Weekly high-tech hot topics in the blogs: Free WiFi for travellers, Google acquires Admob

Hot topics in the tech blogs for the week of November 13: Google uses free internet to boost its brand image, Google invests in mobile advertising, Murdoch to make paid content invisible to search engines, search gets technical and Google Chrome OS coming soon.

Google offers free WiFi to travellers
On November 10, internet giant Google announced it would provide free internet to travellers stuck in airports in the US during the holiday season. Google said it would work with airports across America to provide free WiFi connections in 47 airports, with Burbank, California and Seattle Airports adopting the project on a long-term basis. Bloggers commented that the project could be a pricey project for Google in the short term, but would most likely provide the company with long-term benefits of customer satisfaction and company branding.

Google acquires Admob
On November 11 Google added yet another company to its portfolio of acquisitions. This time, California-based mobile display advertising company was welcomed under the all-encompassing banner of Google. Journalists commented that this is just one of many "creative" ways in which Google is expanding its dominating hold on the internet. The purchase will help Google generate revenue from mobile advertisements.

Murdoch wants content removed from Google's Search results
Australian media news site, mUmBRELLA reported on November 9 that media magnate Rupert Murdoch was considering removing News Corporation content from Google's search results. According to the website, Murdoch and other Senior News Corp employees have previously criticized Google for "taking a free ride on its contentment" and would consider making their articles and news content "invisible" to search engines once they launch their paid content strategy. Many bloggers debated "fair use" policies while other technology websites reported that "Google would not index publishers against their wishes."

Bing collaborates with Wolfram Alpha
On November 11 Microsoft's search engine Bing announced that it has been collaborating with computational knowledge company Wolfram Alpha. The results of the partnership will start to appear in search results in the US in the following days. US consumers using Bing for searches in the future will also have access to the advanced algorithms and curated data Wolfram Alpha provides. Initially the changes will be seen in nutrition and fitness based searches. Technology bloggers embraced the addition of the added "geeky" search features.

Google Chrome OS
Technology blog TechCrunch posted an article on November 13 stating that consumers could expect Google Chrome OS to launch "within a week" and immediately set bloggers abuzz with the news. Google's Chrome OS is the much wanted operating system that technology journalists believe may power the laptops of the future.