Google recognized as #1 in the annual 100 Best Companies to Work For

+ The Best Place to Work + What makes a job somewhere you want to go day in and day out -- or not? The pay and the benefits should be good, however you define those; the culture should fit well with you and each of the employees, so that you (all) feel like doing your best. At the end of the day, though, it's the ineffable chemistry of the people, along with whatever the specific perks are, that seems to be the right combination. Recently Google was honored to be recognized as #1 in the annual 100 Best Companies to Work For, an annual survey published by Fortune Magazine. This time, 446 companies applied for consideration, and 100,000 workers evaluated their employers. Of course we're very pleased to have been chosen. But even more, we appreciate being in the company of many great businesses (all of them older than Google) that know the way to be successful is to pay attention to the people first.

POWER TIP If you were lucky enough to get a new PC over the holidays, you may be wondering what kind of interesting things you can do with it. Might we suggest the Google Pack? It's a free collection of essential software for your Windows PC. With the programs in Google Pack, you can explore the world in 3D, organize your photos, removespyware and viruses, and more. You can download and install the whole Google Pack in just a few clicks, and the Google Updater (included) helps you discover new programs and keep your current software up to date. http://%20pack.google.com/
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NEW PRODUCTS & UPDATES
Google Video + YouTube Recently, we've added YouTube videos to the Google Video search index. Now you can search Google Video to find content hosted on both Google Video and on YouTube. This is part of our overall goal to give you the highest quality search results possible. Give it a try: search for [Labradoodle] on Google Video to watch some incredibly cute puppy footage from YouTube. http://video.google.com/

Google Groups out of beta Google Groups doesn't just have a new look; now there are additional features that make it easier to manage and share activities and ideas online with your friends, family, colleagues and teammates. You can create and edit web pages with other group members, customize the look of your group, upload and share files and photos, and view member profiles. The next time you need to organize your soccer team, family reunion, knitting club or pretty much anything else, look to Google Groups for online collaboration. http://groups.google.com/

Google Earth 4 Six months after it was first introduced as a beta product, Google Earth 4 is now out. Along with a new interface, we've added tons of multimedia content that's been created by online communities plus content from such established sources as Discovery Networks and National Geographic. Be it photo-sharing through Panaramio, hiking trails from Tracks4Africa, Wikipedia articles, or restaurant reviews from Yelp, you can explore all this information in Google Earth's 3D view. And it now also includes the highest-quality textured 3D models of buildings from the 3D Warehouse as a layer ("Best of 3D Warehouse"). For example, check out Canary Wharf in London, landmarks in Manhattan, or the entire Denver downtown. http://earth.google.com/

Google SkectchUp 6: Design enthusiasts take note: there's a new version of Google SketchUp. This 3D modeling software tool is easy to learn, simple to use, and lets you place your models in Google Earth. One of the cool new features is Photo Match, with which you can trace a photo to create a 3D model of the photographed object or match an existing model with a background photo. To stylize your models, there are features for adding fog, creating sketched effects, watermarks, 3D text, and more. And now the integration between Google Earth, 3D Warehouse and SketchUp is seamless, so that you can easily share and reuse models from other 3D Warehouse users. And as noted above, Google Earth now has the "Best of 3D Warehouse" layer that showcases the highest quality models from SketchUp users. http://sketchup.google.com/
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