Google, Internet | featured news

If Google has its way, you won't need to type "Google.com" any more to do your searches. You can simply access the search engine at ".Google." Google's bid for ".Google" as an Internet suffix is among about 2,000 proposals submitted as part of the largest expansion of the Internet address system since its creation in the 1980s. Google Inc. also wants to add ".YouTube" and ".lol" - the digital shorthand for "laugh out loud." Others want approval for ".doctor," ".music" and ".bank."

Google has reached a deal with a publishing group to allow the scanning and publishing of books online - ending a six-year legal battle. A court ruled in 2009 that the search company was in breach of copyright infringement after it digitised a number of French books.

Google rolled out a new warning for accounts it believes are the targets of "state-sponsored attackers," spurring discussion among a number of Chinese activists who said they received the alert.

Google Inc. in Mountain View has agreed to buy Meebo Inc., a startup that helps online publishers make their websites more social. Meebo, founded in 2005, announced the agreement Monday on its blog.

Last Thursday, Microsoft announced several new features to the upcoming IE10, which will launch as part of Windows 8. One of these features, which turns on “Do Not Track” by default, has caused quite a stir over the weekend as new outlets and bloggers have discussed the potential benefits and ramifications of this feature.

Google has just announced an event called "The next dimension of Google Maps," where they are expected to introduce 3D maps to it s standard offering. The demo will be less than a week before WWDC2012 event at which Apple is expected to introduce its own map app, with 3D capabilities, as part of iOS 6. At the same time Google is making moves to monetize its services on all fronts, so making the value proposition for its unique offerings is crucial.

Voters who click on President Barack Obama's campaign website are likely to start seeing display ads promoting his re-election bid on their Facebook pages and other sites they visit. Voters searching Google for information about Mitt Romney may notice a 15-second ad promoting the Republican presidential hopeful the next time they watch a video online....

Google said it is rolling out an extensive update to its dominant search engine by using troves of data to refine the answers it provides to user queries on specific topics. The technology known as "Knowledge Graph" is being rolled out by Google within its search service over the coming weeks, the company said Wednesday. It uses a database of about 500 million people, places and things compiled by the company to figure out what users are looking for, and present them with additional, related information.

Google Inc and its board were sued on Monday by a shareholder who wants to block the company's stock split plan because it entrenches the Web search company's co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, according to court documents.