Google offers free Wi-Fi in 47 airports over the holidays

Consider it an early Christmas present from the magnanimous and almighty Google: Free Wi-Fi for harried travelers in 47 airports nationwide.

The "gift" begins November 16 and will run through January 15, 2010: Totally free Wi-Fi access in airports large and small, ranging from Austin to West Palm Beach. (A complete list of participating airports can be found here.) Two of those airports -- Burbank and Seattle -- will extend the free Wi-Fi access offer indefinitely after the program runs its course.

Google says the 47 airports involved will handle 500 million passengers over the course of a year, or 35 percent of U.S. air travelers. 100 million travelers should pass through at least one participating airport over the course of the program.

Google is also hoping its gift to you will inspire you to make a gift of your own to charity. Users of the free Wi-Fi system will be invited to make a donation to Engineers Without Borders, the One Economy Corporation, or the Climate Savers Computing Initiative when they log on. Google is matching donations up to a total of $250,000 and will give another $15,000 to the top per-passenger donating airport to pass on to the local charity of its choice. Want to support nearby nonprofits? Just donate money while you're using the free wireless at your local airport.

And hey -- Google's not the only one freeing the airwaves. Our very own Yahoo! is launching free Wi-Fi in New York's Times Square for the next year, beginning today. Microsoft also has a free Wi-Fi campaign running in numerous hotels and airports, provided users agree to make at least one search using its Bing search engine.

Now get out there and get wireless!