Federal Trade Commission Clears Google’s Acquisition of DoubleClick

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (December 20, 2007) – Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) today welcomed the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s clearance of its planned acquisition of DoubleClick Inc., a premier provider of display ad serving technology and services. Google announced in April 2007 a definitive agreement to acquire the company for $3.1 billion in cash from San Francisco-based private equity firm Hellman & Friedman along with JMI Equity and management.

"The FTC’s strong support sends a clear message: this acquisition poses no risk to competition and will benefit consumers," said Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO, Google. "We hope that the European Commission will soon reach the same conclusion, and we are confident that this deal will deliver more relevant ads for consumers, more choices for advertisers, and more opportunities for website publishers."

The acquisition was approved earlier this year by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and was recommended for approval by one of three Brazilian regulatory agencies. Google cannot close the acquisition until the European Commission, which is still examining the transaction, grants clearance of the deal.

In its clearance opinion released today, the FTC explicitly rejected any current or potential competition concerns. Google and DoubleClick are complementary businesses and do not compete with each other. Google’s current business primarily involves the selling of text-based ads, while DoubleClick’s core business is delivering and reporting on display ads. DoubleClick does not buy ads, sell ads, or buy or sell advertising space. Rather, it provides technology to enable advertisers and publishers to deliver ads once they have agreed to terms, and to provide advertisers and publishers statistics relating to those ads.

The FTC’s opinion also noted the robust competition in the online ad serving space, and Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick is just one of several recent transactions that underscore this strong competition. In recent months, several major transactions in the online advertising space were announced, including Yahoo’s acquisition of Right Media; AOL’s acquisition of ADTECH AG and TACODA; WPP Group’s acquisition of 24/7 Real Media; and Microsoft’s $6 billion acquisition of aQuantive and acquisition of AdECN Inc.

While the FTC’s opinion reaffirmed the law by noting that privacy concerns played no role in its merger review, Schmidt reiterated the company’s commitment to user privacy.

"For us, privacy does not begin or end with our purchase of DoubleClick," Schmidt said. "We have been protecting our users’ privacy since our inception, and will continue to innovate in how we safeguard their information and maintain their trust."

About Google Inc.

Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top Web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall Web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

Media Contact:

Adam Kovacevich
Google
202-346-1298
akovacevich@google.com

Investor Contact:

Maria Shim
415-846-9162
marias@google.com

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Google is a trademark of Google Inc.

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Google Announces 2007 End-of-Year Zeitgeist

Announcement
December 13, 2007

Today, Google announced its 2007 End-of-Year Zeitgeist. This year’s Zeitgeist reflects both the most popular and the fastest-rising global search terms that people have typed into Google.com. We mined millions of search queries to discover what captured people’s attention this year. To see the results of this research, both serious (news makers, presidential candidates, etc.) and light (movies, lyrics, ringtones, etc.), visit www.google.com/zeitgeist.

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Google Announces Launch of Google Toolbar 5

Announcement
December 12, 2007

Today we announced the latest version of Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer. The beta version is now available in US-English at toolbar.google.com/T5. Google Toolbar makes browsing the Internet simpler and more efficient with integrated Google search and other web tools. This release is about improving the way the millions of Toolbar users can engage with content on the web and personalize the browser experience.

Google Toolbar now lets you:

• Add Google Gadgets
• Fill in forms with a single click
• Access your Toolbar from any computer
• Clip and collect content as you browse
• Get suggestions for broken links

Add your favorite Google Gadgets

We’ve made a number of announcements over the last few months about Google Gadgets as we work to make them universally available and today’s release is no exception. Universal Google Gadgets now work from Google Toolbar and give users access to additional tools, functionality and content right from the browser. For developers, Google Toolbar is now an additional channel to distribute gadgets, especially ones designed to interact with the websites users visit.

For example, one of our favorite gadgets is the Google Product Search gadget, which comes in handy this month as we browse for holiday gifts. After adding this gadget, users can select the name of a product on any web page, hit the ‘shopping cart’ button on the Google Toolbar, and see purchase options for that item sorted by price. Users can click on any search result link to go directly to the merchant’s site.

Fill in forms with a click

Holiday online shopping is also easier with the Toolbar’s AutoFill feature, which lets users fill out web forms with a single click using address and contact information saved with the Toolbar. This new version has better accuracy, allows users to preview the filled-in form and even maintain multiple profiles. For example, someone who gets packages shipped to both home and office can set up a different profile for each address.

Access your Toolbar from any computer

Now Toolbar settings are not locked to a single computer: users can save them online and access bookmarks, custom buttons and other preferences from any Google Toolbar. Users who move between home and office, or are installing Toolbar on a new computer, can retrieve all their settings instantly by signing in to their Google Account.

Clip and collect content as you browse

Saving links is a great way to be able to keep track of key pages, and now with Google Notebook as part of Toolbar, users can collect, organize and share more information from the web including text and images. This integration makes it easier and more efficient to do all kinds Internet research from planning a vacation to comparison shopping.

Get suggestions for broken links

Instead of getting the usual 404 or DNS error page if they mistype a web address or if a site is down, users will see suggestions for top related pages. This feature is similar to the "did you mean?" function when you do a Google search.

This new version of Google Toolbar 5 also includes full keyboard access and support for Windows accessibility APIs.

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Google announces Yann Arthus-Bertrand layer in Google Earth

Announcement
December 11, 2007

Enlarge image

Almost 500 photographs by French photographer and environmentalist Yann Arthus-Bertrand have been unveiled in Google Earth today. The photographs are presented as a layer in Google Earth with striking facts and figures about the state of the globe today. Yann Arthus-Bertrand and his non-profit organization GoodPlanet.org aim to promote environmental sustainability by highlighting the beauty of the planet and the issues it faces through his photography.

The layer, which is called "Earth from Above," will be regularly updated with new photographs plus facts and figures by GoodPlanet.org, using data from various agencies around the world. It will be accessible from the Global Awareness folder in Google Earth, home to a number of layers highlighting environmental and humanitarian issues. To access the Global Awareness folder, users should go to the Layers folder in the left hand toolbar in Google Earth. Google Earth can be downloaded for free from: earth.google.com

The stunning Yann Arthus-Bertrand photographs can also be accessed on iGoogle, the personalized Google homepage. By adding the "Earth from Above" gadget to their homepage, users can discover a new photograph each day and pinpoint its location on Google Maps.

The layer, iGoogle gadget and introductory video can be accessed from the "Earth from Above" microsite: www.google.com/earthfromabove. The Earth from Above will be available in 14 languages: French, English, German, Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Czech and Russian.

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UNICEF, One Laptop per Child, Google Launch Initiative to Preserve and Share Stories around the World

Announcement
December 7, 2007

UNICEF, One Laptop per Child (OLPC) and Google today announced the launch of "Our Stories" (www.ourstories.org), a joint initiative to preserve and share the histories and identities of cultures around the world by making personal stories available online in many languages.

Using laptops, mobile phones and other recording devices, children will record, in their native languages, the stories of elders, family members and friends. These stories will be shared globally through the Our Stories website, where they can be found on a Google Map.

By making these stories accessible around the world, the Our Stories project hopes to contribute to a better understanding of our shared humanity across countries and cultures, across religious traditions, across languages, and across generations.

"Information technologies can help young people around the world learn more about each other," said UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman. "Our Stories will promote dialogue across borders and cultures and give young people a voice on a wide range of issues."

Low-cost XO laptops by One Laptop per Child will serve as a foundation to help build this digital archive of personal stories by providing children in developing countries with easy-to-use technology to record their stories and interviews.

"One Laptop per Child is very excited about partnering with Google and UNICEF to capture the thoughts and feelings of children and their communities around the world," said Walter Bender, President of Software and Content/COO, One Laptop per Child. "The XO laptop is a tool for sharing and collaboration and this project is a great way to build a global community."

The Our Stories website will initially include stories collected by Brazil’s Museum of the Person and stories recorded for UNICEF by young people in Ghana, Pakistan, Tanzania and Uganda.

Our Stories has taken inspiration from the StoryCorps® project in the United States founded by MacArthur Fellow Dave Isay. "StoryCorps is proud to lend its experience in recording the conversations of nearly 30,000 Americans to this global undertaking," said Isay. "These efforts teach us that the lives of everyone – whether they are in New York or Nairobi – matter, and that they will not be forgotten."

More stories from more countries will be added to the site every month in an effort to preserve an oral history of humanity in the 21st Century.

"Google as both a company and as a culture loves a good story," said Elliot Schrage, Vice President of Global Communications and Public Affairs for Google. "We’re proud to support the Our Stories global initiative and we hope that this collaboration will not just encourage better storytelling but better listening to stories."

Leading figures have already lent their voices to the project: Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Queen of Jordan and UNICEF Eminent Advocate for Children, and Ishmael Beah, UNICEF Advocate for Children Affected by War and best-selling author of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, have all recorded messages welcoming users to the site and encouraging them to share their stories.

Listen to a story today at www.ourstories.org.

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Google Announces launch of iPhone Application

Announcement
December 5, 2007

Today, Google announced the release of a new iPhone application that integrates its multiple services into a single interface, making it easy for iPhone users to find, use and switch between Google search, Gmail, Calendar, Reader, and more. To use the application, iPhone users simply point their web browser to www.google.com.

To accomplish this, Google is taking advantage of browser technologies (like AJAX) that made Gmail and Google Maps possible on the desktop. In supporting these advances in web technology, the iPhone’s Safari browser not only delivers an excellent mobile Internet experience; it enabled our product and engineering teams to create an optimal Google experience on a mobile device.

Google’s overall goal is to provide users with access to information, wherever they are. This commitment is device-independent, and we are working to develop new mobile technologies that are faster, easier to use, and available on more devices. A recent example is My Location (www.google.com/mobile/maps/), a Google Maps for mobile feature that shows users their location directly on the map with or without GPS. To see the full range of mobile products and services available from Google, visit mobile.google.com.

If you’d like to learn more about today’s announcement, Google’s mobile initiatives or if you need screenshots, please let us know – we’d be happy to help.

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Now chat with your AIM buddies inside Gmail

Announcement
December 4, 2007

In February 2006, we integrated real-time chat into the Gmail™ email service. Our goal was to let users switch between email and instant messaging without having to think about which they were using – we even kept a history of chats and emails together in conversation threads so you could view and search both without worrying about whether your conversation happened as an email or a chat session.

But we know many of our users also have friends who use other chat services such as AIM.

So today we’re rolling out a new feature to make it even more convenient and useful to chat from Gmail: you can now chat with all your AIM buddies right inside Gmail. Just click on the upside-down triangle next to "set status here" in your Gmail chat and select "Sign into AIM" from the drop down menu. Once you’ve entered your AIM log-in information, your AIM contacts will appear intermingled among your Gmail contacts, and you can select an AIM contact and chat with them directly.

This is just one of the first new features we’re able to launch using Gmail’s new code structure. This is rolling out in the newest English version of Gmail first and will be available in other languages soon. We’re always looking for new and useful ways to help our users connect with friends, family, and coworkers, and we look forward to your feedback.

For more information or to start chatting, just log in to Gmail at www.gmail.com.

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Google’s Marissa Mayer To Announce Fastest-Rising Search Terms For 2007 And Host Google Trends Tutorial

Announcement:
December 3, 2007

Every day millions of people use Google™ (NASDAQ: GOOG) search to find information, and a snapshot of these searches presents a revealing look into the ideas, opinions, preferences and interests of internet users across the globe. Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Products & User Experience at Google, will host an interactive webcast to give reporters an early look at the fastest-rising searches conducted on Google.com in 2007. And, in time for end-of-year story planning, she will demonstrate how Google Trends™ can be used as a reporting tool to add color and even visual illustrations and elements.

WHAT: Webcast on how to use Google Trends, followed by live Q&A

WHEN: Tuesday, December 4, 2007, 1:30pm pacific / 4:30 pm eastern

WHO: Marissa Mayer, VP, Search Products & User Experience, at Google

The presentation and webcast will be available on Google’s Press Center following the event.

About Google Zeitgeist:

The year-end Google Zeitgeist™ report provides a glimpse at what captivated the world over the past 12 months, based on the fastest-rising and most popular search terms conducted on Google.com.

About Google Trends:

Google Trends is a customized tool to easily view and analyze search patterns in specific locations, create customized graphs and identify relevant news stories associated with certain peaks or troughs in search volume.

Webcast Details:

Please visit one of the following websites:

Windows Media Player:

google.client.shareholder.com/Visitors/event/build2/MediaPresentation.cfm?MediaID=28727&Player=1

Real Player:

google.client.shareholder.com/Visitors/event/build2/MediaPresentation.cfm?MediaID=28727&Player=2

Media Contact:

Katie Watson
press@google.com
+1.650.253.0097

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Google, Google Trends, and Google Zeitgeist are trademarks of Google Inc. Other names of companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

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