My Big Fat Google Press Day 2006 Round-Up

We’ve blogged a number of items out of
Google Press Day
today. I wanted to recap them below, along with coverage from across the web
that’s beginning to flow in. I’ll likely update this page over the next day, as
well. New items will be posted below old stuff and flagged, or we’ll do
postscripts, to help those who keep checking back. Let’s go!

The Products

Google unveiled four major new products:
Google Trends,
Google Co-op,
Google Gadgets (& Desktop
Upgrade) plus Google Notebook (which goes live next week). Here’s our coverage
on the products:

• Google Notebook Comes Next Week
• New Google Desktop Beta Features Google Gadgets
• Google Trends: Peer Into Google’s Database Of Searches
• Fun With Google Trends
• Google Co-op:
  Add Your Own Vertical Search To Google

Here are some other reviews of the products:

• 
  Little by little, Google’s window on the desktop widens, AP

• 
  Google Trends, InsideGoogle

• 
  A Few Minutes with Google Co-op or Google Base for Web Pages, ResourceShelf

• Google Trends,
  Techmeme (link to Steve Rubel’s review, which in turn has more reviews)

Live Coverage

You can watch the event yourself
here, via a
webcast. It will likely be later added to Google Video
here. You can also compare
it to last year’s Google Press Day, which was called the Google Factory Tour.
Video of that is

here. As with last year, I felt the best part was the long Q&A at the end
with Google’s cofounders Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

Rather read what happened? We’ve got all the slides
here. Even
better, a number of bloggers did live written coverage of the event:

• Matt Cutts:
  Matt takes the morning off from work at Google and instead does an excellent
  job blogging the happenings, along with his own thoughts on some of the issues
  raised. That’s 20 percent time well spent.
   
• Philipp
  Lenssen: Over at Google Blogoscoped, Philipp’s got good rundown.
   
• 
  InsideGoogle: The plus is good coverage. The negative is that it is in
  seven different parts, and you can’t go from one to the next. Here they are:
  
  1,
  
  2,
  
  3,
  
  4,
  
  5,
  
  6 &
  
  7.

From Google

• New Google Search
  Technologies Make Information Easier to Discover, Organize and Share:
  Press release wrapping up announcements
   
• 
  Yes, we are still all about search: Sure, Google’s
  added portal
  features, but this post from the Google Blog from Marissa Mayer is
  stressing that search remains the central focus, as highlighted by the key
  product announcements today.
   
• 
  Say hello to Google Gadgets: Blog post on new Google Gadgets being
  launched.

Post Coverage

• Google wireless network goes down during Press Day,
  News.com: The reporters weren’t happy.
   
• 
  Google introduces raft of new software, Reuters: General short recap,
  highlights boxers versus briefs debate using Google Trends (I prefer boxer
  briefs, myself!)
   
• Schmidt says
  Google’s focus on search will trump rivals, News.com: Highlights
  statements from Schmidt at the beginning of the event, that it’s "obvious"
  things will get more competitive but the competition is healthy (I agree);
  that none of Google’s competitors are "emphasizing" search (I disagree — but
  certainly Google has made a point of highlighting its own search efforts with
  this latest press day). Also highlights that search is "at the beginning,"
  making it seems like Google has borrowed from the
  Microsoft
  songbook (though both are correct that search is still very much a baby).
   
• 
  Google Press Day: Page: Advertising On Google News Not High On the List;
  paidContent: Covers Page saying there’s no rush to make money off of Google
  News with ads, one of the few places Google’s yet to stick them.
   

• Google has its eye
  on Vista search, News.com: Google execs say in general, they don’t pay too
  much attention to what Microsoft is doing, though they don’t like the
  whole browser
  thing, of course. Plus, comments on what shares they sold and how this
  happens in prearranged sales. Brin’s sold 20 percent and expect to keep the vast
  majority "forever." Not hard when the little you’ve sold makes you a billionaire
  🙂
   

• 
  Google Turns on the Charm, The Street: Highlights Schmidt downplaying that
  there has to be a winner and loser in the search wars (yep, as
  I’ve said,
  think broadcast networks), plus how Google says it’s trying to be more open.
   

• 
  Google rolls out more products in high-tech battle, AP: General recap,
  highlights quotes from Schmidt about making a "heavy, heavy" investment in new
  search algorithms.
   

• 
  Google gets back to its search roots, USA Today: Highlights the Google
  emphasis on search, plus a general recap.
   

• My Take On Google?s
  Press Day, ComparisonEngines: Brian emphasizes the focus on search, search
  search and mobile.
   

• Google’s Multimedia
  Ambitions, ClickZ: Highlights comments about Google testing video and
  mobile ads, among other things — and how TV isn’t seen to have advanced since
  going to color in 1960.
   
• 
  Google going vertical, Marketwatch: Nice look at how Google sees Google
  Co-op bringing in the human element to do what technology doesn’t work well
  at. Except I’m not buying it, sorry — not so far in the way it has been
  rolled out. There are easier way to build verticals and crawler-technology
  actually is one of the best ways to get at the long tail of queries. That’s
  why crawlers surpassed directories, which were better at getting the best on
  broad topics. And Google Co-op does nothing to address the good broad issue.