Google CEO announces PowerPoint competitor

Computerworld - SAN FRANCISCO -- Google Inc. plans to take another swipe at Microsoft's Office suite of tools by adding presentation software to its Google Docs Web-based tools for word processing, e-mail and spreadsheets.

Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, announced the new feature here today during a keynote address at the O'Reilly Web 2.0 Expo. Although Schmidt offered few details, he said that Google would add the ability to generate and share presentations to the Google Docs lineup but stopped short of calling the new feature a competitor to Microsoft's PowerPoint tool.

"[Google Docs] does not have all the functional [features] ... of [products] like Microsoft Office," he said. "It seems to be a better fit of how people use the Web. For people who are using products on the Web who need presentation access and sharing ...they are going to use this. This is a testament to the strength of Web 2.0."

Schmidt also elaborated on Google's $3.1 billion purchase of online advertising company DoubleClick Inc. announced late last week and on the lawsuit Viacom has filed against Google claiming copyright infringement by Google subsidiary YouTube Inc. Viacom is asking for $1 billion in damages.

As for the DoubleClick deal, "the math works," Schmidt said. "The combination of the targeting that they do, the advertising support tools they have built ... combined with Google technology would provide a better experience for the user."

He also said that DoubleClick's use of humans for advertisement buying and selling -- as opposed to computers -- could benefit from Google's automation. "Advertising is both an art and a science," he said. "We can provide the science to the art."

For companies that may now be using both DoubleClick and Google, the search company hopes to make clients comfortable, either by keeping Google data separate from data about DoubleClick's clients or by asking companies for permission to share that information. Both ideas are under consideration, he said.

On the Viacom legal fight, Schmidt said that the lawsuit is being used by Viacom as a negotiating tactic around copyright. He noted that Google had taken down Viacom's copyrighted material from YouTube after Viacom asked it to do so.

He also noted that Google is set to bring out a new tool called Claim Your Content (CYC) that would allow copyright owners to monitor what content is being used on YouTube and other sites. "As that rolls out, the issues at Viacom become moot," he said.

As for future acquisitions for Google, Schmidt declined to offer specifics. But he did say the company would likely partner with companies in the mobile space and with those targeting the local search market.

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