search results

China without Google -- a prospect that looks increasingly likely -- could mean no more maps on mobile phones. A free music service that has helped to fight piracy might be in jeopardy. China's fledgling Web outfits would face less pressure to improve, eroding their ability to one day compete abroad.

A high-ranking Chinese official on Tuesday again rejected all accusations of involvement of his government in any hacking attacks against Western companies.

"The government has never supported or been involved in cyber attacks, and it will never do so. Those remarks are sheer nonsense," said Peng Bo, of the Internet bureau of the State Council's Information Office.

Google on Thursday launched a click-to-call feature for its mobile advertisements. The new function works with the iPhone, Android-based devices, and other smartphones. The AdWords function lets consumers call a vendor by clicking on a link that displays the phone number rather than clicking through to a web site and searching for the number.

U.S. antitrust regulators are taking a closer look at Google Inc.'s proposed $750 million purchase of mobile phone marketer AdMob, the latest sign of greater government vigilance as Google tries to expand its advertising empire.

The Federal Trade Commission sought more information about the deal this week, according to a Wednesday post on Google's blog.

This so-called "second request" doesn't mean regulators intend to block Google's AdMob deal. Most other acquisitions that go through this stage end up getting approved.

Internet search giant Google has hit a roadblock in France that could halt its book-scanning project. Google Books wants to scan more than 50 million books into digital versions.

Google partnered with libraries around the world to include their collections in its Book Search. The company's search results will act like a card catalog, offering snippets of text from books that remain in copyright. Searchers can read and download entire books from the Google Books Library Project that are out of copyright.

Even search engines can get suckered by Internet scams.

With a little sleight of hand, con artists can dupe them into giving top billing to fraudulent Web sites that prey on consumers, making unwitting accomplices of companies such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft.

Mozilla on Tuesday launched Thunderbird 3, a revamped version its e-mail application, hoping it will do for Mozilla Messaging what Firefox 3 did for Mozilla's browser. With the same web-page rendering and graphics infrastructure as Firefox, Thunderbird is available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

The free program supports 50 languages and allows each message to be opened in its own tab, rather than a window. The tab system is also Firefox's claim to fame. When the program is restarted, it remembers which tabs were open.

Search Options

The top search result for First Lady Michelle Obama via Google images is a crude manipulation adding ape features to her face. And Google says there's nothing it can do about it.

After initially removing the link to a blog, Hot Girls, which shows the image along with undoctored photos of the first lady and President Barack Obama, Google did an about-face Monday and restored the image with a disclaimer.

The top search result for First Lady Michelle Obama via Google images is a crude manipulation adding ape features to her face. And Google says there's nothing it can do about it.

After initially removing the link to a blog, Hot Girls, which shows the image along with undoctored photos of the first lady and President Barack Obama, Google did an about-face Monday and restored the image with a disclaimer.