting today Arizona State University will transition the university’s campus community of more than 65,000 students to Google’s customizable email, calendar and instant messaging tools.

At Educause, Google is also announcing the beta release of APIs that make it easier for organizations to integrate their user directory, single sign-on systems, and mail gateways with Google Apps for Education. Schools such as Arizona State University have already integrated into Google Apps for Education through this API.

For more information about Google Apps for Education, visit https://www.google.com/a/edu/.

Finally, Google Enterprise also is announcing today that Blackboard will be the first Google Enterprise Professional partner to focus primarily on the education market. As part of this partnership, Blackboard will help integrate Google enterprise search technology for schools, as well as integrate the Blackboard Learning System with Google Scholar, giving quick and easy access to millions of scholarly references directly from courses within the Blackboard learning environment.

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Real-World News, Musical Notes Define This Week's Google Zeitgeist

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Google Signs Agreement with SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT to Give Users Access to Expansive Catalog of Music Videos

Ad-supported video models give users unparalleled access to SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT’s content online and creates new monetization opportunities

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., and NEW YORK, NY – Oct. 9, 2006 – SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced a strategic business relationship designed to make the music company’s expansive music video collection available for online streaming at no cost to users. Starting this month, users can watch thousands of videos from SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT on Google Video. In the coming months, users will also be able to access content from SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT artists through Google’s partner websites in its AdSense network.

SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, Google and web publishers will now be able to monetize professional video content while respecting copyrights through these video distribution models.

"Google is a defining force in the ongoing development of the Internet, and we’re extremely pleased to be expanding our video relationship with them," commented Thomas Hesse, President, Global Digital Business, SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. "We see this agreement as an important part of our overall strategy to innovate, find new ways for our artists to connect with their fans, and develop new revenue streams. We look forward to working closely with Google as we roll out this ambitious new effort."

"Continuing to give users access to premium online content is a key strategic focus for Google," said David Eun, Google’s vice president of content partnerships. "By combining our network of hundreds of thousands of advertisers, unequaled distribution via our publisher network and high quality content like SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT’s music video library we can meet online user demand, provide advertisers a new way to communicate with their customers and give content holders a way to monetize their content while respecting important copyrights."

Monetizing through Ad-Supported Content

SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT will be able to monetize its music video content online by leveraging Google’s extensive advertiser network of hundreds of thousands of advertisers. SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT’s expansive music video catalog will be sponsored by Google advertisers making it free to all users. The advertising revenue generated will be shared by SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT and Google.

Unmatched Distribution through AdSense Partner Sites

In the coming months, SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT will also work with Google to distribute select videos from its vast archives to websites around the world via Google’s extensive AdSense publisher network, making it even easier for music fans to access streaming premium content while surfing the Web, all at no cost to the user. Web publishers will be able to easily display videos that match the tone of their sites adding value to their online content and creating a new way to earn revenue from their sites. For example, a fan site devoted to a particular artist can run ad-supported music videos from that artist. Each time a user is interested in the accompanying ad and clicks on the video, the web publisher, SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, and Google accrue revenue.

Facilitating User-Generated Content

SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT and Google will also work together to create a groundbreaking new service that will allow music fans to access user-created music video content featuring certain material from SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT’s library of recorded music, while at the same time respecting the rights of artists and copyright holders.

About SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT is a global recorded music joint venture with a roster of current artists that includes a broad array of both local artists and international superstars, as well as a vast catalog that comprises some of the most important recordings in history. SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT is 50% owned by Bertelsmann A.G. and 50% owned by Sony Corporation of America.

About Google Inc.

Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

Press Contacts:

Jennifer Hakes
Google
650.253.1894
jhakes@google.com

John McKay
Sony BMG Music Entertainment
212.833.5520
john.mckay@sonybmg.com

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Google and Warner Music Group Announce Agreement to Offer Google Video Users WMG’s Music Video Content

Ad-supported video model provides Warner Music Group with content monetization opportunities and unmatched distribution in the online world Google developing technology to enable user-generated content

NEW YORK, N.Y. and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Oct. 9, 2006 – Warner Music Group Corp. (NYSE: WMG) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced a strategic business relationship designed to give Google users the ability to stream on-demand WMG’s extensive music video collection for free, through an ad-supported revenue sharing agreement, or to purchase videos online for download. Starting this month, users in the U.S. can watch any of the thousands of music videos, artist interviews, "behind-the-scenes" footage and other artist-related content from WMG on Google Video. In the coming months, users can also access audio-visual content from WMG through Google’s partner websites in its AdSense network. In addition, Google will develop technology that, when implemented, will enable users to include certain content from companies such as Warner Music Group in the videos they create and upload to Google Video.

"Our partnership with Google is rooted in the pioneering approach we’ve used to offer fans more music, while benefiting artists and protecting copyrights," said Alex Zubillaga, Warner Music Group’s Executive Vice President, Digital Strategy and Business Development. "Viewing the online world as a significant opportunity, we are transforming Warner Music from a traditional ‘songs-and-records’ company into one that delivers rich music-based content on multiple platforms, in a variety of ways. We are proud to partner with an online innovator like Google to further our efforts in this space and we are gratified to see that other major music and technology companies are beginning to embrace these new models as well."

"In support of our mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful, we’re excited to organize and make available to Google Video users the music video library of Warner Music Group," said David Eun, Google’s vice president of content partnerships. "This agreement also allows us to realize a threefold goal of meeting online user demand, providing advertisers with a new way to communicate with their customers, and giving content holders a way to monetize their content; we achieve this by combining Google’s network of hundreds of thousands of advertisers, unparalleled distribution via our publisher network and high quality content like Warner Music Group’s music-video library. At the same time, this agreement is a highly visible platform to highlight our continued commitment to protecting copyrights."

Monetizing through Ad-Supported Content

WMG will be able to monetize its music video content online by leveraging Google’s extensive advertiser network of hundreds of thousands of advertisers. WMG’s music video catalog will be sponsored by Google advertisers, making it free to all users. The resulting generated advertising revenue will be shared by WMG and Google. Besides providing ad-supported content on Google Video, select WMG’s music videos will immediately be available for purchase as downloads on Google Video for $1.99.

Unmatched Distribution through AdSense Partner Sites

In the coming months, WMG will also work with Google to distribute its substantial video collection to websites around the world via Google’s extensive AdSense publisher network, making it even easier for users to access free premium content while surfing the Web. Web publishers will be able to easily display videos that match the tone of their sites adding value to their online content and creating a new way to earn revenue from their sites. For example, a fan site devoted to a particular WMG artist can run ad-supported music videos from that artist. Each time a user is interested in the accompanying ad and clicks on the link, the Web publisher, WMG and Google will share in the resulting revenue.

Facilitating User-Generated Content

WMG and Google are working together to allow users access to music from WMG’s recorded music library for use in their creative user-generated productions. Once Google’s technology is implemented, content companies such as Warner Music Group will have the opportunity to monetize the use of music in user-generated content, or if they choose, have the content removed from the platform.

About Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) became the only stand-alone music company to be publicly traded in the United States in May 2005. With its broad roster of new stars and legendary artists, Warner Music Group is home to a collection of the best-known record labels in the music industry including Atlantic, Bad Boy, Elektra, Lava, Maverick, Nonesuch, Reprise, Rhino, Rykodisc, Sire, Warner Bros. and Word. Warner Music International, a leading company in national and international repertoire operates through numerous international affiliates and licensees in more than 50 countries. Warner Music Group also includes Warner/Chappell Music, one of the world’s leading music publishers. For more information, visit www.wmg.com.

About Google Inc.

Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

Press Contacts:

Jennifer Hakes
Google
650.253.1894
jhakes@google.com

Will Tanous
Warner Music Group
(212) 275-2244
will.tanous@wmg.com

Amanda Collins
Warner Music Group
(212) 275-2213
amanda.collins@wmg.com

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Google To Acquire YouTube for $1.65 Billion in Stock

Combination Will Create New Opportunities for Users and Content Owners Everywhere

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., October 9, 2006 – Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that it has agreed to acquire YouTube, the consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos through a Web experience, for $1.65 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction. Following the acquisition, YouTube will operate independently to preserve its successful brand and passionate community.

The acquisition combines one of the largest and fastest growing online video entertainment communities with Google’s expertise in organizing information and creating new models for advertising on the Internet. The combined companies will focus on providing a better, more comprehensive experience for users interested in uploading, watching and sharing videos, and will offer new opportunities for professional content owners to distribute their work to reach a vast new audience.

"The YouTube team has built an exciting and powerful media platform that complements Google’s mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful," said Eric Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer of Google. "Our companies share similar values; we both always put our users first and are committed to innovating to improve their experience. Together, we are natural partners to offer a compelling media entertainment service to users, content owners and advertisers."

"Our community has played a vital role in changing the way that people consume media, creating a new clip culture. By joining forces with Google, we can benefit from its global reach and technology leadership to deliver a more comprehensive entertainment experience for our users and to create new opportunities for our partners," said Chad Hurley, CEO and Co-Founder of YouTube. "I’m confident that with this partnership we’ll have the flexibility and resources needed to pursue our goal of building the next-generation platform for serving media worldwide."

When the acquisition is complete, YouTube will retain its distinct brand identity, strengthening and complementing Google’s own fast-growing video business. YouTube will continue to be based in San Bruno, CA, and all YouTube employees will remain with the company. With Google’s technology, advertiser relationships and global reach, YouTube will continue to build on its success as one of the world’s most popular services for video entertainment.

The number of Google shares to be issued in the transaction will be determined based on the 30-day average closing price two trading days prior to the completion of the acquisition. Both companies have approved the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Webcast and Conference Call Information

The company will host a conference call and webcast at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (4:30 p.m. Eastern Time) today to discuss the acquisition. To access the conference call, please dial 800-289-0572 domestic and 913-981-5543 internationally. A replay of the call will be available until midnight Monday, October 16 at 888-203-1112 domestically and 719-457-0820 internationally. Confirmation code for the replay is 2260624.

A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available at investor.google.com/webcast.html.

About Google Inc.

Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

About YouTube

Founded in February 2005, YouTube is a consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience. YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video clips on www.YouTube.comand across the Internet through websites, blogs, and e-mail. YouTube currently delivers more than 100 million video views every day with 65,000 new videos uploaded daily and it has quickly become the leading destination on the Internet for video entertainment.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This document includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding Google’s and YouTube’s ability to improve their services, create new business models and content-owner opportunities, integration plans, the expected timing for the closing of the acquisition and the plans to operate YouTube independently. These statements are based on the current expectations or beliefs of management of Google Inc., and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the statements herein due to (1) changes in economic, business, competitive, technological and/or regulatory factors, (2) failure to receive regulatory approval for the acquisition, (3) failure to retain the levels of traffic on the YouTube site, (4) failure to compete successfully in this highly competitive and rapidly changing marketplace, (5) failure to retain key employees, (6) other factors affecting the operation of the respective businesses of Google and YouTube, and (7) the failure of YouTube and Google to work together effectively. More detailed information about these factors may be found in filings by Google, as applicable, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including their respective most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Google is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter their respective forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Press Contacts:

Google Media:
Jon Murchinson
650.253.4437
jonm@google.com

Investors:
Maria Shim
650.253.7663
marias@google.com

YouTube Media:
Julie Supan
650.685.6401
press@youtube.com

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Google Code Search

Announcement
October 5, 2006

Furthering Google’s commitment to building innovative tools and services for the developer community, today Google launched Google Code Search. Google Code Search enables professional programmers, computer science students and code enthusiasts alike the ability to search over billions of lines of the world’s publicly accessible source code. This makes it easier for developers to find sample code and obscure function definitions, which will help them discover code they didn’t know about and increase collaboration within the developer community.

Google Code Search makes public source code accessible that historically has been difficult to find in web search. By crawling data that web search crawlers usually ignore – such as .zip files and source code repositories like CVS and Subversion – we are able to connect users to information that has previously been difficult to access.

For precise searching, users can restrict search queries by programming language, software license, or to a specific software package. Google Code Search also supports advanced regular expression searches, which are way to match patterns of words or characters rather than simple keywords.

Google Code search is available at www.google.com/codesearch and on Google Labs, a showcase of a few of our favorite ideas that aren’t quite ready for prime time. We look forward to hearing how this product can be enhanced and improved to better serve our user’s needs.

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The Literacy Project – a resource for literacy organisations, educators, and anyone interested in reading

Announcement
October 4, 2006

Each year at the beginning of October, thousands of publishers, authors, and book lovers gather in Frankfurt, Germany for the world’s largest book fair. What better place, then, to launch "The Literacy Project" – a resource for teachers, literacy organisations and anyone interested in reading promotion and education, created in collaboration with the Frankfurt Book Fair literacy campaign (LitCam), and UNESCO’s Institute for Lifelong Learning.

As a problem that touches all countries and populations, there’s a pressing need to share ideas, successful projects, information, and statistics about literacy – as well as find new ways to collaborate. Google believes that the Internet can be a powerful tool in connecting the organisations leading this fight. The more people that have access to reading tools, project ideas, and resources, the further we will go in combating this problem.

From Bollywood-inspired e-learning tools and book clubs, to classic children’s books and scholarly articles about phonological awareness – users can find books, videos, articles, blogs, and groups about literacy, as well as share all of their own ideas and projects.

• Books: find and search within books about literacy, reading promotion, and education.
• Academic Texts: search for literacy-related content in peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations.
• Video: See what literacy organisations, schools, and educators around the world are doing to promote literacy – or share your own project with the world.
• Blogs: Share your knowledge and ideas about literacy with the world by creating a "blog" – short articles and stories that you write for others to read.
• Groups: Discover forums on literacy projects and ideas or start your own debate.
• Maps: From Kenya to Bangladesh, Canada to Mexico. Find literacy organisations around the world.

For more information about the site go to: google.com/literacy

QUOTES

"Litcam is excited to have partnered with Google on this site. A global problem deserves a global solution, and we believe that cooperation and the sharing of best practices is key in the fight against illiteracy."
— Karin Plötz, Director of Education for the Future, LitCam

"Education for All is UNESCO’s first priority. Literacy is at the heart of Education for All and is an issue of vital importance for individuals, families, communities and societies. Literacy and Basic Education give individuals chances to succeed, open a world of limitless opportunities, contribute to equality, improve health and economic self-sufficiency. The aim of this site reflects one of the key missions of UNESCO, and in particular of its Institute for Lifelong Learning: to encourage the promotion of literacy around the world to build capacity and to enhance access to information about the issue."
— Adama Ouane, Director, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL)

"Literacy changes lives. The new Google literacy site is a brilliant opportunity for literacy organisations around the world to share imaginative ideas and research about what really works. The opportunity to view videos showing how to engage a wide range of audiences to help raise standards is inspiring. We hope all relevant organisations and interested individuals will not only use the site but contribute to it. Together we can help to get the whole world reading, writing and communicating."
— Julia Strong, Deputy Director, National Literacy Trust

"Booktrust exists to encourage people of all ages and cultures to discover and enjoy reading. This new site could be a powerful tool for sharing information and ideas to improve literacy and encourage access to books across the planet – we’re very pleased to be involved."
— Chris Meade, Director, Booktrust

"The Literacy Project has great potential to improve literacy and promote reading for pleasure and I welcome this exciting new initiative."
— Lord Andrew Adonis, UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools

"In India, PlanetRead’s Same Language Subtitling programme enhances the entertainment value of Bollywood film songs while providing subconscious reading practice literally, for over two hundred million early-literates. The Google-Litcam Literacy Project presents a fascinating opportunity for PlanetRead to partner with literacy groups around the world who understand the power of a song… or even a story."
— Dr. Brij Kothari, Founder and President, PlanetRead & BookBox, Inc.

"Only with combined efforts will we have the opportunity to fight illiteracy effectively. This initiative is a great move in that direction."
— Ulrich Aengevoort, Director of The German Adult Education Association

"Fighting illiteracy is all about communication. Communication to get rid of the taboo, communication to raise awareness and communication so that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but make the wheel turn faster. Therefore I’m really happy with The Literacy Project. It gives us the chance to share our ideas and research but also to learn from and be inspired by other organisations in the world. After all, we can only fight illiteracy effectively if we work together."
— Margreet de Vries, Director, Stichting Lezen & Schrijven, the Netherlands

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Now You Can Have Google Gadgets on Your Webpage

Announcement
October 3, 2006

Google Gadgets for your webpage can help make a site dynamic and rich with content. Google Gadgets, which have long been available for users to add to the Google homepage and Google Desktop, are now available for webpage owners to add to their own webpages.

Google Gadgets are miniature-sized objects that offer cool and dynamic content that can be placed on any page on the web. A directory of "Google Gadgets for your webpage" is now available for webpage owners everywhere to browse and select gadgets for their own pages, at www.google.com/ig/directory?synd=open.

"Now anyone can have a great-looking website with automatically updating content," said Adam Sah, Google Gadgets Architect. "By making Google Gadgets available for you to add to your webpage, we’re working to connect developers with enthusiastic consumers and to make information universally accessible and useful to the individual user."

With almost no effort and at no cost, webpage owners can add complex, dynamically updating content to their own websites using Google Gadgets. Because there is such an enormous variety of Google Gadgets to choose from, webmasters also have a great deal of freedom to select only the gadgets that will best complement their own page. There are games, news clips, weather reports, maps, and more.

For example, let’s say you are in charge of your club soccer team’s website, and you want to add a current weather forecast so your fans can plan for your games or you want to include a daily brainteaser on your site without having to come up with something new everyday. Google Gadgets lets you do this easily. Just visit the directory of "Google Gadgets for your webpage" to find gadgets that you’d like to add to your own page and select your preferences for how the gadget will appear on your page. Then, copy and paste the HTML from the window into the HTML code for your own website. It’s an easy way to get the content you need and want without spending hours writing code!

For developers of universal gadgets, Google’s making the gadgets available to webpage owners everywhere presents an opportunity for a much larger audience than ever before. We’re always looking for great new gadgets so check out code.google.com/apis/gadgets/ to learn more about creating them.

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Color Commentary On Celebrity, News Encompass Weekly Google Zeitgeist

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