When Google went public in 2004, many people scoffed at its "Don't be evil" credo. Now, the search juggernaut is putting its money where its motto it.

The Mountain View-money machine today announced a new philanthropic program designed to "make the world a better place" and it pledged $25 million to do so.

While this initiative may seem like a publicity stunt—and there certainly is a public relations angle to today's news—Sheryl Sandberg, Google's vice president of global online sales and operations said the company is serious about its commitment and suggested that skeptics wait and see before criticizing. "This is just the beginning," she said on a conference call after the announcement. "You all are going to have to hold us accountable for producing results."

In the company's formal statement on the matter, she said: "In their first Letter from the Founders (2004), Larry Page and Sergey Brin said that we wanted to 'make Google an institution that makes the world a better place.' The work of Google.org will help us do that by applying Google's strengths in organizing information and scaling technology to these complex issues."

Google's initiative is being funneled through the web search leader's philanthropic arm, Google.org, which is run by Larry Brilliant. On a conference call with reporters, Brilliant paid homage to the work of other major philanthropists, including Bill Gates of Microsoft.

What's refreshing about Google's announcement is that it represents an attempt by a group of young people—read Generation X and below—to leverage the company's enormous wealth to influence public policy. The import of today's news is less about he $25 million pledge, and more about the example that Google is setting for corporate America.

"We're at the starting gun," Brilliant told reporters, describing Google.org. "We're brand new. We're young. And we're just getting to the starting line.

"It's not just money that we're talking about," Brilliant added, but more about leveraging the expertise of the company's engineers to help address global problems. "We look at Google and we say, 'What does Google have to offer?'"

Sandberg, without apparent irony, added: "We realize that we're a small player, but we hope to be a catalyst to solve the world's problems."

Google's market capitalization now stands at $191 billion.

by Sam Gustin

Following is the text of Google.org's press release:

Predict and Prevent

Google.org supports efforts to empower communities to predict and prevent events before they become local, regional, or global crises, by identifying "hot spots" and enabling a rapid response. Rapid ecological and social changes are increasing the risk of emerging threats, from infectious diseases to drought and other environmental disasters. Google.org is initially focused on Southeast Asia and tropical Africa. In Southeast Asia, a hot spot for SARS and potentially bird flu, Google.org is working with partners to strengthen early warning systems and build local capacities to prevent the next pandemic. Initial grants include:

$5 million to InSTEDD (Innovative Support to Emergencies, Diseases and Disasters) to improve early detection, preparedness, and response capabilities for global health threats and humanitarian crises. InSTEDD will work with the community of relief and response organizations, governments, academia and top scientists around the world to address gaps in information flow with software and other technology-based tools and services. Acting as an innovation laboratory, InSTEDD aims to support the humanitarian community in preparing for and responding to global public health emergencies, working together towards a safer world. For more information, see instedd.org/.

$2.5 million to the Global Health and Security Initiative (GHSI), established by the Nuclear Threat Initiative to prevent, detect, and respond to biological threats. Google.org's support will help GHSI to strengthen national and sub-regional disease surveillance systems through workforce training and better laboratory capacity in the Mekong Basin area (Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Yunnan province, China). For more information, see ghsi.org/.

More than $600,000 to Clark University, with equal funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, for Clark Labs to develop a system to improve monitoring, analysis and prediction of the impacts of climate variability and change on ecosystems, food and health in Africa and the Amazon. This system is a prototype platform to deploy global environmental, health, and development data, information and analysis tools that the global community can freely access over the Internet. For more information, see clarklabs.org/.

Inform and Empower to Improve Public Services

Google.org works with partners to improve the flow of vital information to improve basic services for the poor in India and East Africa. In many countries in the developing world, essential public services are failing, especially for the poorest members of society. Google.org supports efforts to provide information to empower citizens and communities, providers, and policy makers to improve the delivery of essential public services such as education, health, water and sanitation. Initial grants include:

$2 million to Pratham, a non-governmental organization in India, to create an independent institute that will conduct the Nationwide Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) as well as large scale assessments in the education sector. Our goal is to expand these types of assessments to other sectors. For more information, see pratham.org/.

• $765,000 to the Centre for Budget and Policy Studies, a Bangalore-based analysis group, to create a Budget Information Service for local governments to facilitate better district- and municipal-level level planning in India. For more information, see cbpsindia.org/.

• $660,000 to the Center for Policy Research, an action oriented think tank based in India, to increase the debate and discourse on issues of urban local governance and urban service delivery. With the rapid expansion of cities in India, our goal is to provide policy makers the necessary information to make more informed decisions. For more information, see cprindia.org/.

Fuel the Growth of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Google.org supports efforts to lower transaction costs to invest in SMEs, create opportunities to access larger financial markets and make investments in this sector. SMEs are critical for inclusive economic growth and job creation in the developing world, but lack the capital and tools necessary to succeed. Many micro-enterprises and most large businesses have access to capital through microfinance institutions, banks and capital markets, but SMEs remain extraordinarily underserved, creating a "missing middle." Google.org wants to help increase the flow of capital to "the missing middle" by tackling some of the root causes that prevent these firms from becoming profitable investment opportunities.

TechnoServe is an initial partner: $4.7 million grant to TechnoServe to provide general support to expand TechnoServe's efforts to support enterprises, spur job creation, and strengthen poverty alleviation programs globally, and to develop and implement a business plan competition to support entrepreneurs in Ghana and Tanzania. For more information see technoserve.org/.

These three new efforts join two climate change related initiatives announced earlier this year:

• Develop Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal (RE<C)

This cross-Google collaboration has set a goal of producing one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal, within years not decades. The initiative, known as RE<C, was launched in November 2007 and will focus initially on advanced solar thermal power, wind power technologies, enhanced geothermal systems and other potential breakthrough technologies. For more information on Google's commitment to a clean energy future, see google.com/renewable-energy. As part of the RE<C initiative, Google.org is supporting strategic investments, including:

$10 million to eSolar, a Pasadena, California-based company specializing in solar thermal power which replaces the fuel in a traditional power plant with heat produced from solar energy. eSolar's technology has great potential to produce utility-scale power cheaper than coal. Google announced its intention to work closely with eSolar in November, and has now closed the investment deal. For more information, please visit http://www.google.com/corporate/green/energy/esolar.pdf.

• Accelerate the Commercialization of Plug-In Vehicles (RechargeIT)

RechargeIT is a Google.org initiative that aims to reduce CO2 emissions, cut oil use and stabilize the electrical grid by accelerating the adoption of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid technology. Google.org launched a $10 million request for investment proposals this Fall, and will invest amounts ranging from $500,000 to $2 million in selected for-profit companies whose innovative approach, team and technologies will enable widespread commercialization of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, electric vehicles and/or vehicle-to-grid solutions.

Unlike conventional philanthropies, Google.org is a hybrid organization, giving it the flexibility either to make direct grants or invest in for-profit companies that might yield returns. Google.org can also lobby public officials in favor of policies supporting its goals.

• Additional Google Giving Beyond the grants and investments announced today.

Under Google.org's core initiatives, Google will continue its philanthropic work through programs to leverage Google products for non-profits, including: Google Grants(tm), which donates free ads to non-profits; Google Apps(tm), which provides free, web-based services to non-profits; and contributions from departments including Google Earth(tm), which offers mapping to monitor events such as the crisis in Darfur.