Posted by Jamie Yood, Google.org Team

(Cross-posted from the Official Google.org Blog)

Google CEO Eric Schmidt spoke last Thursday at a Natural Resources Defense Council event held at Google offices in New York. The topic for the evening was "Partnership for the Earth: Strategies and Solutions for Energy Security." Eric spoke about Google's Clean Energy 2030 plan and the importance of rebuilding America's energy infrastructure.

The speech was followed by a panel discussion featuring Frances Beinecke, President of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Ralph Cavanaugh, co-director of NRDC's energy program, and Dan Reicher, Director of Climate Change and Energy Initiatives at Google.org.

You can check out the talk here:

Posted by Michael Terrell, Program Manager, Google.org and Harry Wingo, Policy Counsel

With a new President and Congress, we have an unprecedented opportunity to transform our fossil fuel economy to one based largely on clean energy, while creating millions of jobs in the process.

Last month, we offered a Clean Energy 2030 proposal for how the U.S. can dramatically scale up renewable energy, become smarter about how we use energy, and deploy millions of plug-in electric cars. Our energy team has continued crunching the numbers and just posted new data on job creation and cost savings on our knol. We'll keep updating the information and encourage everyone to take a look and comment - and offer alternative approaches if you disagree.

Reaching the goals of Clean Energy 2030 will require a comprehensive effort by the new President and Congress. At a minimum, we believe it should include putting a price on carbon emissions, setting national energy efficiency and renewable energy goals, and modernizing our electricity grid. With the right policies, we can drive trillions of dollars of new investment in clean energy and create millions of new jobs.

Stimulating the economy and creating jobs will be the first item of business when the new President and Congress take office in January. We hope that clean energy will be front and center. In its last effort to address the financial crisis, Congress passed several measures to advance clean energy, but much more needs to be done. Here are some ideas on how to advance clean energy as part of a stimulus package:

• Get money flowing to renewable energy. Many wind and solar project developers can’t take advantage of the renewable tax credits that were just extended. The continuing economic decline has wiped out profits in many companies - and the otherwise expected tax liability that credits offset. Congress should make changes, such as making the credits refundable, to make it possible for investors to get the value Congress intended.

• Start building a smarter electricity grid. The last large energy bill passed in 2007 authorized, but did not fund, matching grants and demonstration programs to encourage investment in a "smart" electricity grid. These programs should be fully funded and expanded so more consumers have the opportunity to better monitor and control their electricity use and reduce their bills. A new Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored book explaining smart grid describes it as "the internet brought to our electric system."

• Help people make their homes more efficient. The DOE has a Weatherization Assistance Program that enables low-income families to permanently reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient. On average, weatherization reduces households' heating bills by about 30%. President-elect Obama adopted our proposal to weatherize one million low income homes per year for the next 10 years. Current federal weatherization funding supports barely 10% of that number. A roughly $3 billion appropriation would weatherize roughly one million homes.

• Green the Government. The U.S. government is the largest consumer of electricity. Accordingly, federal departments and agencies should lead by example when it comes to stimulating the economy through expanded energy efficiency efforts and increased use of clean energy. In addition, the Congress and the President can provide support to State and local governments for efficiency and smart grid projects; the purchase of renewable power; and converting vehicle fleets to low-emission vehicles, particularly plug-in electric cars and trucks. Such concerted government action will speed the advent of a new era of energy security and domestic job creation.

We need quick action to jumpstart the economy and improve energy security. If you have ideas to share, join the discussion on the Clean Energy 2030 knol.

Posted by Derek Slater, Policy Analyst

A few months ago, I posed a question: what if consumers could buy their own super-fast fiber optic broadband connections? Rather than telephone and cable companies owning the wires that run into your home, what if you could purchase and own your "last-mile" connection, and select from a variety of different service providers? A fiber connection from your home would not only enable faster Internet speeds, but also novel services like HD videoconferencing and even, someday, real-time communication through 3D holograms (seriously). And because the customer-owned fiber model would make it much easier for new broadband service providers to enter the market, it would open the door to more innovation, competition, and lower prices in Internet access and other retail services.

In a New America Foundation working paper released today, Professor Tim Wu and I explore this idea in more detail. We outline what customer-owned fiber might look like, its possible advantages, and obstacles to its success.

The idea of customer-owned fiber may seem odd at first, but it is important to remember that many items that consumers buy today would have seemed very strange not long ago. Until the personal computer, a computer was something that only large companies owned. For decades, telephones were available only for lease, not for purchase. Fiber to the home could be the next technology that moves into the realm of consumer property.

While we certainly concede that there are many practical questions about this model's viability and that this is not a panacea for America's broadband challenges, we do hope the paper spurs further investigation and experimentation in broadband deployment. Our country needs as much creative thinking as it can get to determine how to deliver fast, open Internet access for everyone. Customer-owned fiber could be one piece of the puzzle.

For those of you in D.C., Tim and I will be giving a talk at the New America Foundation tomorrow:

Home With Tails
Friday, November 21, 2008
12:30-1:30 PM ET

New America Foundation

1630 Connecticut Ave NW 7th Floor

Washington, DC, 20009

Learn more and RSVP here

Posted by Dan Martin, Global Communications and Public Affairs

As we told you last week, tomorrow we're hosting the first in a series of town-halls, "Tech Agenda 2009: Building an Infrastructure for a 21st Century Economy."

We're trying something new for this event. For the first time, we're encouraging folks to use Google Moderator, a new application that allows audiences to submit questions and vote on the ones they'd like to hear answered. As more and more questions and votes are submitted, the cream rises to the top. So submit a question, and you just might hear it asked tomorrow morning.

Posted by Adam Kovacevich, Senior Manager, Global Communications and Public Affairs

There is no shortage of people coming to Washington these days with ideas for how to address some of the serious challenges we face. Today in D.C. our CEO Eric Schmidt offered some of his own ideas for how policy makers might approach some of those challenges. He said that despite these concerns, he is an optimist, citing the combination of new technology and "the genius of the American people."

In a talk sponsored by the New America Foundation, Eric noted that for years there's been a debate in Washington about the proper role of government in our economy -- but now we've reached a consensus that the free market must be the engine of economic growth but government has a critical role to play in supporting growth and creativity.

To address our economic problems and create jobs, Eric continued, we need to put innovation first. He identified these priorities:

• Broadband and infrastructure. We need to invest in a 21st century infrastructure, going beyond the usual litany of roads and bridges to new communications and information networks. Government should free up more spectrum for broadband, and we need a universal broadband strategy that includes targeted incentives to increase competition.
  

• Research and development. Noting that his own graduate student research was partially funded by federal agencies, Eric called for increased federal funding for R&D in science and engineering and technical education; making the R&D tax credit permanent; and modernizing our legal framework by passing patent reform legislation.
  
  
• Energy. Discussing Google's Clean Energy 2030 proposal, Eric recommended attempting to reduce demand through energy efficiency; increasing support for clean energy (wind, solar and enhanced geothermal); deploying smart electric grids; and putting millions of plug-in electric vehicles on the road.
  
  
• Restoring public trust in government. The 2008 elections demonstrated how technology can increase political participation. Eric called for applying that power to making government more accountable, by making government information more accessible online, and using the Internet to increase citizen participation.
  

We released a booklet today spelling out these 2009 policy priorities and more. We'll post video of Eric's speech soon, but in the meantime, tell us you think of these ideas What other things should policymakers be doing to promote economic growth in 2009?

Update (11/20): Here's video of Eric's talk.

Posted by Richard Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel

On the heels of the FCC's 5-0 vote to free the airwaves, Larry Page and Chairman Kevin Martin made a joint appearance before a packed session at the Wireless Communications Association conference in San Jose last Thursday. Larry and the Chairman explained how the FCC's vote on "white spaces" -- which paves the way for affordable, high-speed wireless Internet across the United States -- will transform the way Americans use the Internet and communicate with each other. Larry also took the opportunity to thank Chairman Martin and the other FCC Commissioners for their tremendous leadership on this issue.

Check out the video on YouTube:

Posted by Dan Martin, Global Communications and Public Affairs

Earlier this week we announced that Google CEO Eric Schmidt will be in Washington next Tuesday to deliver a speech on the intersection between technology and the economy.

Two days after Eric's speech, Google's Washington office will be hosting the first in a three-part series of "Google D.C. Talks" on the technology policy agenda for the incoming Congress and Administration.

The event will examine the crucial role of technology in driving economic growth, with a special focus on the infrastructure needed to foster innovation: an open Internet, broadband access, and a smart energy grid.

Panelists include Gigi Sohn (President, Public Knowledge), Jennifer Canty (CEO, Dyscern), Ben Scott (Policy Director, Free Press), Stephen Ezell (Senior Analyst, ITIF), Harry Wingo (Policy Counsel, Google), and Michael Oldak (Senior Director, Edison Electric Institute).

Google D.C. Talks presents the first in a three-part series
"Tech Agenda 2009: Building an Infrastructure for a 21st Century Economy"
Thursday, November 20, 2008
10:00 AM - 11:15 AM ET
Google Washington Office
1101 New York Avenue, NW, Second Floor
Washington, D.C. 20005
RSVP Here

We hope you can join us on Thursday. All are invited to submit questions in advance via Google Moderator.

Watch this space for more information on upcoming "Tech Agenda 2009" talks on transparency in government and the Internet's role in promoting freedom of expression around the world.

Posted by Pablo Chavez, Senior Policy Counsel

(Cross-posted from Official Google Blog)

Google search isn't just about looking up football scores from last weekend or finding a great hotel for your next vacation. It can also be used for the public good. Yesterday, we announced Google Flu Trends, which uses aggregated search data in an effort to confront the challenge of influenza outbreaks.

By taking Google Trends — where you can see snapshots of what's on the public's collective mind — and applying the tool to a public health problem, our engineers found that there was a correlation between flu-related queries and the actual flu. They created a model for near real-time estimates about outbreaks, in the hopes that both health care professionals and the general public would use this tool to better prepare for flu season.

Since we launched yesterday, the response from the medical community has been positive. "The earlier the warning, the earlier prevention and control measures can be put in place," said Dr. Lyn Finelli of the influenza division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to The New York Times. "[T]his could prevent cases of influenza." You can check out the tool for yourself.

We couldn't have built this flu detection system without analyzing historical patterns. Because flu season is different every year, just a few months of data wouldn't have done the trick. For example, the 2003-2004 flu season was unusually severe in many regions. The data from that season was especially robust and allowed us to discover a more accurate, reliable set of flu-related terms. To learn more about how we built the system, see this page on how Flu Trends works.

Because we're committed to protecting your privacy, we made sure that the searches that we analyze for Google Flu Trends are not drawn from personally-identifiable search histories but rather from an aggregated set of hundreds of billions of searches.

In order to provide a rough geographic breakdown of potential flu outbreaks, we use IP address information from our server logs to make a best guess about where queries originate. To protect your privacy, we anonymize those IP addresses at nine months. And we don't provide this aggregated, anonymized data to third parties. For more information about the privacy protections for Flu Trends check out our FAQs and privacy policy.

This is just the first launch in what we hope will be several public service applications of Google Trends in the future. And as we continue to think of ways to use aggregated and anonymized search data in helpful ways, we're also committed to safeguarding our users' privacy.

Posted by Dorothy Chou, Global Communications and Public Affairs

Next Tuesday, November 18, our CEO, Eric Schmidt will be speaking at the New America Foundation on the intersection between technology and the economy. He will explain how technology can help government address two of the biggest challenges ahead: generating economic growth and restoring public trust.

Eric Schmidt on What's Ahead:
Technology, Economic Growth and Open Government
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
1:00 - 2:30 PM ET
Ronald Reagan Building Amphitheater
1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20004
Learn more and RSVP here

Eric will discuss the need to build a 21st century infrastructure, support for research and innovation, repairs for our education system, and ways to make the government more open and responsive.

We hope that you can join us on Tuesday.

Posted by Jeremy Ginsberg and Matt Mohebbi, Software Engineers

(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog)

Like many Googlers, we're fascinated by trends in online search queries. Whether you're interested in U.S. elections, today's hot trends, or each year's Zeitgeist, patterns in Google search queries can be very informative. Last year, a small team of software engineers began to explore if we could go beyond simple trends and accurately model real-world phenomena using patterns in search queries. After meeting with the public health gurus on Google.org's Predict and Prevent team, we decided to focus on outbreaks of infectious disease, which are responsible for millions of deaths around the world each year. You've probably heard of one such disease: influenza, commonly known as "the flu," which is responsible for up to 500,000 deaths worldwide each year. If you or your kids have ever caught the flu, you know just how awful it can be.

Our team found that certain aggregated search queries tend to be very common during flu season each year. We compared these aggregated queries against data provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and we found that there's a very close relationship between the frequency of these search queries and the number of people who are experiencing flu-like symptoms each week. As a result, if we tally each day's flu-related search queries, we can estimate how many people have a flu-like illness. Based on this discovery, we have launched Google Flu Trends, where you can find up-to-date influenza-related activity estimates for each of the 50 states in the U.S.



The CDC does a great job of surveying real doctors and patients to accurately track the flu, so why bother with estimates from aggregated search queries? It turns out that traditional flu surveillance systems take 1-2 weeks to collect and release surveillance data, but Google search queries can be automatically counted very quickly. By making our flu estimates available each day, Google Flu Trends may provide an early-warning system for outbreaks of influenza.

For epidemiologists, this is an exciting development, because early detection of a disease outbreak can reduce the number of people affected. If a new strain of influenza virus emerges under certain conditions, a pandemic could emerge and cause millions of deaths (as happened, for example, in 1918). Our up-to-date influenza estimates may enable public health officials and health professionals to better respond to seasonal epidemics and — though we hope never to find out — pandemics.

We shared our preliminary results with the Epidemiology and Prevention Branch of the Influenza Division at CDC throughout the 2007-2008 flu season, and together we saw that our search-based flu estimates had a consistently strong correlation with real CDC surveillance data. Our system is still very experimental, so anything is possible, but we're hoping to see similar correlations in the coming year.

We couldn't have created such good models without aggregating hundreds of billions of individual searches going back to 2003. Of course, we're keenly aware of the trust that users place in us and of our responsibility to protect their privacy. Flu Trends can never be used to identify individual users because we rely on anonymized, aggregated counts of how often certain search queries occur each week. The patterns we observe in the data are only meaningful across large populations of Google search users.

Flu season is here, so avoid becoming part of our statistics and get a flu shot! And keep an eye on those graphs if you're curious to see how the flu season unfolds...

Posted by David Drummond, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer

In June we announced an advertising agreement with Yahoo! that gave Yahoo! the option of using Google to provide ads on its websites (and its publisher partners' sites) in the U.S. and Canada. At the same time, both companies agreed to delay implementation of the agreement to give regulators the chance to review it. While this wasn't legally necessary, we thought it was the right thing to do because Google and Yahoo! have been successful in online advertising and we realized that any cooperation between us would attract attention.

We feel that the agreement would have been good for publishers, advertisers, and users - as well, of course, for Yahoo! and Google. Why? Because it would have allowed Yahoo! (and its existing publisher partners) to show more relevant ads for queries that currently generate few or no advertisements. Better ads are more useful for users, more efficient for advertisers, and more valuable for publishers.

However, after four months of review, including discussions of various possible changes to the agreement, it's clear that government regulators and some advertisers continue to have concerns about the agreement. Pressing ahead risked not only a protracted legal battle but also damage to relationships with valued partners. That wouldn't have been in the long term interests of Google or our users, so we have decided to end the agreement.

We're of course disappointed that this deal won't be moving ahead. But we're not going to let the prospect of a lengthy legal battle distract us from our core mission. That would be like trying to drive down the road of innovation with the parking brake on. Google's continued success depends on staying focused on what we do best: creating useful products for our users and partners.

Posted by Larry Page, Co-Founder and President of Products

All eyes are on the presidential election today, but another important vote just took place at the Federal Communications Commission. By a vote of 5-0, the FCC formally agreed to open up the "white spaces" spectrum -- the unused airwaves between broadcast TV channels -- for wireless broadband service for the public. This is a clear victory for Internet users and anyone who wants good wireless communications.

The FCC has been looking at this issue carefully for the last six years. Google has worked hard on this matter with other tech companies and public interest groups because we think that this spectrum will help put better and faster Internet connections in the hands of the public. We also look forward to working with the FCC to finalize the method used to compute power levels of empty channels adjacent to TV channels (we have a number of public filings before the commission in this area and it is a vital issue in urban areas).

I've always thought that there are a lot of really incredible things that engineers and entrepreneurs can do with this spectrum. We will soon have "Wi-Fi on steroids," since these spectrum signals have much longer range than today's Wi-Fi technology and broadband access can be spread using fewer base stations resulting in better coverage at lower cost. And it is wonderful that the FCC has adopted the same successful unlicensed model used for Wi-Fi, which has resulted in a projected 1 billion Wi-Fi chips being produced this year. Now that the FCC has set the rules, I'm sure that we'll see similar growth in products to take advantage of this spectrum.

As an engineer, I was also really gratified to see that the FCC decided to put science over politics. For years the broadcasting lobby and others have tried to spread fear and confusion about this technology, rather than allow the FCC's engineers to simply do their work.

Finally, I want to applaud and thank FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, the other commissioners, and the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology for their leadership in advancing this important issue. And, thanks to the more than 20,000 of you who took a stand on this issue through our Free the Airwaves campaign, the FCC heard a clear message from consumers: these airwaves can bring wireless Internet to everyone everywhere.

Posted by Brittany Bohnet, Google Elections Team

(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog)

On Tuesday, Americans across the country will vote (or finish voting), and we want you to find as much information as you'd like concerning this historic 2008 election. Here are three steps for getting the full scoop:

1) Get informed
To use Google tools that will help inform you before you cast your vote, visit our 2008 Election site. Watch campaign videos on YouTube, catch a glimpse of the best political map mashups -- including historical voting results -- on Google Maps, see what the candidates had to say via these In Quotes and Audio Indexing tools, and add the Presidential Candidates gadget to your iGoogle page.

2) Vote
Find out where to vote on our U.S. Voter Info site (on your mobile phone, head to m.google.com/elections). We hope your boss has given you at least an hour off to vote, and if you're so inclined, bring a video camera with you to the polls to capture your voting experience on YouTube's Video Your Vote channel. We're using Google Maps to track these videos across the country -- and to see where polling problems might be occurring during the day. In addition, we're featuring all political videos on the homepage - including videos made especially for Election Day by both the McCain and Obama campaigns.

3) Watch results
Access news and results as they occur on the Google Maps Elections Gallery (you can even embed the results onto your own site), or via the Elections section of Google News.