Google co-founder Sergey Brin seems to be finding his sea legs when it comes to philanthropy. Brin and his wife Anne Wojcicki have announced a $1 million gift to the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, a group which helped his family when he was just a little boy from the Soviet Union. The society provides protection and assistance to some of the most vulnerable refugee populations around the world and also offers information, training, and expert advice on immigration laws.

Sergey Brin has an estimated wealth of $16 billion but he and his wife are learning about what their money can do. They have given away $30 million so far to various organizations including the Michael J. Fox Foundation and other research organizations devoted to Parkinson's disease. In a NY Times article on the latest donation Brin cited Bill Gates' research-heavy philanthropic model as an inspiration.

The Brin family came to the U.S. 30 years ago and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society helped them leave the Soviet Union for the United States and assisted with getting them visas and tickets and giving them money (what an excellent return on their investment). Brin started social networking site, mystory.hias.org, on the society's website to for Russian Jewish immigrants to post their stories. The gift will be used for a variety of purposes including supporting advocacy on immigration policy.

Google has decided to let more U.S. advertisers use trademarked terms in ad text on search result pages as of June 15. For advertisers who want to promote the top brand names through Google keywords, the change being made by the search engine company is an opportunity but owners of prestige brands don't see it that way. They see use of their terms in Google's "Sponsored Link" ads is a trademark violation.

Under the old policy if a company wanted to advertise the brands they sell they may not have been able to use specific keywords. But now while that advertiser can promote brands he sells this also opens the window to all sorts of attempts at fraudulent advertising and the selling of counterfeit merchandise. According to Bloomberg, Google has said it will still "perform a limited investigation of reasonable complaints about use of trademarks in ads." Google's website instructs trademark owners to go after the advertisers themselves.

For luxury brands the keywords may not be as much of a problem as Google's own native search results. Do a search for Louis Vuitton and online retailers selling "replica" bags are right there on the front page, no advertising required. Louis Vuitton parent company LVMH has already taken on Google in French court over a long and involved trademark- infringement lawsuit in Europe which is ongoing.

Another week, another Louis Vuitton lawsuit. This time Louis Vuitton is taking on Google in the European Court of Justice. When a person googles a brand name they can see paid search results which can belong to companies selling similar bags or replica bags and counterfeits. Parent company LVMH says that Google shouldn't be allowed to sell those brand name search words to other advertisers and that they should belong only to the brand that licenses them.

Google has already appealed the case after a French court ruled that it had violated trademark rights which is why it has been kicked up to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. Google lawyer Alexandra Neri has said that Google only makes money when a person clicks on the ad and that: "The decision to click or not to click belongs to who -- clearly to the Internet user."

Certain words are blocked from being chosen as keywords in France and according to Bloomberg, when Google's French unit receives proof of a registered trademark it then adds it to the blocked list. In the U.S., Google blocks advertisements that include protected trademarks but LVMH has said Google didn't act quickly enough and only makes a move when it is told there is an infraction (this sounds a lot like LVMH's complaints with eBay over the policing of their site).

This case will take a while, the advocate general on the case is expected to give a non-binding opinion by June 4 but the final ruling may not come until the end of the year.

H21 LLC, the company controlled by Google's top executives, to manage their planes, has added an interesting new purchase, a Dornier Alpha Jet. What does Google need with a fighter jet?

The NY Times reports that the Alpha Jet is being outfitted with scientific instruments for NASA missions. H21 LLC already has an agreement with NASA to fly out of Moffett Field which is located near the Google campus. The plane will be used by the Google executives' pilots would use the Dornier Alpha Jet mainly for "training and pilot proficiency."

Last year,H21 LLC signed a contract with NASA giving them rights to use Moffett Field with NASA receiving $1.3 million in rent every year and the right to put scientific instruments on the planes for use by its researchers. It turned out they couldn't make the necessary alterations to the existing planes without getting new certifications from the Federal Aviation Administration each time. Because the Alpha Jet is considered an experimental aircraft and not a passenger jet it is not subject to the same restrictions.

Google.org recently announced its investment of over $10 million in "breakthrough geothermal energy" to further its goal to develop clean energy alternatives to coal. Functioning as the philanthropic arm of Google (effectively the 1% co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin initially pledged toward global concerns), Google.org has already donated or invested over $85 million across five focus areas which include renewable energy and the improvement of public services.

If you're into videos about geothermal energy, check out this one. It's all about drilling for energy in the Australian outback. You'll learn words and phrases such as "exajoules" and "distributed indigenous nature" -- just in time for your Labor Day cocktail parties!

Google co-founder Sergey Brin has announced he'll be join the ranks of the ultra-wealthy booking a space flight. Brin's date with the sky will be in 2011 when he will be one of the passengers aboard Russian Soyuz rocket. Brin has put down a $5 million deposit with Space Adventures, a company which has already sent five tourists into space for $20 to $35 million each. Brin is the first of six founding members of an "Orbital Mission Explorers Circle" who will each contribute $5 million to pay for the company to launch its first private mission to the International Space Station. Visitors to the space station may be allowed to take their own space experiments with them.

Google has previously demonstrated an interest in space travel, funding the Google Lunar X Prize, a $25 million competition to get a spacecraft to the moon.

It's official, as of this weekend both of Google's billionaire co-founders will be off the market. Larry Page will marry his girlfriend, Lucy Southworth this weekend (his parter-in-search Sergey Brin married earlier this year). Page and Southworth are getting married on Richard Branson's private playground, Necker Island, in the Caribbean and Richard Branson will serve as Page's best man.

The NY Post's Page Six reports that the wedding is a "logistical nightmare" because planners have to coordinate lavish places to stay for all of Page and Southworth's 600 guests which are said to include the Clintons, Bono and a whole gaggle of billionaires. The wedding hasn't just taken over Branson's island, most guests will be staying at Little Dix Bay Resort on Virgin Gorda with boats and ferries being pressed into service to get the guests over to Necker Island. Page is also booking private jets to fly guests in from all around the world.

There are different breeds of millionaire in the world, and one of the latest to develop is the "Googlaire." It refers to that exclusive group of people (estimated at around a few hundred) that have come into money and new lifestyles as a result of striking gold with Google stock options. And although some are obviously blowing their money frivolously and will soon have dwindled it down, there are many who are finding a nice balance between fun (buying dream homes and dream cars) and responsibility (investing the money for the future and starting businesses).

Good to know the Google founders, with their fleet of over-sized private jets and countless other amenities, aren't the only ones getting rich!

There are cougars and kittens in the world of dating but in the world of billionaires there is young, old and "wow, people live that long?". Sixteen billionaires have hit the ripe old age of 90 as of this month and they are an elite crowd for sure. But they weren't born with silver spoons in their mouths. Most began in traditional roles of agriculture, banking and oil spending their 20's and 30's toiling and moving up the ladder. Only three of the sixteen were handed their fortunes such as David Rockefeller. Compare that to the young billionaire group who are mostly tech driven like Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page and you will see the distinct difference. The good thing to note is that for all of us working our hearts out at average paid jobs we have another 60 years to get it right and strike it rich!

Those Google guys must really be into over-sized private jets, because they're at it again! Apparently having 3 private jets, including a Boeing 767, with landing rights on NASA's Moffett Airfield wasn't good enough for them as they've now added a Boeing 757 to their ever-growing fleet.

Although smaller than the 767 they already have, obviously the 757 is still a large aircraft. Why does Google need so much in the way of wings? Who knows really, but a move like this sure is to get people talking.

Google is getting more and more famous for spoiling and splurging on its employees every day it seems. A couple of years ago the two founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, made headlines when they purchased a used Boeing 767 which they converted to a large customized private jet. Now they're making headlines again as they have negotiated a $1.3 million deal to with NASA to both use the Moffett Field runway and to have parking spaces for Google's over-sized private Boeing jet and 2 other smaller jets. The Google execs get an exclusive parking spot within mere minutes of headquarters, and NASA gets both the annual income and the chance to put scientists on board Google flights for research purposes.

All the other high rollers in the area are just drooling with envy.

Ahh, GPS systems are so passé all by themselves. Why bother with all that programming when you can simply send the directions to your car from Google or Yahoo! Maps?

Mercedes-Benz appears to be the first automaker to implement the idea, which simply involves sending the directions to your car, pressing the i-button and either loading up the directions or saving them for later via the Mercedes-Benz Tele Aid System.

According to Mercedes-Benz, the Search & Send is available starting on the 2007 S-Class, CL-Class, and 2008 C-Class with the Multimedia Package and Navigation System.

Hot on the heels of my post two days ago, reader Nick is quick to point out his own post on the 767 recently acquired by Google's Brin and Page and how it measures up to other rides of famous CEOs.  The post shows how the 48.5m Googlejet stacks up next to Microsoft's Paul Allen's 757 and Oracle's Larry Ellison's Gulfstream V and is rife with conspicuous sexual innuendo.  Absent, however, are the lengths of Allen's Octopus at 127m or the 138m Rising Sun owned by Ellison.

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have gotten in some legal hot water over the design of their 767-200 that they're trying to have outfitted.  First, there was arguing between the two Google guys as to who go what room and what to put in them, as well as silly things such as hammocks in a plane and the overall party nature of the jet in general.  Then, the designer was terminated from the project for not properly doing his work, and even more lawsuits fly.  Either way, the 767 is gorgeous, and if you're in the San Antonio area, it may still be over by the Piedmont Hawthorne hangar at SAT, so swing by and take a look, it was there a month ago.

The Google guys really seem to be enjoying their cash. They splurged on a plane and now Decanter reports that Larry Page and Sergey Brin threw a late night party for the participants of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The Google guys served their guests Château Margaux 1979, Château Gruaud Larose 1989  and magnums of 1990 Krug Champagne (regular size bottles sell for upwards of $200). The evening's menu included Belon oysters and Spanish Bellota ham. With Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Bono in attendance this year, Davos was clearly the place to be last week.