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Google's Page: We should be building great things that don't exist

Larry Page, CEO of the online giant, says instead of focusing on negativity and always having to win, companies should be doing more to advance the Web and technology.

Shara Tibken Former managing editor
Shara Tibken was a managing editor at CNET News, overseeing a team covering tech policy, EU tech, mobile and the digital divide. She previously covered mobile as a senior reporter at CNET and also wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. Shara is a native Midwesterner who still prefers "pop" over "soda."
Shara Tibken
Watch this: Google CEO Larry Page: 'We should be building great things that don't exist'
The technology industry should be moving faster to address opportunities instead of constantly battling each other, Google's chief executive said Wednesday.

Instead of "building great things that don't exist," some companies focus too much on negativity and one-upping each other, Larry Page said at the Google I/O developers conference in San Francisco.

"Every story I read about Google is us versus some other company or some stupid thing," Page said. "Being negative is not how we make progress. The most important things are not zero sum. There is a lot of opportunity out there."

He criticized Microsoft for "milking off" of Google for its own benefit. Page noted Microsoft recently made its Messenger program interoperable with Google, but didn't do the reverse.

"I'm sad the Web isn't advancing as fast as it should be," Page said. "We have been struggling with people like Microsoft...We would like to see more open standards and more people getting behind things."

Google is hosting its annual developers conference this week. The online giant has been expected to announce a host of new products and provide more details about other recently announced technology, such as Google Glass. Software also has been expected to play a big role, with Google introducing new features for Android and Chrome.

Page made a statement and then took audience questions about the future of the Web, capabilities Google Fiber can enable, and where Google sees sensors going.