Google vorsichtiger bei Neueinstellungen und Übernahmen

"Zahl der Vertragskräfte eindeutig zu hoch"

Google-Chef Eric Schmidt will in der internationalen Börsen- und Bankenkrise "vorsichtiger" bei Neueinstellungen und Übernahmen agieren. Die wirtschaftlichen Turbulenzen erzeugten "Druck" auf die Anzeigenbudgets der Werbekunden.

Auch der Suchmaschinenbetreiber Google erwartet negative Auswirkungen durch die Wirtschaftslage. "Wir sind alle verwundbar", sagte Firmenchef Schmidt Bloomberg Television. Gegenwärtig setze ein Wettrennen auf dem sich verengenden Anzeigenmarkt ein. Zugleich gebe es eine Verschiebung der Werbeausgaben von "offline zu online".

Google-Mitbegründer Sergey Brin sagte der Tageszeitung Mercury News, dass die Zahl der befristeten Vertragsarbeiter bei Google "eindeutig zu hoch" sei. Weltweit arbeiteten zum Stichtag 30. September 20.123 Menschen für Google. In den Monaten Juli bis September 2008 wurden 519 neue Arbeitsplätze geschaffen, so Finanzchef Patrick Pichette. Insgesamt würden 30.000 Personen für Google tätig sein, sagte er, was rechnerisch eine Zahl von 10.000 Befristeten ergibt. In einigen Bereichen schafft der Internetkonzern jedoch weiter neue Arbeitsplätze.

Bei den freiwilligen Sozialleistungen, wie den Gourmet Cafeterias bei Google, soll es aber keine Abstriche geben, so Schmidt weiter. Auch die Ausgaben für Rechenzentren, die man zur Vorbereitung auf ein weiteres Wachstum beim Cloud Computing errichte, gingen unvermindert weiter. (asa)

msn live search: xTreme movers

I get a little more excited than most people about data, but I think even "normal" people will have fun with the new xTreme movers feature in xRank, which lets you track the searches that are gaining popularity the fastest.

Just yesterday, "dow jones," "recession," and other economy-related terms were moving incredibly quickly, while today we're noticing that people are interested in recent events including the debates, Boss Day, and Hurricane Omar. It's a truism that people seek more entertainment when times are tough, which could explain the recent growth in people searching for lolcats and gossip about Madonna.

As LiveSide has already noticed, we've made significant updates to all of the xRank categories (celebrities, musicians, politicians, bloggers) and added new features like "compare," which lets you not only see who's more popular right now but also look at how search popularity has shifted over time. There's more information available on every page, including videos, images, and news. We think you'll find the new design a little more exciting and interesting. And the xRank homepage? It's now set as my default so I can watch what happens every day.

For now, we've only released these new features in the U.S. Typically, we release features in one or two markets first to see how things go and then work with our search teams in other countries to decide which features they think will work best for them.

-> xtrememovers

Google Display AdBuilder

Build your own display ads in minutes

Today we released the AdWords display ad builder, which lets you create professional-looking display ads in AdWords without needing to hire a designer or start from scratch. If you've wanted to expand beyond your text ad campaigns, or if you've been looking for an easier way to build display ads, this tool can help.

This new tool lets you create customized display ads with your own text, images, and logo. You can also change colors and backgrounds. The tool can create ads to fit all possible placements across the Google content network, including video and game placements. The display ad builder is available now to all advertisers in the U.S. and Canada.

We've also put together a short video demonstrating how to create your first ad:

And for a more detailed look you can watch a longer tutorial.

To start creating your ads, click Display Ad Builder on the Create an ad page within a new or existing campaign in your AdWords account. If you want to learn more about creating and running display ads, visit the new Display Ads 101 tutorial. As we continue adding new templates and features to the tool, we're want your feedback. Please let us know what would make the display ad builder better for you.