Google’s getting smart…er. Not only have they nearly tripled their 4Q earnings, they are starting to add Local Business Advertisements into Google Earth as well, as, Google Maps. I received an email from them earlier today announcing this as I’m a customer of their AdWords product:

Advertise on Google Earth
If you’ve created Local Business Ads in your AdWords accounts, they’ll now appear on Google Earth in addition to Google Maps. Advertising a hotel in Lake Louise? A neighborhood cafe in Paris? Google Earth users across the globe can zoom in on your business. Don’t forget to add a customized icon to make your ad stand out.
» Learn More about Local Business Ads

I like this move by Google. Think of a visual Yellow Pages. Many people (including me) like to see things visually and this will help local advertisers such as pizza restaurants or a neighborhood cafe showcase themselves in the virtual world. I would love to know usage statistics of Google Maps and Google Earth to see how large an announcement this really is.

A fantastic graphical representation of the 2007 trends on the Internet. The official website can be found here.

This will probably get drowned out in all the coverage about Apple (which includes the launch of their beautiful iPhone which I’ll blog about when every other blog stops gallivanting about it) but I think Apple dropping “Computer” from their name is monumental, even more so than their latest phone.

Apple does not want to be known as a computer company any longer. Yes, they create amazing and beautiful computers, but they also have a huge product lineup and extensions that go away from the typical MacBook Pro. iTunes has had 2 billion songs downloaded, iPhone is now here (the voicemail feature sounds phenomenal), and iLife is changing the way people use their computer.
I’m excited at the prospects of Apple Inc.’s future and I look forward to seeing them grab more market share of the industry and give Microsoft, Google, and others a run for their money.

Also, there is something very interesting to note…. Steve Jobs is NOT wearing black. Wow. It’s a new day for Apple.

There are many people who try and tell you to not be all things to all people. I’m one of those folks. When building a business, I recommend to try and stay as focused as possible and then add line extensions or new product enhancements after a core has been built.

In the search world, Google, Yahoo!, Ask, Kanoodle, Excite, and Lycos (and any other search engine) focuses on an all encompassing search. Use Yahoo to search for “Britney Spears” or “angel investing”, two totally different topics. A trend we are seeing now in the industry is quite the opposite: vertical search.

What is vertical search?  Wikipedia defines vertical search: Vertical search, part of a larger subgrouping known as “specialized� search, is a relatively new tier in the Internet search industry consisting of search engines that focus on specific businesses.

Redeye VC, otherwise known as, Josh Kopelman, Managing Director of First Round Capital, talks about how Google is making a significant move into the vertical search marketplace by facilitating niche searches on its current platform. It’s an extremely interesting post on his blog and I highly recommend checking it out.

If Google’s stock price falls dramatically, will this affect:

- venture capital investments

- entrepreneurs trying to do their ‘thang

- the digital media climate we have created

- acquisitions

Thoughts?

SeekingAlpha, a fantastic resource for anyone studying the Internet has posted a fairly interesting posting about how Google slips to $100 a share. They also position Ask.com as a technologically superior search algorithm to Google. Check it out.

“Your mobile phone should be free,” Eric Schmidt (CEO, Google) told Reuters in a recent interview. Is the phone going to become the razor/blade model?

Read more here at CNN Money

I subscribe to many different magazines ranging from The Deal to Fortune, and Spin to Mens Health. In the gym last week, I was reading the November 13 issue of Fortune and focused on the article, The Net’s Next Phase. Interestingly enough, this article was based on a panel from Fortune’s Powerful Women Summit, not your typical article written by testosterone infused gentlemen (myself included).

The four panelists were Arianna Huffington (founder of Huffington Post), Marissa Mayer (Google VP of Search Products & User Experience), Padmasree Warrior (CTO, Motorola), and Mary Meeker (Morgan Stanley Internet analyst).

There were many interesting quotes from this article and I tried to put together a few: Read more »

Google Checkout is finally here. We’ve been hearing about Gbuy/Gpay across the entire blogosphere for the past 3 months with all sorts of forecasts and assumptions as to what it actually was going to be.

It’s essentially an Internet Wallet that we’ve all seen back in 2001. Google Checkout is that you can buy from stores with a single Google login – no more entering the same info each time you buy, and no more having to remember different usernames and passwords for each store.

Current partners in the program include: Jockey, Starbucks Store, Levi’s, Dockers, Buy.com, Timberland, and Zales (amongst others)

Check out the Official Google blog for more information…