With Google’s NZ election gadget, political information now accessible at a glance

AUCKLAND, 8 October 2008 – Google has launched a new online gadget (www.google.co.nz/election2008) that enables New Zealanders to keep up with political information and election news on their homepage.

Google’s New Zealand election gadget for iGoogle, Google’s personalised homepage, helps New Zealanders follow the 2008 election with the latest news, videos, blog posts, and official policies and newsfeeds, inclusive of all 10 political parties currently represented in Parliament. It can be accessed through a web browser or internet-enabled mobile phone.

The announcement comes with less than a week to go for New Zealanders to submit video questions to Helen Clark and John Key through YouTube (www.youtube.co.nz/debate) for the ONE News YouTube Election Debate taking place on Tuesday, October 14.

“Google's mission is to make information more accessible – this includes political information,” says Alan Noble, Head of Engineering, Google Australia & New Zealand.

“New Zealanders have become accustomed to using the internet as a valuable source of information at their fingertips. With just one month until election day, more and more Kiwis are going online to search for a wide cross-section of political news and comment to help them decide who will get their vote on 8 November.

“This gadget makes sourcing this information easier than ever, with a wide range of relevant information, news and comment available in one place.”

The New Zealand election gadget features four tabs: News, Videos, Blogs and Official content feeds. These content feeds can be from “All Parties and Leaders” or specifically from the Labour Party, National Party, ACT, Green Party, Kiwi Party, Maori Party, NZ First, Pacific Party, Progressive Party or United Future.

Google’s homepage (www.google.co.nz) will this week be running a special link to the election gadget, and it is also available directly at www.google.co.nz/election2008

About iGoogle
iGoogle, Google's personalised homepage, lets users customise their internet experience, choosing the content they're most interested in seeing. As well as political information, users can access weather forecasts, movie times, play games or read the latest news, all directly from their homepage. For more, please visit http://www.google.co.nz/ig.

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About Google Inc.
Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top Web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall Web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

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