Ben Charny

Web developers combining their creations with Google Maps arent a very happy lot any more. The unease has given rise to a new technology package, Pushpin—to be formally introduced April 3—and, if history repeats itself, soon will lead to an entire cottage industry trying to soothe the chapped developer hides. A Googlerepresentative, reached March 31, […]

Google’s begun selling advertising on its maps, as another once ad-free Internet zone falls by the wayside. For now, the ads will be limited to Google Local. But expect more to come. Yahoo is already testing this kind of a feature, so expect something from them soon. And then the rest of the search engine […]

Like the good consumer it is, Google plans to buy, buy, buy, or so it says, after it raises $2.1 billion later this year by selling more shares of Google stock. What are they going to buy? Wal-Mart? No. But Google’s capable of pulling the trigger on some sizable deals, such as the $1 billion […]

Google Finance, a business information Web site, has so far captured just 0.53 percent of the Internet audience for this kind of information, according to a new report from Hitwise, which follows Internet traffic trends. While a miniscule amount when compared to its competitors, the feature’s initial showing is a strong one given how Google […]

Ads will soon appear on maps that accompany Googles local search feature, the Internet search leader announced March 30. The announcement is a sign that Google continues to hunt for new revenue sources. The new ads start out as graphics, shaped like shopping bags, grocery carts, film reels or coffee cups, that appear on the […]

Internet telephony provider JaJah will soon introduce a cell phone version of its features, company co-founder Roman Scharf recently said, as the firm prepares to battle some heavyweight competition. For now, JaJahs veritable Internet phone booth requires a personal computer. But when the mobile version debuts in May, itll be possible to trigger the JaJah […]

As can be seen here, Google has filed plans to sell another 5.3 million shares, valued at about $2 billion. The company plans to use the money it raises through the offering for “general corporate purposes, including working capital and capital expenditures, and possible acquisitions of complementary businesses, technologies or other assets,” it wrote.

Patent trolls everywhere, rejoice. You may have the U.S. Supreme Court in your corner. It appears the high court is hesitant to monkey with existing patent laws and procedures, based on some comments judges made during a March 29 hearing. “I don’t see very many changes,” predicts attorney Robert Yoches, of the law firm Finnegan […]

Google has inched closer to finalizing its deal to buy a 5 percent stake in Time Warner Inc.’s America Online. According to this Google government filing, the companies have signed their definitive agreement, business-speak for they’re getting even closer to completing all the necessary paperwork. The deal’s set to formally close over the next few […]

The question of how to appropriately declaw so-called “patent trolls” took center stage March 29 in an important patent infringement case being argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. Loosely defined, a patent troll is a company that owns a portfolio of technology patents but never manufactures anything or licenses the patents for use by others. […]

Internet phone service provider Skype Technologies said it plans to defend itself against explosive allegations that its technology is actually owned by another company, Streamcast Networks. Skype, owned by eBay, of San Jose, Calif., has been accused of creating a secret shell firm in order to steal away some peer-to-peer technology developed by Streamcast, then […]

(Warning: For now, both Web sites cited in this dispatch seem to be overwhelmed by all the attention.) Here’s a job for you: Saddam Hussein’s editor. The former Iraqi leader needs to punch his stuff up! Try this 2003 letter he wrote on for size: “We have said, since the great military page in the […]