Governments around the world are peppering Google with more demands to remove online content and turn over information about its users.

Google Inc. provided a glimpse at the onslaught of government requests in a summary posted on its website late Sunday.

U.S. government agencies submitted 187 requests to remove content from July through December last year, more than doubling from 92 requests from January through June.

Only Brazil’s government agencies submitted more content removal requests with a total of 194 during the final half of last year. But that figure was down from 224 requests during the first half of the year.

The U.S. government filed 6,321 requests with Google for user data during the final six months of the year. That was far more than any other country.

  • Yahoo Hires Google Exec

Yahoo! Inc., owner of the most popular U.S. Internet portal, has appointed Google Inc.’s Michael Barrett as chief revenue officer as the company looks for new areas of growth under interim leader Ross Levinsohn.

Barrett will be responsible for advertising revenue and operations globally, Yahoo said in a statement. Barrett, who will report directly to Levinsohn, was chief executive officer of AdMeld, acquired by Google last year for about $400 million.

Levinsohn took the position of interim CEO last month after Scott Thompson resigned following an inquiry into errors in his academic record. Thompson had come on board in January after his predecessor, Carol Bartz, was fired from her job amid Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo’s struggles to keep pace with online digital advertising rivals Google and Facebook Inc.

“Barrett is regarded as one of the most successful and influential executives in media and technology,” Levinsohn said in the statement. “His deep industry experience and relationships will help us drive our strategic vision.”

Barrett, who will join in July, helped lead Google’s integration of AdMeld, a provider of technology services to Web publishers for managing online advertising. Barrett, who joined AdMeld in 2008, previously was executive vice president at News Corp.’s Fox Interactive Media, according to the statement. He worked closely with Levinsohn, a former president of Fox Interactive Media, the company said. Barrett also held earlier positions at AOL Inc. and Yahoo.

  • Google Acquires Broadband Patents

Google Inc. has acquired more than 50 patents from Magnolia Broadband Inc. for technology used with mobile and broadband devices.

The patent portfolio coversb beam-forming technology, Warren, New Jersey-based Magnolia said today in a statement. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

(The Associated Press and Bloomberg contributed to this report.)