Google in talks for movie rental service

YouTube's fledgling movie rental program may soon be getting some Hollywood muscle in the crowded fight for domination of digital movie and television content distribution. YouTube-parent Google is negotiating with major Hollywood studios to stream movies from their catalogs on a pay-per-view basis by the end of the year, according to a report in the Financial Times. The service is expected to stream movies on demand for $5 each, according to the report, which cited sources with knowledge of Google's plans. A YouTube representative declined to comment, saying: "We have nothing to announce at this time." The move would put Google in competition with Apple and Netflix. Apple is reportedly working on a new digital-video service perhaps tied to a new generation of Apple TV. Netflix earlier this month signed a five-year deal worth nearly $1 billion to stream movies from Paramount, Lionsgate, and MGM. Meanwhile, Hulu, the online video service owned by Walt Disney, News Corp., and NBC Universal, is reportedly considering an initial public offering worth $2 billion. YouTube has long been expected to get into the video-on-demand business, especially since Google removed video content purchases from its (now-defunct) Google Video service at the end of 2007. Google first hinted at its intentions in April 2009 when it announced plans to build payment mechanisms into its video-sharing site. Late last year, reports surfaced that YouTube was in talks with a number of film studios in an attempt to warm them up to the idea of renting out their films on the service. YouTube first delved into rentals in January with a test in conjunction with the Sundance Film Festival, making five films temporarily available for rental. YouTube had said that other films and programs would be made available for rental in the near future but did not name any partners at the time.

Gmail outage blamed on capacity miscalculation

Gmail was down from about 12:30 p.m. PDT Tuesday to about 2:30 p.m. PDT, affecting millions of Gmail customers who depend on the service for everything from fantasy football roster updates to business-critical information. The problem was caused by a classic cascade in which servers became overwhelmed with traffic in rapid succession.

According to Google, the problem began when it took several Gmail servers offline for maintenance, a routine procedure that normally is transparent to users. However, the twist this time around was that Google had made some changes to the routers that direct Gmail traffic to servers in hopes of improving reliability, and those changes backfired.

Google fixed the problem by allocating traffic across the rest of its prodigious network, a luxury that it enjoys given the resources it has put in place to operate the world's leading search engine. But what's next? Google said it would focus on making sure that the request routers have sufficient headroom to handle future spikes in demand, as well as figuring out a way to make sure that problems in one sector can be isolated without bringing down the entire service. "We'll be hard at work over the next few weeks implementing these and other Gmail reliability improvements -- remains more than 99.9% available to all users, and we're committed to keeping events like today's notable for their rarity," Treynor wrote.

With Gmail Offline, Google's Package Is Almost Too Good to Pass Up

Recently, Google began experimenting with a way to make Gmail accessible offline. Download an applet, get yourself synced up, and suddenly you're able to write and read stored mail even when you have no Web access. It's not perfect, but setup is generally smooth and it works well, writes reviewer Jack Germain. After a year in development and testing, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) last month added an offline mail client to provide local access to mail folders when there is no Internet connection.Gmail Offline is still experimental and limited to synchronizing a maximum of 10,000 messages. It does not yet provide offline access to other Google features such as Calendar and Documents, but that capability is rumored to be in the works. It is not yet a perfect solution, but it does work rather well.Gmail Offline makes using the free, Web-based email service more efficient and useful. It solves the nagging problem of not having access to data stored in email folders. Until now, the absence of an offline mail reader has been a major reason for not using Web-based services like Google as a primary email delivery system.The ability to continue work tasks regardless of Internet access puts Google in the forefront of the free Web-based email providers. The addition of the offline email component leaves me with no compelling reason to use other Web-based products such as Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) Mail, Windows Live (aka Hotmail or Messenger Live) or Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Outlook, which is an offline email application.Until Gmail, with its ample gigabytes of online storage, I couldn't see much use for Web-based email in general. However, working on numerous computers in several locations, I can use Web-based email to centralize my email activity. Google's calendar and document storage, along with its latest feature of offline email access, makes the package almost too good to pass up.

Google to release Picasa beta for Mac

Google plans to release on Monday a beta version of Picasa for Mac OS X, helping Apple fans catch up to Windows and Linux users already employing the free tool for editing, cataloging, and uploading photos. The Mac version largely matches the features in Picasa 3 for Windows, said Jason Cook, Picasa's marketing manager. Though the company has been scrambling to include some secondary features such as geotagging and the ability to get photos printed, the core abilities of Picasa are present, he said. Picasa lets people edit and print photos, create collages and movies, and add labels, star ratings, and tags. More significantly, given Google's cloud-computing focus, it also lets people upload their images to the company's online Picasa Web Albums site where images can be shared. Google acquired Picasa in 2004. "We have many Mac users," Cook said, though declining to offer any estimates, "and we think they'll be excited about this. It makes the Picasa Web Albums experience better." Online photo sites are great for several reasons, but problems can arise when people manage separate and different set of images. They often upload only a selection of photos on a PC, for example. Sometimes people upload images to an online site that never make it to the PC. And sometimes people add tags, captions, and titles online but not to the versions on their computers. Picasa takes one important step in dealing with this potential rat's nest: when a person edits a photo on the PC, Picasa updates the version stored online. The reverse isn't true, though, but bidirectional synchronization is "something we're thinking about," Cook said. "We want to make sync as useful as possible." Synchronization with the Mac's bundled iPhoto software is another area where people should tread carefully, though Picasa offers cautionary alerts to try to avert any trouble, Cook said. Picasa for the Mac doesn't interfere with iPhoto, he said, but for example when a person uses Picasa to edit a photo, iPhoto still shows the original, which Picasa preserves. And Picasa will read ratings and tags from iPhoto, but not vice-versa.

Google chat afflicted by spotty service

Google's instant-messaging service suffered intermittent outages Monday, behaving inconsistently for several hours. The issue began about 10:30 a.m. PST and affected a subset of users of both the Web page-based Gmail Chat and the installed Google Talk software, spokesman Andrew Kovacs said. Because of the problem, sometimes when people sent a message they'd get an error message it wasn't sent and the recipient didn't receive it, but often resending the message worked, he said. "This issue has been resolved for most users, and we expect a resolution for all users within the next couple of hours," Kovacs said about three hours after the problem began. Google's core business is in search and advertising, but it's trying to expand to be a fuller-featured Internet destination with Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs, which collectively are offered to paying customers as Google Apps subscriptions. Google offers a service level agreement to those customers.

Google gives Gmail users a to-do list

Google has added a to-do list to Gmail to help users be more productive. When the new Tasks feature is enabled, a box shows up on top of the Gmail window. In it, users can add, reorder, and delete tasks. It's also possible to assign a due date to each action and even convert e-mails into tasks. The feature--announced Monday on a company blog--will also run outside of the e-mail program. Adding items is as simple as clicking on a vacant part of the box and typing. This may sound like a rehash of the many Post-It Note-like programs popular in the mid-'90s, but because most of us have morphed into e-mail junkies, this list is constantly in our face, reminding of things we wanted to get done. Since e-mail is where and how many of us get things done, both in our personal and professional life, why not add a list of things that we may not be able to get done via e-mail, such as a reminder to make dinner reservations? To enable Tasks, go to Settings in the upper right of the Gmail window and click the Labs tab. Click Enable next to the Tasks selection, click Save Changes. After refreshing Gmail, a Tasks link will appear under the Contacts link. Just click that Tasks link and you are ready to be productive.

Google Earth browser plug-in arrives for Mac

Google has released a Mac OS X version of a plug-in that lets people use its Google Earth software as a browser plug-in. The move means a smaller but significant crowd can rely on Web pages that employ the sophisticated aerial viewing options the software provides. But Mac fans should brace themselves for a 47MB download from the Google Earth API page. The size is large because Google provided a universal binary file that runs on both PowerPC-based and Intel-based Macs, a Google representative said in a forum posting about the availability of the Mac version. "There are also some other space-saving changes that we may look into later on," he said, adding that Google plans to mention the software in a forthcoming blog post. Digital Earth Blog, which surfaced the forum post Wednesday, points to a few sites such as EarthSwoop and Mini Flight Sim where people can try the plug-in. In other Mac news, Jason Toff, an associate product marketing manager for the Google Mac Team, announced Wednesday on the Google Mac blog that the Mac-specific Google page is no longer just available in English. The site now works in German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Dutch, and Italian.

Gmail 'vulnerability' turns out to be phishing scam

Reports that a purported Gmail vulnerability was being used by unauthorized third parties to hijack domains turned out to be nothing more than a phishing scam, Google announced Tuesday. The alleged vulnerability reportedly allowed an attacker to set up filters on users' e-mail accounts without their knowledge, according to a proof of concept posted during the weekend on the blog Geek Condition. In the post, Geek Condition's "Brandon" wrote that the vulnerability had caused some people to lose their domain names registered through GoDaddy.com. However, after consulting with those who claimed to be affected by the so-called vulnerability, Google determined that they were victims of a phishing scam, Google information security engineer Chris Evans explained in a blog post: Attackers sent customized e-mail encouraging Web domain owners to visit fraudulent Web sites such as "google-hosts.com" that they set up purely to harvest usernames and passwords. These fake sites had no affiliation with Google, and the ones we've seen are now offline. Once attackers gained the user credentials, they were free to modify the affected accounts as they desired. A Google representative informed ZDNet Asia's sister site CNET News.com Monday that the company was trying contact "Brandon" to get more information on his claim, but there was no word whether that blogger helped Google arrive at its conclusion. As of this writing, the blog had not been updated to mention Google's finding. While this security breach was apparently unrelated to Gmail's operation, Google reminded users to enter Gmail sign-in credentials only at Web addresses starting with "https://www.google.com/accounts", and not to ignore warnings their browsers may raise regarding certificates.

Websense: Google's Orkut being used to spread Trojans

Someone is using Orkut to spread Trojan links in a message disguised as an official e-mail from the Google-owned social network, according to an alert from security firm Websense released Tuesday. The message, written in Portuguese to appeal to Orkut's many Brazilian members, looks like it is sent from an Orkut member who is looking for love, Websense said. "The message contains several links that appear to lead to the official Orkut Web site. Clicking on a link actually leads to a malicious executable file, which is a Trojan Downloader named 'imagem.exe,'" the Websense alert explained. "The malicious file opens the legitimate Orkut network login page, and in the background downloads a password stealing Trojan named 'msn.exe'." The Trojans are hosted on a compromised labor union Web site from southern Brazil, according to Websense. A Google spokesman said the company was investigating the matter. This article first appeared as a blog post on CNET News.com.

Opera Mini 4.2 beta now surfing Google Android

Opera Mini 4.2 beta, a test version released for Java phones just two weeks ago, on Monday became the first third-party browser available for Google Android. Opera Mini for Android, which was previewed in April, includes most of the familiar Mini 4.2 features: zooming, saving, bookmarking, and searching for in-line text has stayed intact, as has syncing via Opera Link and swapping skins. We couldn't make the video playback workaround that debuted on other Java phones work in this build, though T-Mobile's USA's G1 phone does support video playback (see our review on TuneWiki.) We hear that Opera will address this issue when the mobile browser comes out of beta. What's distinctive and commendable of the Android-optimized build: fast speeds over T-Mobile's 3G network, a very crisp display, and quality that approaches the iPhone when it comes to viewing a zoomed-out Web page, thanks to both screen size and image clarity. The G1's two menu keys also enhance the experience, making Opera Mini's controls easy to access and navigate. Google Android was low-hanging fruit for Opera. It would have been better, of course, if the browser had been available when the G1 began selling, but of all third-party developers, Opera still managed to bring its free browser first to Android's market--and a very able version at that. We're hoping that Opera will port its more robust Mobile version to Android next, and as always, that Opera will release a version that lets users type directly into a text field without pulling up an intermediary screen.

Google cutting contractor workforce

Google is in the process of paring back a contractor workforce that numbers about 10,000, the company confirmed Monday. The news, though, isn't as fresh as it might appear at first blush. The contractor cut story made the rounds Monday after publication of a Silicon Valley WebGuild story with the alarming headline of "Google Layoffs - 10,000 Workers Affected." The 10,000 number and Google's efforts to reduce it, though, emerged in October in a San Jose Mercury News story, and it's not clear exactly how many will lose a job. In that article, Google co-founder Sergey Brin revealed the 10,000 number and said, "It's really high." According to the story, "He said Google began looking at the number six months ago and has a plan to significantly reduce that number through vendor management, converting some contractors to regular employees, and other approaches." Google spokeswoman Jane Penner didn't share too many details Monday, such as how many contractors are affected, whether contracts are being canceled or just not renewed, how many contractors Google will hire, and over what time frame the changes will take place. "We have 10,000, and we have had a plan in place for awhile to significantly reduce that number," she said. "This is something we've been thinking about for awhile--six or seven months. It predates the most acute phase of the (present economic) crisis." Google has been slowing hiring and reportedly had 20,123 of its own employees at the end of September. The company has been working to increase revenue from YouTube and other properties, and has shut down projects such as the Lively virtual world and SearchMash experimental search site, which "has gone the way of the dinosaur" according to the page. Layoffs are of course spreading across the world, including at direct Google competitors such as Yahoo, but Google gets more attention than most. For one thing, Google is a high-profile company with lavish benefits such as "20 percent time" in which engineers can work on projects of their own choosing. For another, the company has been relatively bullish about the extent to which its primary source of revenue, search advertising, is recession-proof.

Google's New SearchWiki Tool Lets Users Give Their Two Bits

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has released a new search editing tool that gives users more control over their results. SearchWiki enables users to customize their searches by re-ranking, deleting, adding and even commenting on their search results. Users will also be able to see how others have edited their searches; however, the edits will only apply to their personal searches. "It will enable the end-user by contributing to the Wiki and the community aggregation to give Google more input on how the relevancy of search engine results," Gene Alavarez, a Gartner (NYSE: IT) Research analyst, told TechNewsWorld. Alvarez likens the new tool to those ubiquitous product reviews and the "report this reviewer" feedback option. "Now in the wiki environment, if I take my search results and start to play around with it, they get to take a look at how the aggregate has done that. And I'm sure over time they will be able to garner patterns from that which will help strengthen the relevancy ranking of all of the search results returned," he said.

Bookmark management comes to Google Chrome

Google has released a new developer-oriented version of Chrome that brings better bookmark management to the Web browser. People could import bookmarks to the earlier versions of the browser, but version 0.4.154.18 adds the a bookmark manager. "You can search bookmarks, create folders, and drag and drop bookmarks to new locations," said Chrome Program Manager Mark Larson in an e-mail announcement It's a developer release, so only those who've subscribed to the Chrome developer channel will get the new version. Another change comes to the browser's pop-up blocker. Previously, it "just minimized pop-up windows to the lower-right corner of the browser window," with a window for each pop-up. Now there's a notification number and a menu to open a specific pop-up window if desired. A "moderate" security issue also is fixed in which "downloaded HTML files (could) read other files on your computer and send them to sites on the Internet," Google said.

Google shares close at $291, Yahoo just above $10

In a bad day for publicly traded tech companies, Google's stock shares closed at $291 on Wednesday, marking the first time since 2005 that the Mountain View, Calif., dot-com's stock price has slipped below the $300 mark. The $291 is a 6.57 percent drop for the stock. A parade of negative reports and estimates about ad spending in 2009 have led Wall Street analysts to cut their earnings estimates for Google, which can credit its explosive market valuation to its pioneering search-advertising technology. Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney characterized expectations for the fourth quarter of 2008 as "the weakest they have ever experienced," trimming his estimates for Google's earnings by 3 percent. Also weighing on Google is the report that cell phone giant Verizon may be close to ditching Google as its default mobile-search provider in favor of Microsoft. It was just more than a year ago, on November 1, 2007, that Google's stock price climbed above $700 for the first time, reaching a high of $741 later that month and leading some analysts and bloggers to speculate that it could hit $1,000 in due time. But by mid-January, the once-unsinkable stock had fallen below $600 and has not yet recovered. Meanwhile, fellow Valley stalwart Yahoo is in danger of seeing its stock price dip below $10 for the first time since 2003, when the industry was still recovering from the aftermath of the tech bubble pop. Yahoo's stock closed at $10.34, with a low point of $10.02. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings recently revealed that the company has a $73 million bill resulting from failed negotiations with Microsoft over its acquisition bid, corporate raider Carl Icahn over his board takeover, and Google over a proposed search-ad deal. The Google-Yahoo search deal dissolved at Google's behest, when antitrust regulators threatened legal action, and the company said "pressing ahead risked not only a protracted legal battle but also damage to relationships, with valued partners." A jilted Yahoo publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the decision. Microsoft had offered to buy Yahoo in a deal that ultimately would have valued the company at $33 per share. Yahoo rebuffed the offer, and, according to some, it may very well regret doing so now.

Gmail Chat With Voice And Video Support

Google has added voice and video support to the Gmail chat application within the browser. Previously, only voice support was available through the GTalk application-the standalone GTalk client. With this addition, Google has finally provided a much needed feature. The two functions can be added by installing a plug-in. To install the plug-in, select any contact and then click on the "Video & More" option. After installation, you can initiate voice or video chat by clicking on the "Video & More" link. Your friend at the other end will receive a ring, with an option to accept or deny the chat request. The remaining functions are similar to that existing in the earlier Gmail chat application. You have the option to open the chat in a separate window as well as increase or decrease its size. Justin Uberti, a Google software engineer, in Blog Post says, "The video function was designed via open standards, which means that third-party applications and networks can choose to interoperate with Gmail voice and video chat. The offering was developed by Google teams in the U.S. and Sweden, so collaborating across continents and time zones is a fact of life for us, and it sure is easier (and greener) to click 'Start Video Chat' than to get on a plane!" Voice and video chat is available on Macs running Mac OS X v10.4 or later versions and PCs running Windows XP or later versions.

Google now tracking flu trends via search

Google on Tuesday unveiled a new site to track the progress of the common cold. Using the same keyword tracking technology found on Google Trends, it keeps an eye on people searching for queries involving the word "flu" and tracks them both by date and location. What makes the technology so fascinating is that its data set goes back to 2003, and has been cross-referenced with the last several years of survey data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Google says that because its own system is based on a constant flow of searches as opposed to surveying techniques it's able to provide results one to two weeks faster than the CDC. The same trending technique could be used in tandem with other organizations to track contagious viruses or threats besides the common cold, including AIDS, bird flu, and Africanized honey bees. One limitation of the current system is that it does not track worldwide flu traffic. There is, however, quite a bit to discover from data from years prior--especially when you get several years that stack up on top of each other with similar rises and falls during certain parts of the year. According to Google's chart, we're about three weeks from hitting the heavy season, which goes until early January.

Argentine judge: Google, Yahoo must censor searches

If an Argentine sports fan tried searching Yahoo Argentina for one of his country's most beloved athletes--soccer star Diego Maradona--these days, he'd be out of luck. Both Yahoo and Google are locked in a legal battle with dozens of fashion models and other public figures like Maradona over whether the Internet companies should have to censor search results relating to those persons' names. The result so far: since last year, Internet users have been left with abbreviated search results from Yahoo Argentina and Google Argentina, as a result of temporary restraining orders handed down by Argentine judges. The restraining orders against Google and Yahoo mean the search companies must censor search results from their Argentine sites for information about the plaintiffs, such as their names. The court orders do not apply to the U.S. sites Google.com and Yahoo.com. The move effectively holds the search companies responsible for content on other Web sites, a legal maneuver that would not be possible in the United States or the European Union, according to a Google representative. In the United States, federal law generally says that search engines are not responsible for the content of pages they index. Google first received an injunction to block references to the individuals on its Argentina search engine in mid-2007, after refusing to do so voluntarily, said Alberto Arebalos, Google's director of Latin America global communications and public affairs. A group of about 70 fashion models, represented by the same lawyer, initially asked the Internet company to block all search results with their names with the intent of blocking pornographic sites that used the models' pictures. Google responded that it would only block specific problematic links, provided it could notify users, Arebalos said. The matter was taken to court, and judges in Argentina have so far sided with the models. Other public figures--including Maradona and Judge María Servini de Cubría--have in recent months sought out the same lawyer to successfully block search results about them on Google and Yahoo as well. The move amounts to a class action suit against the Internet companies, although there's technically no such thing as a class action suit in Argentina. The lawyer representing all the plaintiffs, Martin Leguizamon Peña, has sought damages between 100,000 and 400,000 pesos for his clients (about $30,000 to more than $121,000). Both Google and Yahoo have unsuccessfully appealed the restraining orders and are now complying with them while the underlying lawsuits filed by Peña's clients are pending. Peña probably "thought we'd make a deal out of court, but we don't want to do that because it's not a good deal," Arebalos said. "We will fight because we think this is a good fight." Multiple restraining orders have been filed for some individuals. In some cases, the restraining orders require the search engines to censor results for certain keywords or URLs. In other instances, however, they call for broad restrictions such as censorship of "scandalous material." Such broad restraining orders compelled Yahoo to remove all search results for certain plaintiffs such as Maradona, the soccer star. A search for "Diego Maradona" on Yahoo Argentina brings up only news results and a notification that--translated from the Spanish--reads, "On the occasion of a court order sought by private parties, we have been forced to temporarily remove some or all of the search results relating to it."

Google, T-Mobile too mum over Android security?

When it comes to telling customers about security weaknesses, there's a fine line between alerting customers and inviting attacks. With T-Mobile G1, the first phone to run Google's Android operating system, I think the companies are erring on the side of inadequate disclosure. I've been testing a review model of the G1, and an update arrived first on November 1 and then a second a week later. Only by dint of much pestering and more than a week of waiting did I find out from Google what was in those two Android patches. And T-Mobile has been pretty quiet, too. (I'm waiting for comment from the company about its choices.) I'm not the type to blithely ignore patches. Sure, I'm not convinced the security patches I download for Adobe Reader, Microsoft Windows, and Firefox are flawless, but I think the odds are good enough they'll be an improvement that I install them. But with the Android phone, I couldn't even tell if the patches were security related, much less how important they are, much less what they actually do. The closest I could come was figuring out what operating system build I had installed, then using that nugget of information to snoop around the T-Mobile forums, the Android bug-reporting system, and assorted Web sites to see if I could piece together what was going on. In short, even if companies are generally looking out for their customers' best interests, I think it behooves them to keep the customers better informed. It prevents us from feeling like disempowered pawns. It helps us make intelligent choices with our products. And it can even make us happy, when pesky bugs are stamped out or useful features are added. Even Microsoft, which hardly has a reputation for coddling its users, does a better job of keeping people in the loop. It gives a heads up a few days in advance about what's coming on its next monthly "patch Tuesday" upgrades.

Google launches web browser - Chrome

Google has launched a new web browser ahead of the Internet Explorer 8 launch. We had earlier expected that the Google browser would be launched just before IE8 somewhere in the start of 2009, but this early release by Google has come as a surprise for all. Google Chrome as it is called looks an appealing browser and according to tests by major software giants on the Acid3 and other tests it comes up better than IE and Firefox both. The Acid3 test rates Chrome at 78 out of 100 ahead of Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer 7. Although the browser doesn't meet the lofty standards of the Opera browser that scores as high as 83 on this test routine.

Google at 10: Searching its own soul

As Google recently turned 10 years old, some analysts and investors began to say the company was suffering from early signs of maturity. Google's growth rate, while still brisk, has slowed significantly and is expected to slow more because of the economic slowdown. Eric E. Schmidt, chief executive, said Google was better positioned than other advertising companies to survive a recession. Schmidt, 53, spoke earlier this week from the company's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters about his plans for managing Google in a downturn, the unraveling of an advertising partnership with Yahoo and his recent public endorsement of Barack Obama. Schmidt is also a member of Sen. Obama's transition economic advisory board. Q. Google is working hard to rein in expenses. Is that because Google has matured or because of the economic crisis? And how bad do you think the economy will get? A. The issue we face with the economic crisis is, we don't know as managers how long the crisis goes. So what is a prudent answer? A prudent answer is to watch hiring. We are hiring, but at a slower rate. Last week, we made some number of tens of offers. I suspect that will continue. The other thing we have done is fairly detailed expense reviews to make sure we are not wasting money. Q. Given the uncertainty, do you plan for a worst-case situation or something else? A. It is a judgment call. Google is in a good position over the long term. We have a product that is more measurable, more targetable, and we are the innovator in the space. At some point, people need to sell products, and at some point, they realize that the best advertising is measurable advertising, and they conclude that we do that. Q. Google is known for investing liberally in projects that don't produce immediate returns. Does the new measure of austerity, such as it is, change that? A. It is interesting you use the word austerity. It doesn't feel very austere. I think it is better to use the word focus. We are clearly going to be more careful with potential large expense streams which are of uncertain return. But we are also going to continue to invest, certainly, in small teams to do wacky things. Q. Are there examples of projects you have undertaken in the past--things like Chrome, Google's Internet browser, or Android, its mobile operating system--that you wouldn't do today? A. The question is, with today's market, would we still have done the things you named? Absolutely. Going forward, maybe we would do fewer ultimately. The problem here is that if you tighten up too much, you eliminate future innovation, and then you set yourself up for a really bad outcome 5 or 10 years from now. Q. Google is known for its lavish employee perks. Can you rein in expenses without affecting the culture? A. The people who manage these areas are very, very sensitive to what is really important versus what is an experiment or a waste of money, or what have you. But we have no intention of getting rid of the really important aspects of our culture. Q. Isn't it less fun to run a company that has to watch its spending more carefully? A. I think it is actually more fun. The reason is that it is very easy to be a successful executive in high-growth times. It is much more challenging, but in my view much more rewarding, to be a leader in times where you have to make really hard choices.