Google Reeds, 1/24/12

A roundup of the latest big Google stories

Here are some key Google links for January 24, 2012:

• Forbes' Eric Jackson takes a skeptical look at Google CEO Larry Page's claims of interaction on Google+:

   

  Page has also been very aggressive about touting the numbers of Google+ members and engagement since the service launched. Last week, he crowed triumphantly that Google+ had hit 90 million users with 60% engaging daily. Again, the problem is that Larry didn’t define his terms. If I’m forced to sign up for + as part of registering for Gmail, YouTube or search, should that count as a registration? And if I then do a search or check my Gmail, should I be counted as engaging with +? It’s laughable.

  The whole piece is worth a read.

• Google's online campaign against the seemingly-dead SOPA legislation was very impressive. Unsurprisingly the company has also been upping its spending on lobbying in recent months, as its total lobbying bill tripled to a whopping $3.76 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

• Non-profit advocacy group Consumer Watchdog is urging the European Union to block Google's $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola.

• John Abell of Wired has a terrific chart from WordStream showing which industries and companies provide the bulk of Google's online ad revenues. The financial and insurance industries were unsurprisingly the biggest spenders ($4 billion total for the whole industry), led by State Farm ($43.7 million) and Progressive ($43.1 million). Other big-spending industries include retailers and general merchandise ($2.8 billion), travel and tourism ($2.4 billion) and jobs and education ($2.2 billion).
• And finally, Google+ is now allowing you to use pseudonyms on your profile.  So it seems that Google+ will become slightly more fun to use.  Slightly.

Did I miss anything?  What else is going on in Googleland?

• Collaboration/Web 2.0