We're unveiling the Google APIs console today, another big step in unifying and simplifying the Google developer experience. This project is the result of a lot of hard work spanning a number of different teams, and I'm thrilled to see it ship.
Google Sues The US Government For Only Considering Microsoft Solutions | Techdirt
Eric Goldman alerts us to the interesting bit of news that Google has sued the US government -- specifically the Department of the Interior, for not seriously considering Google Apps when it put out a Request for Quotation (RFQ) to handle its messaging needs. Specifically, the DOI stated upfront in the RFQ that the solution had to be part of the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite. Google is making the argument that this is "unduly restrictive of competition," and it seems like they've got a decent argument there.
YES, Google needs to keep innovating. YES, Google often goes to sleep at the switch. But NO, a moderate improvement in some search results (arguably) will not vault a new search engine to prominence.
» Google Lobbyist Urged White House to Pressure FTC on Privacy - Big Government
Yesterday we reported that the FTC’s decision to close it’s investigation into the Google WiSpy affair came less than a week after President Obama attended a $30,000-plate fundraiser at the California home of senior Google executive Marissa Mayer. It also came four days after Google, after months of denials, admitted for the first time that its “Street View” video cameras were intercepting emails, passwords and website addresses sent by unsuspecting Internet users. Now we’ve learned that on September 28, 2009, Becky Burr, another Google lobbyist at Wilmer Hale, emailed White House officials Susan Crawford and Andrew McLaughlin asking for a meeting to request the White House’s assistance in urging the Federal Trade Commission to back off on privacy. Ms. Burr’s email request was as follows (PDF of email exchange can be found here See pages 50-52):
