Google's Dark Day

Looks as if Google's (GOOG) got three brand-new reason to hate Mondays. Today was a hat trick of unpleasant news for the search giant, and while much of the news was fairly predictable, it's hardly a good start to the week.

Let's start with Google Book Search, the company's grand project to digitally scan and archive virtually every book in the history of human knowledge. What initially sounded like a public service grew a little tainted as people began to realize that Google planned to sell copies of "orphan books," or books that are still protected by copyright but out of print. The Author's Guild and the Association of American Publishers promptly sued to stop the project, and Google has settled with the plaintiffs by offering $45 million in compensation for the copyrights. That, in turn, prompted scrutiny by the Justice Department, as critics began to claim that Google had just bought itself a monopoly on all the orphan books in the world. Now the feds have formally declared that they have begun an inquiry into whether Google's Book Search deal violates the Sherman Antitrust Act. According to Greg Sterling at Search Engine Land, the feds will formally present their conclusions on Sept. 19, and Federal Judge Denny Chin will hear the case on Oct. 7.

Meanwhile, Google's dynamic new operating system Android has just run into a rare stumbling block. In addition to Motorola, HTC, and host of cell phone manufacturers, Nokia was understood to be developing a smartphone based on Android. But today, a Nokia representative told the press that the company had no plans at all for an Android phone. Just in case the rumors still had some legs, a Nokia spokesman emphatically reiterated that there was "absolutely no truth to this whatsoever." So scratch one company off the list of Android lovers.

Finally, Disney has finally begun posting movies and television shows on Hulu, adding to the repertoire of content you can't watch on YouTube. A few months back, it looked as though Disney and Google were inching close to a deal to post content on YouTube, but Disney was just playing Google for a sucker while it negotiated a bigger equity stake in Hulu. As Silicon Alley Insider's Nicholas Carlson notices, starting today, Hulu viewers can watch selected episodes of Grey's Anatomy, one ABC's most popular offerings.

Sheesh. Here's hoping Tuesday will look a little better ...