• June 20, 2007

With politicians like New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Presidential candidates John Edwards and John McCain now making the "Googleplex" a mandatory stop on the national press-the-flesh circuit, the search giant has launched a new public policy blog to showcase both those visits and Google's own views on such issues as privacy, child online safety, copyright and trademark protection, content regulation, reform of the patent system, and broadband policy.

The blog launched on Monday, but contains two months worth of previously internal-only postings. And it's chock full of YouTube videos, not only of the politicians passing through, but of Google execs testifying on Capital Hill.

"We're seeking to do public policy advocacy in a Googley way," wrote Andrew McLaughlin, Google's director of public policy and government affairs, in an introductory posting on Monday. "We want our users to be part of the effort, to know what we're saying and why, and to help us refine and improve our policy positions and advocacy strategies. With input and ideas from our users, we'll surely do a better job of fighting for our common interests."