Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL)

Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL)

Postby kennynah » Tue May 20, 2008 8:59 am

20 May 2008

Google makes health service publicly available

NEW YORK (AP) - Google's online filing cabinet for medical records opened to the public Monday, giving users instant electronic access to their health histories and worrying a privacy advocate.

Called Google Health, the service lets users link information from a handful of pharmacies and care providers, including Quest Diagnostics labs. Google plans to add more.

Similar offerings include Microsoft Corp.'s HealthVault and Revolution Health, which is backed by AOL co-founder Steve Case.

Google Health differentiates itself from the pack through its user interface and things like the public availability of its application program interface, or API, said Marissa Mayer, the Google executive overseeing the service.

Mary Adams, 45, a Cleveland Clinic patient who participated in the Google Health pilot, said that she was initially concerned about the privacy of her medical information.

Still, she felt safe enough to enroll and has been using the service for about six months, linking it with an online health management tool from the Cleveland Clinic and adding information on prescriptions and doctors to her online profile.

"I hate pieces of paper lying around my house, so I love the fact that i can log on with my normal Google login info and see everything at a glance," she said, adding that with its public availability she'll try to get her sister to use it.

The service, still a non-final "beta" version, does not include ads. But Mayer said Google doesn't plan to start placing them to support the site. A search box on Google Health pages leads to standard Google search results pages, where there are advertisements.

Besides importing records from providers, users can enhance their password-protected profiles with details such as allergies and medications, they can search for doctors and they can locate Web-based health-related tools.

Mountain View-based Google Inc. views its expansion into health records management as logical because its search engine already processes millions of requests from people trying to find information about injuries, illnesses and recommended treatments.

Before this public launch, Google stored medical records for a few thousand patient volunteers at the nonprofit Cleveland Clinic.

The health venture provides fodder for privacy watchdogs who believe Google already has too much about the interests and habits of its users in its logs of search requests and its vaults of e-mail archives.

Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, said services like Google Health are troublesome because they aren't covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA.

Dixon's group issued a cautionary report on the topic in February on such third-party services.

Passed in 1996, HIPAA set strict standards for the security of medical records. Among other things, the law requires anyone seeking a patient's records by subpoena to notify the patient and give the patient an opportunity to fight the request.

By transferring records to an external service, patients could unwittingly make it easier for the government, a legal adversary or a marketing concern to obtain private information, Dixon said.

"We are in uncharted territory here. A privacy policy, I don't think, is enough to protect what needs to be protected in a doctor-patient record," Dixon said.

Mayer said, however, that users medical records "are generally speaking as safe with Google as they would be with a HIPAA-regulated entity."

During a webcast Monday, she said users' health information is stored at Google's "highest level of security" on computers that are more secure than those used for the company's search functions.

Mayer said in an interview with The Associated Press that Google will not aggregate users' health information across services so activity on the health service will not show up in search results.
Options Strategies & Discussions .(Trading Discipline : The Science of Constantly Acting on Knowledge Consistently - kennynah).Investment Strategies & Ideas

Image..................................................................<A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control-Proverbs 29:11>.................................................................Image
User avatar
kennynah
Lord of the Lew Lian
 
Posts: 16005
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 2:00 am
Location: everywhere.. and nowhere..

Re: Google GOOG

Postby kennynah » Fri May 23, 2008 1:41 am

22 May 2008 17:38 GMT
ComScore: Google's April US search share rose

RESTON, Va. (AP) - Google Inc.'s share of the U.S. online search market rose in April while Yahoo Inc.'s share declined, according to estimates released by ComScore Inc. on Thursday.

ComScore's most recent search report concluded that nearly 62 percent of searches performed in the U.S. in April, or 6.5 billion, were conducted on Google sites, compared with about 60 percent, or 6.4 billion, in March.

The report indicated that more than 20 percent of U.S. searches, or 2.2 billion, were conducted on Yahoo Inc. sites, a drop from more than 21 percent, or 2.3 billion, in March.

Searches through Microsoft Corp., Time Warner Inc.'s AOL LLC and IAC/InterActiveCorp's Ask.com all showed slight declines: Microsoft sites captured about 9 percent of searches, or 961 million, in March. AOL had nearly 5 percent, or 491 million, while Ask had more than 4 percent, or 458 million.

The search report is based on the five major search engines, taking into account partner searches and cross-channel searches. It excludes searches for mapping, local directory and user-generated video sites. While these measures are good as a gauge, they do rely heavily on online recruitment techniques dismissed by other more traditional pollsters. ComScore's data is closely watched by analysts and investors, but the company recently took heat for a separate report on paid search clicks, which relies on a similar panel as the data on search market share.

Wall Street's concerns that the faltering U.S. economy could bog down Google resulted largely from investors and analysts reading too much into the data. Google wound up surpassing the analysts' predictions in producing a first-quarter profit increase of 30 percent.
Options Strategies & Discussions .(Trading Discipline : The Science of Constantly Acting on Knowledge Consistently - kennynah).Investment Strategies & Ideas

Image..................................................................<A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control-Proverbs 29:11>.................................................................Image
User avatar
kennynah
Lord of the Lew Lian
 
Posts: 16005
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 2:00 am
Location: everywhere.. and nowhere..

Re: Google GOOG

Postby kennynah » Fri May 23, 2008 3:08 am

22 May 2008 18:36 GMT
Page: Google-Yahoo deal can clear antitrust wall



WASHINGTON (AP) - Google billionaire co-founder Larry Page said Thursday the Internet search leader opposed a Microsoft-Yahoo deal because it would monopolize the online communications market, stifle innovation and curb competition.

But he discounted the idea that an advertising deal between Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. -- one the two companies are now exploring -- would present any potential antitrust problems.

In a rare visit to the nation's capital, Page spoke at a forum sponsored by the New American Foundation think tank about expanding affordable access to high-speed Internet service and opening up cellular networks to more applications, services and devices.

The territory was friendly as Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt was recently elected chairman of think tank, which counts telecommunications and technology policy in its varied body of work. Schmidt, a board member since 1999, was not at the talk.

Page said a successful Microsoft-Yahoo deal would have closed "a lot of things that are really important ... like instant messaging."

Microsoft Corp. had sought to buy Yahoo for $47.5 billion as a way to counter Google Inc.'s dominance in the search and advertising market, but recently broke off talks.

"Now, if you put 90 percent of the communications all in one company ... that's really a big risk, especially one (Microsoft) that has a history of doing bad stuff," he said.

Court oversight of Microsoft's market power began in 2002 after an antitrust settlement was reached among Microsoft, the federal government and 17 states, barring the software maker from seeking deals with computer makers to exclude rival software. It was intended to also keep the company from using its operating system monopoly to hinder competition in other products. Microsoft also faces scrutiny in the European Union, where regulators have opened two antitrust probes.

Google and Yahoo are exploring a long-term alliance to show Google ads alongside Yahoo search results after a two-week trial last month showed Google's technology could help boost Yahoo's profits.

Antitrust obstacles can't be ruled out, as the two companies control more than 80 percent of the U.S. search advertising market.

While he said Google has a large advertising share, "there are ways in which to structure a deal with Yahoo that will be reasonable ... especially given the alternatives they have, which aren't great either."

Page also made the white-space case, talking up Google's push to use fallow TV airwaves, or so-called white spaces, for affordable broadband service and other similar initiatives. He also said Google is participating in a government spectrum auction to open up cellular networks to more devices, applications and services.

Google strongly supports such initiatives, he said, because it would increase competition, spur better innovative products and provide more Internet access, generating greater revenue for the Mountain View, Calif.-based company.

Michael Calabrese, a vice president with the think tank, earlier said the Google co-founder met with lawmakers and Federal Communications Commission officials, but Page later declined to give disclose any names or any details of his Washington itinerary.
Options Strategies & Discussions .(Trading Discipline : The Science of Constantly Acting on Knowledge Consistently - kennynah).Investment Strategies & Ideas

Image..................................................................<A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control-Proverbs 29:11>.................................................................Image
User avatar
kennynah
Lord of the Lew Lian
 
Posts: 16005
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 2:00 am
Location: everywhere.. and nowhere..

Re: Google GOOG

Postby blid2def » Sun Jun 01, 2008 4:57 pm

Starting okay okay... but stay for the last part - where he shows off the "built-in compass".

Embedded videos have been disabled.
Click to view video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOSk9TW7z-4&NR=1

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_9412566

Those who believe that Android will take off with mobile phone makers might be interested in Synaptics ([symbol]SYNA[/symbol]), a maker of touch screens.
blid2def
Permanent Loafer
 
Posts: 2344
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 7:03 pm

Re: Google GOOG

Postby millionairemind » Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:47 am

Whenever Google announces a foray into some arena, it scares the sh*t out of the competitors.. reminds me of Microsoft back in the 90s.

July 10, 2008
Google Launches 'Lively,' Challenges Second Life Leadership in Virtual World
By Susan J. Campbell
TMCnet Contributing Editor
With its continued success in dominating the Internet, Google (News - Alert) has dipped its virtual hands into another venue in what appears to be an attempt to match the popularity and revenue potential of Second Life from Linden Labs.

The search giant on Tuesday launched a three-dimensional virtual experience Web site to enable effective competition with the popular virtual world of Second Life. Called “Lively,” the service uses real-time virtual world characters known as avatars and three-dimensional graphics that allow these avatars to congregate in virtual rooms.

With its launch five years ago, Second Life was the first online community with its own currency and a growing economy. Beyond cultivating a sizable consumer user base, Second Life has also become a strategic tool used by enterprises seeking to recruit or communicate with the public.

On Google’s official blog, Niniane Wang, the development manager for the creation of Lively wrote: "If you enter a Lively room embedded on your favorite blog or Web site, you can immediately get a sense of the room creator's interests, just by looking at the furniture and environment they chose."

One hook offered by Lively that Second Life cannot match is the playing of YouTube (News - Alert) videos in virtual TVs and the showing of photos in virtual picture frames inside the rooms. To make all of this technology a “virtual” reality, Google worked closely with Arizona State University.

Beyond the attraction that such sites present to the average consumer, larger corporations are also taking notice of their appeal. Socialtext’s next press release is slated to be a virtual event on World of Warcraft (WoW). While this move is somewhat of a parody of the trendy idea of companies hosting events on such sites, it can also prove to be lucrative, maximizing on the potential reach.

While some companies have jumped on this bandwagon in an effort to be cool, there is significant opportunity for collaboration in the virtual world. Companies such as Sun and IBM (News - Alert) have recently held press conferences, meetings with financial analysts and brainstorming sessions in virtual worlds such as Second Life and WoW.

IBM has even gone so far as to invest $10 million just to see what kind of collaboration tools it can develop within Second Life and other virtual worlds. Brands such as Nike and General Motors (News - Alert) have also established a presence on Second Life and Reuters has set up a news bureau to report on events “in-world”


While it is still unclear as to whether these virtual worlds are a vital tool that will evolve and continue to deliver benefits or if it is just another passing fad. The reality is that Second Life has found a significant following. Lively may present some competition in this area, but it will have to get more innovative than just its YouTube offering to effectively compete.
"If a speculator is correct half of the time, he is hitting a good average. Even being right 3 or 4 times out of 10 should yield a person a fortune if he has the sense to cut his losses quickly on the ventures where he has been wrong" - Bernard Baruch

Disclaimer - The author may at times own some of the stocks mentioned in this forum. All discussions are NOT to be construed as buy/sell recommendations. Readers are advised to do their own research and analysis.
User avatar
millionairemind
Big Boss
 
Posts: 8183
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 8:50 am
Location: The Matrix

Re: Google GOOG

Postby millionairemind » Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:48 pm

This piece of news might be relevant here...

Advertising budgets slashed at fastest rate since 9/11
By Darren Davidson
Last Updated: 12:47am BST 14/07/2008

Poor sales on the high street and mounting gloom about prospects for the rest of the year prompted companies to cut advertising budgets in the second quarter of 2008 at the fastest rate since the September 11 terrorist attacks seven years ago.

According to the latest Bellwether Report, a key indicator of economic health published by the Institute of Practioners in Advertising (IPA), the grim outlook is likely to get worse before it gets better.

The trade body is forecasting further cuts in budgets later this year, brought on by the low levels of corporate profitability compared with 2007.
It is the latest in a series of bleak forecasts. Yesterday, accountants Ernst & Young reported that profit warnings for the second quarter hit 98, the highest second-quarter figure since 2001. Last week, job cuts in the housebuilding industry topped 5,000.

The report, which surveys around 250 marketing professionals, found all sectors of the industry experienced cuts except internet spend.

While internet budgets rose, the increase was the smallest since 2002. Only 15pc of companies reported an increase in total marketing budgets, while 27pc reported a decrease.

Chris Williamson, author of the Bellwether Report, said: "This raises the possibility that marketing spend could fall this year for the first time since the survey began in 2000."
"If a speculator is correct half of the time, he is hitting a good average. Even being right 3 or 4 times out of 10 should yield a person a fortune if he has the sense to cut his losses quickly on the ventures where he has been wrong" - Bernard Baruch

Disclaimer - The author may at times own some of the stocks mentioned in this forum. All discussions are NOT to be construed as buy/sell recommendations. Readers are advised to do their own research and analysis.
User avatar
millionairemind
Big Boss
 
Posts: 8183
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 8:50 am
Location: The Matrix

Re: Google GOOG

Postby 8percentpa » Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:17 pm

millionairemind wrote:Whenever Google announces a foray into some arena, it scares the sh*t out of the competitors.. reminds me of Microsoft back in the 90s.


Yeah, which also reminds one how most Internet/tech co. will evolve into. MSFT never really got anywhere else outside of Windows, same with Yahoo!, and Amazon, and ebay etc. The only one that truly evolved is Apple. But then again, what is it gotta be after iPhone and Macbook Air? I wonder how many rabbits Steve Jobs can pull of out the hat...
I belong to a group of investors believing in obscure stuff like value-for-money, contrarian thinking, mean reversion etc. My blog at
http://8percentpa.blogspot.com
8percentpa
Loafer
 
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 9:06 am

Re: Google GOOG

Postby kennynah » Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:25 pm

iTV....perhaps....just TOL....
Options Strategies & Discussions .(Trading Discipline : The Science of Constantly Acting on Knowledge Consistently - kennynah).Investment Strategies & Ideas

Image..................................................................<A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control-Proverbs 29:11>.................................................................Image
User avatar
kennynah
Lord of the Lew Lian
 
Posts: 16005
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 2:00 am
Location: everywhere.. and nowhere..

Re: Google GOOG

Postby millionairemind » Fri Jul 18, 2008 7:37 am

Tonight it is going to look ugly for TECHS... both MSFT and GOOG reported poor earnings. GOOG is down $41 in after hrs trade

Google Declines as Second-Quarter Profit Trails Estimates

By Crayton Harrison

July 17 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc. fell as much as 12 percent in late trading after reporting earnings that missed analysts' estimates on an unexpected surge in spending on new projects.

The owner of the world's most popular Web-search engine dropped to $470.55, the lowest level in three months. Excluding costs such as stock-based compensation, profit amounted to $4.63 a share, trailing the $4.73 average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Research spending climbed 65 percent, sparking investor ire because Google is boosting the budget as the economy slows and concern about demand for Internet advertising is spreading. Today, Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said for the first time the company faces ``a more challenging economic environment.''

``Very likely Google spent their earnings, raising headcount and doing other things that penalized the bottom line,'' Solaris Asset Management Chief Investment Officer Timothy Ghriskey told Bloomberg Radio. He also said the company missed growth estimates for clicks on ads. Clicks climbed 19 percent, decelerating from growth of 47 percent in the year-earlier period.

Google, based in Mountain View, California, fell in after- hours trading after closing at $533.44 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. If the decline holds when the market opens tomorrow, that would be the largest drop since the 2004 initial public offering.

This is only the third time Google has missed projections in 16 quarters as a public company. Net income rose to $1.25 billion, or $3.92 a share, from $925 million, or $2.93, a year earlier, the company said today in a statement. Sales excluding revenue from partner sites climbed 43 percent to $3.9 billion. Google doesn't provide forecasts.

``Strong international growth as well as sustained traffic increases on Google's web properties propelled us to another strong quarter, despite a more challenging economic environment,'' Schmidt said in the statement.

While Schmidt didn't say Google was hurt by the economic slowdown, analysts including Stanford Group Co.'s Clayton Moran said this is the first time the company had acknowledged the challenging economy.

In April, Schmidt told analysts that Google would keep winning clients if the economy slowed because its technology can deliver ads to users based on their queries, unlike other forms of advertising that can't pinpoint who views them. He said then that he didn't see an impact on results.

Economists on average estimate the U.S. economy expanded 1.2 percent last quarter, compared with 3.8 percent a year ago and 1 percent the previous quarter. First-time jobless claims rose last week to 366,000 as the U.S. housing market, tightening credit and slowing consumer spending combined weighed down growth.

Ad Spending

U.S. ad spending will grow 2 percent this year, down from an earlier forecast of 3.7 percent, New York-based researcher Magna Global said this month. Google, which got more than half its sales from the U.S. last year, is vying with Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft Corp. for customers as advertisers look for the most effective way to spend shrinking budgets.

Google fielded about 62 percent of U.S. Internet searches in May, about double the market share of Yahoo and Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft combined. To take advantage of Google's higher prices, Yahoo Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang struck a deal to let Google sell some ads for his company's search engine, shunning offers from Microsoft to buy all or part of the Sunnyvale, California-based company.

The partnership, under review by the Justice Department and the subject of hearings this week by U.S. lawmakers, may increase prices for Yahoo's search ads by 22 percent, said Roger Barnette, president of SearchIgnite Inc., an Atlanta-based search marketing firm.

Income from interest and other sources fell to $58 million from $167 million the previous quarter and $137 million a year ago. Research costs rose to $673 million, including expenses for stock-based pay.
"If a speculator is correct half of the time, he is hitting a good average. Even being right 3 or 4 times out of 10 should yield a person a fortune if he has the sense to cut his losses quickly on the ventures where he has been wrong" - Bernard Baruch

Disclaimer - The author may at times own some of the stocks mentioned in this forum. All discussions are NOT to be construed as buy/sell recommendations. Readers are advised to do their own research and analysis.
User avatar
millionairemind
Big Boss
 
Posts: 8183
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 8:50 am
Location: The Matrix

Re: Google GOOG

Postby helios » Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:16 am

>>> on google in HK.

Hong Kong - Google has partnered with a number of local players such as the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), OpenRice.com and Hong Kong Tourism Board to launch a new bilingual search platform that enables Hong Kong consumers to find local geographic information.

Dr Lee-Feng Chien, engineering director of R&D for Google Taiwan and Hong Kong said, "This new platform enables local users, businesses, partners and third-party developers to contribute and share their photos and videos about Hong Kong to further enhance the quality of Google Maps, making it the most content-rich and relevant virtual map of Hong Kong."

Google Maps is an open and collaborative platform that allows marketers to utilise certain features like the maps API to enhance customer experience, making websites sticky and creating new business opportunities.

The local business centre feature is also another cost-effective tool particularly for small- to medium-sized companies, for which advertising may be too expensive, to add their business listings on Google Maps Hong Kong for free.

According to Bradford Lee, business development manager, e-commerce for HKTDC, the council has revamped its website this month and repositioned it as a marketplace connecting suppliers and buyers. The suppliers' page on HKTDC website features an interactive Google map that displays over 100,000 Hong Kong companies' location, along with their logos and websites.

Lee said with their suppliers' location displayed in the embedded Google Maps on supplier information page, buyers can easily plan their sourcing trip to visit suppliers in Hong Kong ahead of time.
helios
Permanent Loafer
 
Posts: 3608
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 8:30 am

Next

Return to A to D

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests