Google CEO Eric Schmidt waxes philosophical about the challenges of running a global enterprise. Don't believe everything you read in the press: Schmidt said that Google is not immune to the problems facing other global companies. "In fact, Google faces them faster because of our growth," he said, before taking a stab at Microsoft: "And a poorly run company will either deny those challenges exist, which is just stupidity, but people do it, or they will fail to address them. They won't have a forum. In other words, they'll keep doing their old thing." Leadership is always the most important …

Hulu.com, the Web video venture from News Corp. and NBC Universal, is reporting surprisingly good usage numbers. On Tuesday, CEO Jason Kilar announced that its service would be distributed on seven new sites, in addition to reporting that usage of Hulu.com surpassed that of other television network Web sites, including those owned by News Corp. and NBC, its founders. Its new distribution partners are TV.com, TVGuide.com, BuddTV.com, Flixster.com, MyYearbook.com, Break.com and Zap2it.com. "While it is extremely early in terms of Hulu's history of serving users, we're quite excited to see such positive trends in Hulu's growth and viewership," Kilar …

When Microsoft execs gather with advertisers and publishers at the software giant's annual advertising summit this week, they will be asked to explain how the company plans to move forward without Yahoo. Even if Microsoft goes on to acquire a piece of Yahoo, as the rumor goes, it will still have to explain what senior management meant when they said the company's near-term growth strategy is to grow organically, rather than to acquire any third parties. As Brian McAndrews, senior VP of Microsoft's Advertiser and Publisher Solutions group, tells Ad Age, "Yahoo was not a strategy. Yahoo fit into our …

Google has started offering Google Health, a foray into offering personal health records on the Web. In development for over a year, Google Health was recently tested during a two-month trial at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. The trial was quickly oversubscribed, one of the Clinic's doctors said, finding that his patients were eager to use the Google health records. In fact, once Google matched its records to those of the clinic, the doctor said patients used the clinic's records more frequently. "It positioned our personal health record more into an activity that they use every day," he said. …

As Microsoft and Yahoo continue to discuss an unspecified relationship, Forbes.com's Brian Caulfield makes the case that uniting in the battle for control of the mobile phone could be every bit as important as a search combination to the two companies, who face fierce competition from Google on both fronts. In the mobile market, Microsoft has negotiated with handset makers to get Windows Mobile on their phones, while Yahoo has done an even better job negotiating with the carriers to get exclusive placement for its mobile applications on their networks. Google, meanwhile, is forcing its way into both markets …