“Google is like a race car, you never know if you’re driving too fast or too slow,” said Google VP search products and user experience Marissa Mayer at a Tel Aviv restaurant during an event hosted by “Globes” today. She was commenting on Google Inc.’s (Nasdaq:GOOG) latest financial report, in which it missed analysts’ forecasts, causing the share to fall.
Commenting on the results, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said, "We ended up higher on our head count expenses than we planned and we will watch it." The company is employing more R&D personnel worldwide than planned, and almost doubled its R&D expenditures.
Mayer said today, “Google should unquestionably grow to meet the challenges facing it. This is why we’re employing more and more people.”
Mayer added that this was not her first visit to Israel, and she praised Google’s R&D centers in Haifa and Tel Aviv. She said that they create Hebrew versions of the company’s products, they develop products, which will be used worldwide. She also praised Israeli start-ups. “Israel has great start-ups and an excellent understanding of the internet and users’ needs,” she said.
Mayer cited two companies: Foxytunes Ltd. and SpeedBit Ltd.. SpeedBit, founded seven years ago, develops software for speeding up downloads, which has become one of the most popular programs in the world. The company has 30 employees, and one of its earliest investors was Yossi Vardi. Foxytunes, which developed an add-on to the Firefox browser for controlling music tunes.
Mayer presented some of Google’s latest search engine developments, beginning with the Universal Search, which adds a range of results alongside the usual results of a search, including pictures, video clips, maps, and books. She said that progress in personalization technology would make it possible to offer a rating of pages for every user on the basis of his or her search history.
Mayer also mentioned i-Google, Google’s personalized homepage, the Hebrew version of which will be launched next week. “Whereas in a search you place a request and search for information, with i-Google, you get information without asking for it,” she said.
On the issue of user’s privacy, Mayer said, “We take the issue of user privacy very seriously. Trust is very, very important. We want users to know exactly what information we have, and which they can view in search histories. However, users can also choose not to disclose this information. It’s up to them.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on July 26, 2007
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2007