Google agreed to buy closely-held YouTube in an all-stock deal worth about $1.65 billion, its largest acquisition to date. The terms state that YouTube will initially retain a significant measure of independence, keeping its current brand, offices, and employees. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
YouTube Stats Revealed, Total Viewing Time: 9,305 Years!
The extremely popular video sharing site YouTube doesn’t make a point of revealing its size, user activity, or demographics. But Lee Gomes of the Wall Street Journal pieced together much of that information by “scraping” YouTube for data. Here are the main stats uncovered:
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eBay Revises Seller Policy, Excludes Google Checkout, Google Responds Defensively
eBay is making it nearly impossible for sellers to request payment through Google Checkout. The online auction giant updated and renamed its Safe Payments policy (now called “Accepted Payment Policy”) this week in an effort to add Google’s new payment service, Google Checkout, to its list of online payment methods not permitted. The reason?
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Amazon Now Sells Groceries
Amazon has decided that selling everything but food isn’t good enough. Thus, nonperishable food items will now be available at Amazon’s Grocery beta site (is it just me, or is “beta” rather a cliche phrase nowadays?). Check out the site here. Your favorite staples ranging from popcorn to organic granola? are available. Explained in a…
Google Picasa Web Albums Review with Screenshots
Google can’t help but stay in the spotlight. Today’s latest: Google Picasa Web Albums. I quickly signed up for this “test” (rather than “beta” for some reason) product and gave it a test spin. Initial impression: yet another impressive, free tool from Google for online collaboration. Read on for features and screenshots:
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Google Browser Sync, Torpark & USB Drive Combined
Google recently released Google Browser Sync, an extension designed specifically for Firefox which allows your bookmarks, cookies, history, and passwords to be synchronized across multiple computers. Basically, it keeps all your browser information on a Google server. Each time you load Firefox, it syncs with the online version of your settings. This way, if you browse the Internet from multiple computers, your bookmarks, etc. move with you.
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Two Types of Net Neutrality: Good & Evil
Lawmakers can’t understand why net neutrality is a good thing, so their only recourse is to turn it into a bad thing. The latest potential bill: If large monopolistic broadband providers that limit your ISP choice are unable to control your Internet surfing, then all websites may be watched and potentially forced to be “neutral” via FCC regulation. Huh?
Screenshots of Google Converted Excel File
I received my Google Spreadsheets invite this morning and began playing with converted Excel files. To start, here is a screenshot of the login screen (click on image for full size):
