Google's ex-CEO Eric Schmidt gave a speech on Wednesday at the Science Museum in which he outlined his vision for the web, and how much he believes it will change society in the future. According to Schmidt, the web is becoming “nothing and everything”. Schmidt, who now serves as executive chairman of the search giant, emphasized that there were many parts of the world that do not have access to the Internet yet. "The world wide web has yet to live up to its name. Put simply, to connect the world is to free the world."

According to a new study by RJ Metrics, Google+ is experiencing weak user engagement and minimal social activity. After selecting a sample of 40,000 random Google+ users, RJ Metrics (RJM) downloaded and analyzed every sample users' public timeline, which contains all publicly available activity. According to RJM's study, the average post on Google+ has less than one '+1', less than one reply, and less than one re-share. The study also revealed that roughly 30% of users who make a public post never make a second one. 

Google has opened up its 'Hangouts on Air' broadcasting capability to all Google+ users. Hangouts On Air were introduced last year with select high-profile members. The service allows as many as ten people take part in virtual roundtable style video chats broadcast for anyone to see. "Today we're excited to launch Hangouts On Air to Google+ users worldwide," said Google+ engineering director Chee Chew." So if you have something to say-as an aspiring artist, a global celebrity, or a concerned citizen-you can now go live in front of a global audience."

This month, the mediaME Editor has rounded-up the most shared news stories and headlines by mediaME users across social media platforms. Here are the 'most shared' stories for April 2012 which provide a summarized look-back at the month.

Google is adding 600 movies from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to its movie collection that it has available for rent on YouTube and Google Play, its digital content store for Android devices. MGM joins five other major studios offering movies for rent through Google including Paramount, Universal and Sony Pictures. 

Publishers who used Google's new microsurvey tool have already seen revenues, only two weeks after the search company rolled out the option. As an alternative to online ads, Google's microsurvey allows publishers to display a question. For every reader that answers, Google pays the publisher 5 cents. The data is then passed on to market researchers who pay Google 10 cents for the answers.

According to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, the freedom of the Internet is facing its greatest threat ever. In an interview published by Britain's Guardian newspaper, Brin said that the principles of openness and universal access are being squashed by governments in order to control populations around the world. "There are very powerful forces that have lined up against the open Internet on all sides and around the world," Brin said. "I am more worried than I have been in the past. It's scary."

According to Larry Page, mobile is crucial to Google's advertising strategies. The Google co-founder told investors that mobile was quickly becoming the "backbone" of advertising during the company's first-quarter 2012 earnings call last week. According to recent studies, Google's overall share of U.S. mobile ad revenue reached 51.7% in 2011.