Sonntag, 1. April 2007

Karl Rove joins Google's Board of Directors as head of Blogger



"175.000 new blogs daily join the forces and I take the golden opportunity to build up the strongest army ever to fight any attack toward the american freedom on todays most important battlefield, the internet"
Karl Rove

After years of stagnancy and resignation we may soon see a bright and blissed future for the blogosphere. Todays press release by Google is for sure much more than a short note about personal changes in the board of directors. Hidden inbetween the lines you can get for the very first time an idea about the new Blogger Infinitas, codenamed Redeemer. Rumours about Redeemer are circulating among tech blogs since some weeks, but so far there was no official statement about it from Google. It will come as no surprise that we will see critical comments about the new head of Blogger in the liberal biased media, however, those who understand that the social networks of today are more than just a bunch of personal diaries will welcome one of the most skilled players in the global media and gladly support and follow the Redeemer into the new world, enjoying the freeom of blogging.




Karl Rove (left) and Larry Page fooling around at the after party of the stockholder meeting


the full press release

Karl Rove joins Google's Board of Directors as head of Blogger

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – April 1, 2007 – Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced that Karl Rove has been elected to its board of directors at the 2007 stockholder meeting. Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives. His experience as a political consultant whos election campaign clients have included Bush (2000 and 2004 presidential elections), Senator John Ashcroft (1994 US Senate election) and Phil Gramm (1982 US House and 1984 US Senate elections) makes him the most eligible candidate to design the future of Blogger™.

"Karl's many contributions to Google over the years as investor and advisor helped us immensely," said Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive officer. "His insights, drive, and determination are already part of Google today and will be so forever and ever."

"Larry and I both have valued Karl's counsel and wisdom from our earliest meetings," added Sergey Brin, Google's co-founder and president of technology. "His new position as head of blogger and member of the board of directors of Google finally reflect his crucial advice, funding and guidance to Google and we look forward to shape the entire blogosphere under his leadership in the future."

Rove introduced a first glimpse into the major redesign of Blogger during the meeting of the board of directors. The new Blogger Infinitas, codenamed Redeemer, will include many new features like word surveillance, nudity negation, post supervision, auto postings, banner enhancement and mini widgets, sometimes called midgets.

On 14 August 2006, Blogger launched its latest version in beta, codenamed Invader, alongside the gold release. This migrated users to Google servers, as well including some new features. In December 2006, this new version of Blogger was taken out of beta. Currently, only a small group of bloggers have access to the new Blogger Infinitas which offers more advanced features; however, Rove expects that all blogs will enjoy the benefits of the Redeemer within this year.

"Larry and Sergey's originality and the remarkable accomplishments of Eric and the Google management have generated substantial returns for all my clients," said Rove. "Now I'm delighted to be part of a team that will change the face of the world like no other."

Rove, who was named the "Most Fascinating Person" of the year by Barbara Walters in 2004, is widely acclaimed as a spearhead in the fight for freedom.
"175.000 new blogs daily join the forces and I take the golden opportunity to build up the strongest army ever to fight any attack toward the american freedom on todays most important battlefield, the internet" stated Rove, acknowledged with applause and standing ovation at the end of his keynote.


About Google Inc.
Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

Media Contacts:
Google Inc.
Lois Kim
Head of Corporate Communications & PA
lois@google.com

Erin Fors
415.39.0582
efors@google.com