Following a media frenzy over its alleged intent to open an office in Costa Rica, the Internet giant Google yesterday denied having such plans.

“For the moment, we are not planning to open regional headquarters in Costa Rica, but we do wish to improve the attention to our customers (there),” Alberto Arébalos, Google's corporate communications and public affairs director for Latin America, told newswire EFE.

The statement contradicted a government news bulletin Wednesday, which made front-page headlines in some of Costa Rica's major dailies. The release said a top Google executive at the Economic Forum on Latin America in Cancún, Mexico, told President Oscar Arias of his company's “short-term” plans to base its regional operations here.