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Google Art Project Welcomes the AGO as the First Canadian Museum in Its Collection

For just over a year now, Google has been hard at work pulling together an enormous online collection of high-resolution images, paintings and other pieces of art from museums and galleries around the world.

The Google Art Project currently features works of art from 151 galleries in 40 countries worldwide, which now includes Canada’s own Art Gallery of Ontario. The AGO is the very first Canadian gallery to pair up with Google for project and has already contributed 58 pieces of European and Canadian art to the project’s collection.

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Google Joins HootSuite and Adobe in Attempting to Quantify Social Media ROI

Google has launched new social reports that aim to quantify the return of investment of social media. Phil Mui, Google Analytics group product manager, says that Google wants to "tie social activities and referrals to measurable, meaningful economic value so businesses can more effectively evaluate which social channels are impacting their bottom line, and which tactics will lead to measurable economic value."

But Google isn't the only one attempting this. Vancouver startup HootSuite partnered with Adobe recently in an effort to accomplish the same goal.

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$3.38 Billion Bell-Astral Deal Includes Astral Advertising For Cross-Media Sync Mix

The Bell-Astral $3.38 billion dollar proposed merger dominated headlines last week and I was even asked to appear on CBC Radio. However, it's an extremely complicated deal- so complicated that the producers at CBC decided to speak with lawyers instead on whether or not the deal should be approved by the CRTC!

Regardless, the proposed merger also includes Astral Advertising which brings into question whether Bell Media would now be able to compete with part of Google's strategy in mobile advertising known as synchronized cross-media advertising.

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Android Market is Now Officially Called the 'Google Play Store'

Google's digital storefront, the Android Market, is being re-branded. The store, which sells mobile apps in addition to online content such as music and books, will now be called the "Google Play Store."

We guess that's why Google was snapping up "play" domains last week. Google says it's making the change to clarify that the Android Market sells more than just Android apps, much like how iTunes sells so much more than iOS apps for iPhones and iPads.

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RIM Won't be Happy to Learn That Google's New Tablet May be Called 'Play'

Waterloo-based Research In Motion launched the BlackBerry PlayBook, known effectively as just "PlayBook," in April last year. It was not a name that everyone liked, but it was definitely different than all the "pad" and "tab" names for tablets, such as the iPad and Galaxy Tab.

So surely, RIM will not be pleased to learn that Google—who is planning to launch its own-branded tablet, much like it did with the Google Nexus smartphone lineup—may be called the Google Play. The tablet, which could go into production as soon as next month, could have the word "play" in its title after it was noticed that the software giant was registering a bunch of particular domain names this week.

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Oops: Google's New Privacy Policy Breaks the Law

European Union Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding has stated that Google's new privacy policy is in breach of European law. Data protection agencies came to this conclusion after observing a severe lack of transparency on Google's part, among other "deeply concerning" issues.

Google, which says its change in policy is based on "simplifying things," has not made it possible for users to opt out. The company also failed to consult with justice and privacy commissioners. And Google's new policy allows it to give away the private data of users to third parties - unbeknownst to users.

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The Average User Spends Seven Hours Per Month on Facebook. For Google+? Three Minutes

As Google continues to shove its social network, Google+, down users' throats, the concept of engagement—a rather crucial component of a social community—seems totally lost on the seemingly socially inept company. While it boastfully claims nearly 100 million users worldwide, mostly drawn from those inadvertently signing up while using other Google products, Google+ remains a virtual ghost town.

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WAR: Microsoft Directly Attacks Google in New Ad [VIDEO]

It's a war of the tech titans. The "Don't Be Evil" Google, which has been taking a lot of flack during the past year for questionable activity—most recently circumventing Apple's Safari settings—seems to be getting under the skin of its biggest enemies these days. While the battle with Apple in the mobile space is far from over, the search engine giant must now contend with Microsoft's latest round of attacks as well: an ad campaign that takes pretty obvious shots at the company's practices. 

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Tech Companies Manage Their Reputations Well, Apple Does it Best [STUDY]

Apple has the very best corporate reputation score among all major brands and companies in America, according to Harris. The firm's 2012 Reputation Quotient survey uncovered this year's best reputations and, once again, technology companies performed well overall.

At the top was Apple, a clear leader with a score well above 85 out of 100. In second was Google at just under 83. Amazon, in fourth place, is the third tech company in the top five with a score of nearly 82. Last year, Google was first overall, with Apple in 5th and Amazon in 8th.

It's worth noting that Apple's score of almost 86 is the highest score ever awarded to any company in 13 years of Harris polling. Apple's one-year leap is also among the greatest ever, and is particularly impressive during a year that saw most companies stagnate or drop in score.

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