Google is planning a major presence at the Democratic National Convention, including installing YouTube video upload, photo- sharing and voter-information kiosks at various venues downtown.

The world's largest Internet search company said it is aiming to provide tools for delegates, press and citizens to share stories, videos and photos.

"It's a rare opportunity where we get to see a host of our tools used in a very contained and packed (four) days," said Rick Klau, a Google product team leader. "We want to learn as much as we can about how people get out their stories and access their information."

Klau, who said he once was active in Illinois politics and "close to the (Barack) Obama campaign," was recruited to Google's election team after they became aware of a superdelegate information site (superdelegates.org) he created during his spare time from his regular Google job.

Google will have its own convention page, but Klau said the company isn't planning to sell ads. Google has been working with the Democratic National Convention Committee and considers its efforts complementary to the convention's Web site. It is making similar efforts at the National Republican Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Rival Microsoft also has a major presence at the convention. For example, the official convention Web site, demconven tion.com, will employ Microsoft's Silverlight technology.

Google's efforts at the DNC include:

* YouTube video upload booths in the Pepsi Center and the Big Tent, a place for bloggers. (Google also is a sponsor of the Big Tent). YouTube also will give convention speakers a chance to make remarks on camera as they come off the stage.

* Stations at the Colorado Convention Center where delegates and others can view content created through Google tools such as YouTube and Picasa photo albums.

* Voter-information kiosks on the 16th Street Mall. A Google map tool will help people locate their nearest polling station and voter-registration information.

* An elections video search gadget to help users find videos uploaded to YouTube and search through convention speeches.