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Google Funds Artificial Intelligence Research to Teach Computers Regret

As search engines grow, so does the need for processing large amounts of data in real-time. To address this surge in traffic cost effectively and intelligently, search engine giant Google  is interested in making server computers smarter. To this end, it is funding a ground breaking artificial intelligence (AI) research at the Blavatnik School of Computer Science, Tel Aviv University. The motive is to see how these advances will drive the company’s AdWords and AdSense revenues.


This program, headed by Prof. Yishay Mansour, began earlier this year at the International Conference on Learning Theory in Haifa, Israel, WebProNews.


According to WebProNews, Prof. Mansour and other researchers in the department are working on algorithms that would allow computers to learn from their past failures or mistakes in an effort to make smarter predictions in the future. Mansour refers to it as “minimizing virtual regret”.


Reporting professor’s comments, the news web site wrote “If the servers and routing systems of the Internet could see and evaluate all the relevant variables in advance, they could more efficiently prioritize server resource requests, load documents and route visitors to an Internet site, for instance.”


Explaining the word regret, Mansour said that “Regret” is not really the same as the human emotion that could stem from a bad break-up or overindulging in sweets or fatty foods. It is more akin to noting the gap between a desired outcome and the actual outcome.


Mansour added, “We are able to change and influence the decision-making of computers in real-time. Compared to human beings, help systems can much more quickly process all the available information to estimate the future as events unfold – whether it’s a bidding war on an online auction site, a sudden spike of traffic to a media website, or demand for an online product.”

Google AdSense Color Palettes Feedback Wanted

Chris from the Google AdSense team posted a thread in the Google AdSense Help forum asking for feedback on Google's color palette.
Chris said, "I'm curious to know more about what you think about color palettes, and how you use them. Got any thoughts you can share?"
Here is a picture of the tool within the new AdSense interface:

Chris went on to add that any feedback he receives will be passed to the right people at Google. He said as a disclaimer that he can't promise all the suggestions would be implemented. Chris said:

Google: Revenue, Clicks, CPC, AdSense All Up; GOOG Stock Down

Last night Google announced their QA earnings and this was the first time they do so with Larry Page as CEO. The results were not that bad at all, any company would be thrilled to reporting these types of earnings, but in terms of Google - they did not shine and glow after the earnings report.


Revenue was up overall, AdSense income up, clicks on paid ads were up, cost per click was up, but expenses were up significantly too.
Here are som key highlights:


Revenues - Google reported revenues of $8.44 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010, representing a 26% increase over fourth quarter 2009 revenues of $6.67 billion. Google reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting TAC.
Google Sites Revenues - Google-owned sites generated revenues of $5.67 billion, or 67% of total revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2010. This represents a 28% increase over fourth quarter 2009 revenues of $4.42 billion.


Google Network Revenues - Google's partner sites generated revenues, through AdSense programs, of $2.50 billion, or 30% of total revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2010. This represents a 22% increase from fourth quarter 2009 network revenues of $2.04 billion.
Paid Clicks - Aggregate paid clicks, which include clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our AdSense partners, increased approximately 18% over the fourth quarter of 2009 and increased approximately 11% over the third quarter of 2010.
Cost-Per-Click - Average cost-per-click, which includes clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our AdSense partners, increased approximately 5% over the fourth quarter of 2009 and increased approximately 4% over the third quarter of 2010.
Operating Expenses - Operating expenses, other than cost of revenues, were $2.51 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010, or 30% of revenues, compared to $1.78 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009, or 27% of revenues.


Net Income - GAAP net income in the fourth quarter of 2010 was $2.54 billion, compared to $1.97 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009. Non-GAAP net income was $2.85 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to $2.19 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009. GAAP EPS in the fourth quarter of 2010 was $7.81 on 326 million diluted shares outstanding, compared to $6.13 in the fourth quarter of 2009 on 322 million diluted shares outstanding. Non-GAAP EPS in the fourth quarter of 2010 was $8.75, compared to $6.79 in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Cash - As of December 31, 2010, cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $35.0 billion.


Headcount - On a worldwide basis, Google employed 24,400 full-time employees as of December 31, 2010, up from 23,331 full-time employees as of September 30, 2010.

Google shares fall as first-quarter profits fail to meet expectations

Google has reported an 18% rise in first-quarter profit, disappointing analysts who are increasingly concerned about the company's aggressive expansion strategy and lavish spending.


Google's first-quarter earnings of $2.3bn (£1.4bn), or $7.04 a share, for the quarter ended 31 March came in below analyst projections as the internet search leader accelerated recruitment hiring and spending in other areas, driving up its expenses.


The company's shares shed $27.74, or nearly 5% on Thursday, to $550.77 in extended trading. These results are likely to heighten investor fears that Google's earnings will suffer because of the company's commitment to hire at least 6,200 workers this year. That would be the most in its 13-year history.


Google co-founder Larry Page, who replaced Eric Schmidt as CEO after the quarter ended, has indicated he plans to keep investing in long-term opportunities that may take years to pay off, even if that affects the short-term results.


Page offered a determinedly optimistic view of the figures. "I'm very excited about Google and our momentum, and I'm very, very optimistic about our future," he said. He insisted that the management transition Google announced three month ago is unfolding as planned, with Page overseeing day-to-day operations while Schmidt handles government relations and stalks possible acquisition targets in his new role as executive chairman.


If not for the cost of employee stock rewards, Google said it would have earned $8.08 a share. The company hired 1,916 staff, taking its workforce over 26,300. Half of the new staff are working on products and services to supplement search advertising, which makes most of Google's money.

Will Your Pension Be Enough

Pension is the amount one receives during retirement as a replacement of the income that was received during one's working life. Pension funds have been in existence for a long time, as institutional investors that help the private investor to amass pension for retirement. A knowledge of the sources of the funds is hereby discussed to help the investor to assess whether enough provision has been made before retirement.
There are broadly speaking two lots of pension schemes: personal and occupational. A personal pension scheme is an individual saving effort made to put aside money towards one's pension during retirement. Occupational pension scheme is associated with the workplace and takes two forms: non-contributory, and contributory. A non-contributory pension scheme involves the employer alone paying money into a pension fund towards the retirement of the employee, whereas the contributory kind has to do with the employee also contributing part of his income into the fund.

There are two types of occupational pension schemes: 'defined benefit', also known as 'final salary' and 'defined contribution', also called 'money purchase' scheme. A defined benefit scheme specifies the level of income the employee is entitle to during retirement. The level of income is based on what the final salary of the employee is at the time of retirement, as well as on the length of service in the firm. The money purchase kind does not specify the level of income, but depends on the contribution made by the employee towards the fund, as well as on how well the fund has fared and the annuity rate at the time of retirement.

State pension is always there to provide basic pension, and these other pensions, are to act as supplements. At the time of retirement, the lump sum accumulated in the pension fund for the employee is used to take out an annuity policy in an insurance company, which then ensures that a specified annual amount is paid regularly to the retiree during the entire retirement period.

With the state pension system in a mess it looks like 'define pension' scheme is what is needed by the employee. The irony is that this type of occupational pension scheme is gradually being wipe out of the system by employers because it is considered very expensive as well as time-consuming. If at the retirement time, the pension funds do not perform well enough or the annuity rates are not high enough to provide the level of income guaranteed by the employer in a 'defined benefit' scheme, the employer is supposed to top it up. This is very different from the 'money purchase' kind, in which the employer does not have to bother himself with the performance of the pension fund or level of annuities. It is not surprising that many employers are replacing 'defined benefit' pension schemes with the 'defined contribution' kind, to the detriment of the employee.

It is thus necessary for every employee to find out how much roughly his/her income will be during retirement, relate the figure to the sort of lifestyle anticipated, and if at all the pension will not be sufficient, start stashing some extra money away in a personal pension fund.

Every worker should endeavour to face realities, and not to lose himself/herself in abstraction, when considering pension for retirement. State pension has never been enough and they will never be. It is wise to know how much pension there will be and what is needed as top-up, to ensure an easy and comfortable retirement.

Selecting Your Pension Option At Retirement

How To Take Advantage Of What the Plan Is Assuming About You! For most individuals, their pension is a very significant part of the overall assets at time of their retirement along with their home, social security and some personal/retirement account savings.

In deciding how to take your pension among the choices offered under your pension plan, the fundamental decision is whether this pension asset needs to be available not only for yourself but for your spouse and/or other beneficiaries to live on after your death or to provide for some estate/inheritance that you wish to leave behind as well.

For this fundamental purpose, you may very well want to speak with your accountant/financial advisor. There are reasons why it may not be necessary to have your pension provide income to your spouse or beneficiaries. This may include the fact that your spouse has their own pension/retirement assets and doesn't need any portion of your retirement income or your pension is not a significant part of your overall combined assets. But this is not the situation for most individuals. For purposes of this section, it will be assumed that you want to provide continued income to your spouse from your pension or leave an estate and that you are trying to maximize those amounts by selecting your pension option in the most advantageous way. Given this as the goal, and based on the information described in the section What the Plan is assuming about you in charging you for selecting a pension option, you should consider the following factors in determining how to accomplish maximizing the value of your pension asset.