I can haz grassroots protest? Wikipedia and Google are among the many websites "on strike" today to protest two bills before Congress that they say would cripple the open nature of the internet. more ›

The deal is a step forward in Google's shift towards being a content generator, shore up its services such as maps, location services and searches, and compete with user review sites like Yelp. more ›

Google stresses the main reason they paid a 63 percent premium for the cell phone maker was to acquire over 17,000 Motorola patents. more ›

Today's Alexander Calder tribute Google doodle had its genesis from a visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art. more ›

So how is Chicago embracing erstwhile facebook challenger Google+. Quite well, according to Windy Citizen's Len Kody. more ›

After two hours of playing the Parker Brothers board game someone will have a monopoly and the game ends. The same can be said in reality, and 2010 was Google’s best year. The search engine giant made record profits, acquired more companies and made their future plans known more this year than any previous. The behemoth went unchallenged against Congress while Chicago and China were the only two to fight back. more ›

Time Out Chicago Editor-in-Chief Frank Sennett recently used the "reading level" function on Google's "Advanced Search" page to determine the reading levels of Our Town's media websites. more ›

In the wake of the did-they-or-didn't-they-offer-six-billion week of news stories about Groupon and Google, Andrew Mason took to the airwaves of NBC's Today Show to talk about...nothing, really. Matt Lauer sat Mason down and everything started fine, with Lauer discussing the site's operation, and he managed to get an answer about Groupon users. Then things got a little weird. more ›

Last night Groupon rejected Google's $6 billion offer to buy the Chicago-based deal a day company. Groupon CEO Andrew Mason wouldn't comment on the news, which had been a cause for speculation all week. more ›

With rumors circulating the past two days regarding a possible buyout of Groupon by Google (the latest news has the deal being projected between $5.3 and $6 billion) and the attendant hysteria that accompanies these sorts of stories, it's always fun to see someone take the starch out of them. more ›

It's almost a carved-in-stone axiom of the internet. Call it Rule #1.0 × 10^100: "Everything that is popular and successful on the internet will be eventually swallowed up whole by Google for a metric shitload of money." Accordingly, we were surprised for about 2 seconds when we saw Crain's report on the little birdie in the ear of the Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital blog saying "Google wants Groupon." more ›

Catch up with the places to read and be seen on the literary scene with our rundown of local events centered around all things written. more ›

Have concerns about privacy issues and Google? There's a solution for you. more ›

A Paris court ruled today that Google is in clear violation of French law due to its book-scanning policy that includes hundreds of thousands of books in a digital, searchable format, many of which are under copyright. The ruling called for Google to be fined $14,300 a day until excerpts from the French publishers are removed from their database. Google was also ordered to pay $430,000 in damages and interest to French publisher La Martiniere, which originally brought the case to court. Google plans to appeal the decision. more ›

With 2009 winding down, you'll see a lot of lists over the next several weeks: best movies, best music, etc. But what about what you searched for on the Internet? We've already shown how much we like fooling around with Google and the folks at Google have boiled it down for us and can show us what the top searches in a number of cities are. Now, before you look at the list and wonder about the absence of such popular searches as "Obama," "Michael Jackson," or "Chicagoist," Google removed those large, nationally oriented searches. According to Google: more ›

Earlier this week our good friends at Torontoist had a great idea about "Google Auto-Suggesting" themselves and fleshed it out in a rather funny post. The Auto-Suggest feature--essentially the 21st century's version of a palm reader--has been the object of web comedy for a little while (or 12 blog years) and it's the kind of idea that we wish we would have come up with first. But when you aren't innovative, the next best thing to do is copy the idea entirely, right? So, what did we learn about ourselves from Google's Auto-Suggest? We smell like chocolate, Google "gets" the Cubs, and people hate Oprah, Michael Jordan, and us. Ouch.
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Mega tech-company Google is giving the people what they want: free wi-fi at airports across the nation. Unfortunately for Chicago, where Google coincidentally has an office, neither of our city's airports will be offering the free wi-fi, instead sticking with their current pay-as-you-go wi-fi setup. But take heart, weary travelers: FOX 32 has a full list of the 47 airports around the country that are getting in on the free action, so as you head off to destinations far-and-wide this holiday season, at least you know you can view this site for free while stuck in a layover in Kalamazoo (we can hear you all breathing sighs of relief from our office). more ›

Google recently announced new capabilities for Google Earth that will change the way you look at Chicago. Michael T. Jones, chief technology advocate for Google, was in town this week so we sat down with him to check out some of the new tricks they created, and what Chicagoans can look for now. Besides roving the land, you can now also cruise water, space, and even time. more ›

Metra and Google have partnered to bring us a trip planner that allows residents to plan trips involving Metra's commuter trains now, a great tool for those of us who aren't too familiar with what train to take to which suburb. While the planner incorporates CTA buses and trains, its drawback is the absence of Pace information. It offers the same info as the RTA's trip planner, but with the world going Google crazy, Metra is happy to get the plug at no cost. more ›

The fine folks at Google have come up with a nice plug-in with Google maps that allows you to find your polling place. The site also provides helpful links such as the corresponding state's official election office and how to get an absentee ballot. Click here to check it out and make your plans to go vote on November 4th. more ›

As the fall-out from the United Airlines story continues, the Tribune Company says it's identified the culprit: Google. And its Googlebot. more ›

Chicagoist loves Google Maps as much as anyone and we especially love the strange scenes occasionally captured by Google's Street View shots. For whatever reason, Chicago seems to be the epicenter of getting caught in the act -- from frisky coeds in the suburbs to drug deals on the South Side. more ›

Get ready for WiMax to blanket our region with delicious, wherever-you-want speedy internet connections (provided you have a WiMax-enabled device). Come to mama. more ›

The CTA has teamed up with Google to help riders plan trips (starts playing a video) with Google Maps, and lo, it is good. Google Maps now has a "take public transit" option when giving directions. We've been playing around with it for a little bit, and it seems to work pretty well. more ›

Aiming to bring down Google Adwords (not likely) by keeping online ad revenue local (quite likely), SaveChicago.org is connecting businesses, consumers and the nonprofits they love, turning bargain hunting into desk-chair philanthropy. more ›

Make your own Obama logo. This isn't an endorsement. Think of this more as a challenge. Get creative. more ›

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Porn is like a money tree. If you need some cash, just go out and shake the silicone until a few hundred thousand dollars drop out. So how exactly can the nation’s foremost “gentlemen’s magazine” be losing money? Playboy announced a 4th-quarter loss today, losing $1.1 million compared with a $3.7 million profit at this time last year. more ›

Here are some things going around town to make you consider giving the weather a big ol' raspberry. more ›

Will watching the above video of xkcd genius Randall Munroe's talk at Google be the geekiest hour of your life? Maybe. But it's worth it. [via waxy] more ›