Google makes it more personal – but carefully
It is obvious that Google is taking very seriously the concerns that arose earlier this year over its privacy policies.
Google is between a rock and a hard place on this one. On the one hand, with the internet at more than 15bn pages, it is essential to make searches more personalised and tailored, otherwise we may drown in too much information. Read more
Parsing the global (social) network
What are the kids doing in Mumbai, Marseille and Mexico City? Some fascinating new data from comScore suggests that social networking has so far been a distinctly regional game. The big question of the next two-three years is whether this regional tendency will become entrenched, or whether a small handful of global powers will win out. Read more
Some financial bloggers are buzzing about Facebook’s purported June rate card, which has been obtained by Valleywag. The card shows that Facebook is charging an initial rate of $300,000, over three months, for a sponsored Facebook group. That is double the rate the company was apparently charging in February, according to another rate card published in Valleywag earlier this week.
Sponsored groups are just one way Facebook says it can help companies get in front of its network of interconnected users. So what does this mean for Facebook? Henry Blodget at Internet Outsider did some back of the envelope maths and came up with this: Read more
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Richard Waters has headed the FT's San Francisco bureau since 2002 and covers Google and Microsoft, among other things. A former New York bureau chief for the FT, he is intrigued by Silicon Valley's unique financial and business culture, and is looking forward to covering his second Tech Bust.
Chris Nuttall has been online and messing around with computers for more than 20 years and since 2004 has reported from the FT's San Francisco bureau on semiconductors, video games, consumer electronics and all things interwebby.
Maija Palmer has been writing about technology for the FT since 1999 and is fascinated by cybercrime, privacy and all the other issues of the information society. Based in London, she covers European tech companies and hopes that they won't all get acquired by American rivals.
Robin Kwong is the FT's technology, media and telecoms page editor in London. Formerly he was the Taipei correspondent and wrote about the companies that manufacture the vast majority of the world's computers and gadgets. He is interested in the intricacies of the technology supply chain and how China is increasingly changing the tech landscape.
Tim Bradshaw is the FT's digital media correspondent, and has just moved from London to join our team in San Francisco. He has covered start-ups such as Twitter and Spotify, as well as the online ambitions of more established media companies, such as the BBC iPlayer. He also covers the advertising, marketing and video-game industries. Tim has been writing about technology, business and finance since 2003.
