how much google stuff can you use... can you use their logos and stuff to jazz up the page? any exceptions? thanks
If you do a search on Google, you should get similar sites with what you're intending to do, I believe. I'm pretty sure you can use their logo, just make sure it's obvious that you're not using it to represent one of your "products". Hmm, these blogs are getting more and more common these days .
As long as you're not using the Google logo to sell a product, you should be fine. I'm sure in an informative blog Google would have no problem with it.
Somewhere in google (here I think http://www.google.co.uk/permissions/trademarks.html) there is a sction about using the logos. It says you can use them providing you ask them first and show them where you are using it. I used it on a few newsletters and they were fine about it - after all so long as your not doing anything funny its extra branding for them.
If you're doing reviews/helpful guide type blog, most trademarked images easily fall under the fair use act. I wouldn't worry about it.
Jack - I am an avid reader of your posts (maybe its the avatar lol) and I reckon after a slow start I am up to about 85% agreeing with them. However this may not be that simple. I think this board is "worldwide" - to the best of my knowledge we dont have such a thing as a "fair use act" in the Uk and that is probably true in a lot of other countries too. In Googles case they state quite clearly (see the link in my previous post) that you should ask them first - I would suggest that better advice would be to follow that course of action.
Google can state anything they want, but they are an American company, based in America, and they, too, have to abide by the Fair Use Act.