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Google is planning to scan millions of books from libaries

An announcement by Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm today gave word over radio that Google will be opening a new research location in Ann Arbor, Michigan. While the announcement was scarce on details, Granholm did say that Google was offered a tax incentive package in order to make Michigan an attractive location for expansion. Google already has various job openings posted.

According to Granholm, Google will be bringing some of its AdWords unit over to the new location and picking up new researchers to work on the program. Other available openings include sales and operations including a position called "Print Scanning Operations." According to past Google announcements, the new positions will focus on digitizing books from entire libraries. Google faces some legal copyright issues in this endeavor as various publishers have said that they disagree with Google making text books available to everyone via search and archiving.

"We want to make sure that the world knows that this tremendous high tech company, one of the most successful in the world and the fastest growing, has chosen Michigan for its expansion," said Granholm over the radio. Dick DeVos, Granholm's opposition Republican challenger gave criticism that Granholm had not done enough to attract new businesses to the state. The new Google location is expected to pick up roughly 1,000 new employees over the next five years.

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?
By albundee on 7/11/2006 4:27:39 PM , Rating: 1
opening a whole new facility to research WHAT?
it's GOOGLE, what do you research that requires you to open a whole new facility and employ more ppl?




RE: ?
By Knish on 7/11/2006 4:28:38 PM , Rating: 2
In all honesty, they probably arent researching anything. (read: tax incentive).


RE: ?
By PT2006 on 7/11/2006 4:29:34 PM , Rating: 2
Ann Arbor = University of Michigan. They are trying to pull talent from somewhere other than California.


RE: ?
By Phynaz on 7/11/2006 4:37:35 PM , Rating: 2
Larry Brin (co-founder of Google) is a U of M graduate.


RE: ?
By TomZ on 7/11/2006 5:08:13 PM , Rating: 2
Isn't it Larry Page?


RE: ?
By alex90444 on 7/17/2006 8:03:05 PM , Rating: 2
Yes, Larry Page and Sergey Brinn. There're founders. :) From article we can tell that researches at new facility are going to scan and print books. :)))


RE: ?
By bnme on 7/11/2006 5:07:08 PM , Rating: 2
So you're implying that the cost of building a new facility, and hiring and training thousands of reseachers for their new lab will cost less than the amount of tax incentive they are getting?

Yeah, right... it's like accusing wealthy individuals that they give to charity because they get tax incentives. They do get tax incentives, but the amount of money they're giving away is MORE than the amount of tax they're saving, and the amount of money Google is spending on a new R&D center is probably more than whatever tax savings they get for building the place.


RE: ?
By TomZ on 7/11/2006 5:22:19 PM , Rating: 2
I'm not sure your point, but it is clear that the tax incentives helped google decide to locate in Michigan instead of somewhere else. This is the case regardless of the amount of the incentives relative to google's investment.


RE: ?
By bnme on 7/12/2006 11:31:47 AM , Rating: 2
The reply was to the posts making it seem like the only reason for opening up an R&D center was for tax incentives.


RE: ?
By bnme on 7/11/2006 4:58:33 PM , Rating: 2
You're kidding me right? There are a bajillion things Google can do R&D for that fits what they are currently offering. R&D on better ways to organize and search for data on the Internet, as well as offering more web services. Then there's the R&D on how to keep their operations as efficient as possible, from maintaining the countless numbers of servers they have, to their business operations. Most of their servers and server farms are built by Google themselves.

The internet has a lot of data and information available everywhere... The key is to make it more useful (easier to use, more accurate, more efficient, and faster).


RE: ?
By Trisped on 7/12/2006 2:21:19 PM , Rating: 2
Google is constantly investing in R&D, it is just in the form of programs and algorithms. You don't think that the last 20 products from Google were just manufactured do you? They spend time to find out what is out there, how it works, what people think about it, how to make it better, if there is a market for it, as well as improving their current tech. Most companies just call it product development, but you are still researching new and inventive ways to do something.


Wonder how many jobs this creates
By killerroach on 7/11/2006 10:03:35 PM , Rating: 2
The auto makers are going under, laying off tens of thousands, Michigan's unemployment rate is now almost 40% higher than the national average... and now Granholm will be probably airing ads in her re-election campaign about this facility, just like the Hyundai engineering plant that employs 300 people (heck, a Wal-Mart employs almost as many; granted, different sorts of jobs, but when the state's hemhorraging that many of them, a job's a job). Hopefully at least it'll be of some significance, unlike the Hyundai plant.




RE: Wonder how many jobs this creates
By bnme on 7/12/2006 11:37:16 AM , Rating: 2
These are high-tech jobs, that usually pay more than a job at Wal-Mart (unless it's a manager, executive, etc.).

Higher paying service jobs means more money to spend within the local economy, and also more local/state taxes to pay.

It's not just a political stunt, and it will help out, both economically and symbolically.


By killerroach on 7/12/2006 7:41:12 PM , Rating: 2
But, in a state that loses almost 40,000 jobs a year (Louisiana was the only other state that net lost jobs last year), symbolic victories are only so much. You can't equivocate replacing a Ford assembly plant that employs 6,000 people with a research facility where the employed are in the low three figures...


Not in Detroit
By TomZ on 7/11/2006 5:01:54 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
a new research location in Ann Arbor and Detroit

...should read "a new research location in Ann Arbor."




Try Again
By TomZ on 7/11/2006 5:12:11 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
a new research location in Ann Arbor, Detroit

No, try again. Ann Arbor and Detroit are both cities in Michigan. So you can say "Ann Arbor" or "Ann Arbor, Michigan" if you like, but "Ann Arbor, Detroit" is not right.


Still better then Engler.
By snoogit on 7/12/2006 10:49:49 AM , Rating: 2
still 100% more non-manufacturing jobs that have moved into Michigan in the past 3 years compared the the 12 years prior.





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