Peter Kafka

Recent Posts by Peter Kafka

Google: Less Unhappy Days Are Here Again

eric-schmidtAnother vote for the “we’ve seen the worst of the recession” camp: Google (GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt, talking to reporters at the big advertising festival in Cannes, says the economy should start picking up in a few months. Reuters:

A U.S. recovery is likely to begin this autumn, the worst of the crisis has passed and it is “reasonable to be optimistic for 2010,” internet search giant Google’s chief executive Eric Schmidt said on Friday.

Speaking at the Cannes Lions advertising festival in southern France, Schmidt said U.S. jobless claims indicated “the beginning of the bottom.” “The rate of jobless claims is decreasing although the absolute number is increasing,” he explained.

Schmidt also acknowledged that Microsoft’s (MSFT) Bing search engine exists and that his company has looked at what Redmond has done, but refused to say the company was shaking in its boots. Seems reasonable enough.

I’ll add more from Schmidt’s appearance if I can find reports, but I’m not holding my breath. AdWeek’s Brian Morrisey, reporting from France via Twitter, says Schmidt gave even more restrained answers than he typically does at these things.

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