Google rolls out 3-D maps for Android Android smart phone users will now be able to browse maps in 3-D, even when their Internet connection is on the fritz. Google announced the launch of Google Maps 5.0 for Android on Thursday. The new-generation app uses vector graphics… Read more on Los Angeles Times

Take a tour of Google SketchUp and learn how to make a 3D model of a house using components, shapes, push/pull, materials, and shadows. Model anything you can imagine. Download Google SketchUp at sketchup.google.com

Google Exec: Android is Profitable Android’s chief architect offers some good news about Android and some strong advice and some criticism for competitors. Read more on PC Magazine via Yahoo! News

Three reasons Google wants Groupon Is $5.3 billion an astronomical amount to get the popular deal-a-day web site? Not really. Here’s why. Read more on CNN Money

EU launches anti-trust inquiry into Google European regulators have launched an anti-trust investigation into Google over whether it “has abused a dominant position in search”, in what some experts have called a “crucial moment” for the internet giant. Read more on Independent

Google Takes Mobile Search Fight To Microsoft’s Doorstep Google introduced a mobile search application for Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 platform to compete with Bing. Read more on InformationWeek

IAC bows to Google, kills search at Ask.com A search pioneer but an afterthought for years, Ask.com no longer plans to work on its own search technology and will focus on its Q&A site. Read more on CNET

China launches own version of Google Earth China has launched an official online mapping service as US Internet giant Google continues to hold out on applying for a licence to provide a similar service in the country, state media said Friday. Read more on AFP via Yahoo! Singapore News

Google king of online ads SAN FRANCISCO – INDUSTRY tracker SearchIgnite said on Tuesday that Google has tightened its powerful grip on US internet advertising revenue but a Bing-Yahoo! alliance is fielding a viable challenge. Google’s share of spending on pay-per-click (PPC) advertising at online search services grew to 80 per cent in the third [...]

Google Drives Itself to Distraction Why is Google wasting its time with self-driving cars? Read more on PC World