The Google blog is too chunky. Words, words, words, words. All we need to know is "Australian Froogle Launched". The entry titles are too ambiguous as well. Keep it simple.

All you need is those words. But maybe there is a market for super slimmed down news. I would say: create such a site!

For a longer rant on the Google blog take a look at...
gugli.wordpress.com/2006/11/27 ...

:)

But I like the idea of an ultra-short blog giving nutshells only... maybe titles only!

"Pope visits Turkey. Turkey not impressed."

God it's not that bad – it's only for reading, not to enjoy the design. To be honest, I dont think a "Google CPG" style blog would work.

Mambo, the main point was not about the design but the content and the way it is conveyed. And it matters what and how _The_ Google Blog says: one can expect the main source to present and aggregate better.
Why can the SEW blog link to an original post on BookSearch (slate.com/id/2153313/?nav=tap3), and why does the official post taste dry (googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/0 ...
or
googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/1 ...)

I think going further than mere product promotion, and bringing news first rather than last would mean a lot of difference (see the Tecnorati poularity of the blog). Or else, the blog should be renamed Promo/ Tutorial etc. to lower expectations.

Matt's, Philipp's blogs are blogs indeed: community, interaction, news with a perspective, mixture, relevance etc. As Google is getting bigger developing corporate communication (through blogs, _the_ blog too) is all the more needed, in my opinion.