Posted 11/10/09 at 05:55:54 PM by Ryan Whitwam

Just yesterday we told you about the Microsoft’s ad campaign that could get you free WiFi. Google had no intention of taking that lying down apparently. The Search giant has announced plans to offer free wireless internet access in 47 airports across the country now through January 15th, 2010. The program is being facilitated by wireless providers like Boingo Wireless and Advanced Wireless Group.

"We're very happy to extend our Holiday Wi-Fi gift to the millions of people who will spend time in airports over the next few months," said Marissa Mayer, VP of User Experience at Google. With all the travel that comes with the holiday season, many people rely on wireless connectivity to keep in touch.

When a user logs on to the free Google provided WiFi, they will be presented with the option to donate to Engineers Without Borders, the One Economy Corporation or the Climate Savers Computing Initiative. Google will match the donations up to $250,000. The Microsoft deal is a straight up promotion, whereas this is just plain charity. Check out the full list of airports here. Happy holidays from Google!

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Posted 11/09/09 at 06:48:48 PM by Ryan Whitwam

Microsoft's Bing and JiWire have a proposition for you. Free WiFi in exchange for using Bing. Interested? The promotion would give users free Internet access at participating hotspots if they do just one search with Bing. In conjunction with JiWire’s advertising network, Microsoft will be extending the offer to various hotels and airports.

The campaign was started in September at several thousand locations. It managed to attract between 30 and 40 percent of visitors to the hotspots. This is extremely high, as most ads only get interaction from 0.1 to 0.2 percent of people. Microsoft reportedly plans to continue with the promotion, which is a part of JiWire’s Ads for Access campaign. The campaign allows companies to give customers something in exchange for their time. This can be taking a survey, watching a video ad, or (in this case) using the Bing search engine.

The next time you’re in an airport, keep an eye out for these ads. It could get you free access courtesy of a certain Redmond software giant.

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Posted 08/29/08 at 04:23:03 PM by Pulkit Chandna

The abandoned remains of EarthLink’s ambitious free WiFi service are scattered across various U.S cities. Many of the WiFi networks that EarthLink founded have been rescued by private investors and saved from their inevitable demise. The latest savior happens to be Google, which has decided to run the WiFi network in Milpitas. It has joined hands with I-Net Solutions and a few others to save the network. There will be no access fee unlike the time when EarthLink ran this particular network . The Milpitas network didn't figure on EarthLink's list of free WiFi networks.

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