The Business Centre

Google got some serious gold, promotion-wise: US Olympic cyclist and Gold Medalist Kristin Armstrong wrote that Google Earth was "invaluable" in helping her find a training route in Boise, Idaho similar to the Olympic course in Beijing.

Mozilla Corp. Thursday announced the winners of its third "Extend Firefox" contest, an annual competition that recognizes the year's best Firefox add-ons.

When Gmail crashed last Monday, affecting many organizations that depend on it for work e-mail via the Google Apps suite, widespread gnashing of teeth ensued.

Microsoft, Google and Yahoo were issued notices by India's Supreme Court on Wednesday, following a complaint that they were promoting techniques and products for the selection of an unborn child's sex through advertising and links on their search engines.

Apple's MobileMe and Google's Gmail online e-mail services suffered hours-long outages Monday, leaving millions of users unable to access their accounts.

Yahoo said it will start letting users opt out of receiving customized advertising later this month, in an announcement the company made along with its response to a congressional inquiry about online privacy practices.

Malware threats on the Web grew at an exponential rate over the first half of 2008, security experts say.

The Republicans have taken their share of lumps -- especially during the current presidential campaign -- for not embracing Web 2.0 technologies and tools as warmly as the Democrats.

The Boston Police Department has demonstrated its Web 2.0 savvy by using blogging software and online video to highlight the case of alleged kidnap victim Reigh Rockefeller. While the department's blog has only basic features and does not permit discussion of the case, updates relating to the kidnapping have been posted within hours of new developments and information on the blog has been reposted by local and national media organizations.

The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) in the US has turned the tables on Google by using the company's controversial Street View technology along with Google Earth to compile and make public a detailed dossier on a "top Google executive".

A redesign of the Live.com home page may not be quite what analysts had in mind last week when they asked Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer about how the software giant plans to streamline its online presence.