While Google awaits a verdict from the Federal Trade Commission on whether or not it intends to approve its proposed $750 million acquisition of AdMob, rumors have surfaced suggesting the search giant agreed to pay the mobile ad network a "kill fee" of up to $700 million if the deal doesn't close.

Giving advertisers visibility and control over their bids isn't lucrative for Google. It only encourages companies to minimize their CPC and maximize their profit. The lower your CPC, the lower Google's margin per click.

Google has always cared about search quality in dozens of languages, not just English. We’re trying a new experiment in webspam: we decided to identify five languages where we’d really like to drill down into webspam, solicit spam reports in those languages, and pay even more attention to spam reports in those languages over the next couple months. If you know of spam in these languages, we’d especially like to hear about it.

So we have a bio discovery company, a payment company, a translation service, an ad network, an interactive experience generator, a historical analysis company, a geo-gaming platform, a company that essentially exists to help others go green, another ad network, and a car company.

Verizon Wireless is teaming up with Google to work on a tablet computer, with the clear aim to rival the AT&T-carried iPad, Verizon CEO, according to a published report.

Citysearch wants to be in the consulting business. For years, the IAC-owned firm has been among the array of online ad sellers pitching their wares to small businesses. Not only are local business owners overwhelmed by all the complicated options available, they're increasingly worried about being stung by bad reviews or misinformation about their companies scattered across the Web.

As it turns a year old, OneRiot has removed the “beta” label from its real-time search engine, and simultaneously launched a new home page that focuses on trending topics. As you can see from the screenshot below, the site’s home page now offers a more compelling glance at what’s buzzing right now in the news.

According to Experian Hitwise's Global Search Indicators Report, Americans are readying "to put one foot back in the housing markets",... and according to SEW's chats with a few observers, Google is best placed to profit on the trend.

Since yesterday was Earth Day I though that The Planet Bag would be a fitting Free Shirt Friday for this week. These bags are heavyweight cotton designed to be used instead of plastic or paper bags when shopping. Unlike the cheap bags from the store these are sturdy and machine washable it also has two length of handles so you can put some over your shoulder and carry some in your hand with out dragging on the ground.

Google has two new logos up today, one on Google UK and another on Google Turkey. In the UK, they are celebrating St. George's Day and in Turkey they are celebrating Children's Day.