Washington - As one of the top overall contributors to the Obama campaign and inauguration, Internet search giant Google (NASD: GOOG) now plans to begin wielding some of its new-found influence in Washington, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Washington - Google (NASD: GOOG) and Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) have extended the Wednesday deadline proposed to give federal regulators time to examine their proposed online advertising partnership, according to reports. Google CEO Eric Schmidt told reporters in Florida after a campaign appearance with Sen. Barack Obama that the company has agreed to extend its discussions with the Justice Dept., Reuters reported.

New York - Google (NASD: GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt has announced that he will back Sen. Barack Obama, and join him on the campaign trail starting with an event in Florida on Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Mountain View, Calif. - In the absence of any official opposition from regulators, Google (NASD: GOOG) plans to go ahead with its proposed search advertising deal with Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) less than a month from now, CNET News.com reported, citing statements by Google CEO Eric Schmidt in a meeting with reporters at its headquarters.

Or is the Google CEO crazy like a fox? He certainly has been talking some crazy smack lately about Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Yahoo, as in this recent exchange in Portfolio in which me suggests that a Microsoft/Yahoo combo might "break the Internet":

Mountain View, Calif. - Google (NASD: GOOG) announced on Monday the development of Android, an open platform for mobile devices that will support Google's applications and services, and is being created in collaboration with T-Mobie, HTC, Qualcomm, Motorola and over 30 other firms.

Las Vegas - Google will soon implement a filter on its YouTube video-sharing site to prevent the uploading of copyrighted material, according to comments made by CEO Eric Schmidt at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference on Monday, CNET News.com reported.

The guys at iInnovate posted a lovely interview with Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google. Among the topics they covered were:
Anti-trust (with a beautiful deke to create “time and space” as we say in hockey),
Innovation, Competitive advantages, Motivation of entrepreneurs, Maintaining the entrepreneurial spirit, Traditional and non-traditional organization design, What Microsoft and Yahoo does that impresses him and Invention of disruptive technologies. My favorite line was: “You don’t learn very much when you yourself are talking.”

San Francisco - Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said Wednesday that adding anti-piracy technologies to its YouTube video-sharing site and other services is "one of the company's highest priorities," and added that such copyright protection will be launched shortly, Reuters reported.