Steve Bryant

Lesson #1 in brand management: It’s harder than you think. I was just messing around with Google Web History and the Google Toolbar, and both products still list “Froogle” as options. That’s Froogle, which was recently “rebranded” as Google Product Search. Not a big deal. But still. Google, you need to manage your product name […]

In the same week that Google pre-announced a new slideshow application, the company acquired Sweden-based Marratech, a maker of e-meeting software. Marratech’s software is for download instead of browser-based, and users can use text chat, VOIP and video and share applications. With the acquisition, Google is undoubtedly continuing to target the office market. Not sure […]

Three consumer advocate groups, including The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) and the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups (US PIRG) filed an FTC complaint today objecting to Google’s proposed $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick. “Google will operate with virtually no legal obligation to ensure the privacy, security […]

Google is being sued by a software company for allegedly infringing on a patent for enhanced hyperlinks, Google Watch has learned. iLor, LLC, a Kentucky-based software company, filed suit against Google on Tuesday, arguing the search company was infringing on a patent titled, “method for adding a user selectable function to a hyperlink.” iLor is […]

At first it didn’t quite make sense to me why eBay would want to acquire StumbleUpon. eBay does auctions and sales. StumbleUpon does random entertainment. At least, that’s the way I used the two sites. But then, of course, I remembered that StumbleUpon is basically just a huge database full of associated interests. It’s kinda […]

Google announced today the impending release of Google Presentations, a slide show application that will be included with Google Docs and Spreadsheets. The app is based on technology from Tonic Systems, which Google has just acquired. Tonic Systems is based in San Francisco and Melbourne, Australia. Google swears (swears!) that its productivity software isn’t meant […]

YouTube is very close to implementing a filter for copyrighted material, Google CEO Eric Schmidt told the NAB conference on Monday. The new system, called Claim Your Content, will automatically identify copyright material so that it can be removed. “We are very close to turning this on,” Schmidt said. Well that’s a good thing for […]

You know those irksome video ads that autoplay without sound when you load a page? DoubleClick serves a lot of those. And a few weeks ago DoubleClick released some market research confirming that viewers interact with video ads more often than they interact with static banners. Google, no doubt, is interested in the research. DoubleClick […]

Google has reached a multi-year agreement to sell ads on almost 5 percent of Clear Channel’s inventory, reports The New York Times. The partnership extends Google’s reach into premium ad inventory and bolsters Google’s formerly paltry remnant inventory on about 800 stations in 200 metro areas. Analysts have long believed there was interest in a […]

Google CEO Eric Schmidt dismissed Microsoft’s concerns that purchasing Doubleclick would stifle competition. “We’ve studied this closely, and their claims, as stated, are not true,” Schmidt told the New York Times. Not true? How can that be? After all, Google controls more than 60 percent of the search market and as of last year was […]

Maps wasn’t the only piece of Google software to get an update recently. The G Poppa has also added hiking trails to Google Earth. The new layer, sponsored by Trimble Outdoors Trips, features GPS-marked trails for hiking, biking, backpacking and running, including directions to trailheads, difficulty rankings, and sites of note. Some legs also include […]

Just noticed a little note on the Google Enterprise blog urging enterprise developers to attend Google Developer Day on May 31. Why? “Well we continue to see a trend where enterprises are embracing new technologies and systems that have roots in consumer-based applications. We’d certainly like to think that our enterprise products, which are rooted […]