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Alphabet’s high profits overshadowed by advertising recession, leading to decline in Google investor confidence

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Alphabet shares experienced a more than 5% drop in after-hours trading on Tuesday due to the tech giant’s shortfall in key advertising sectors, despite narrowly surpassing overall revenue estimates for the fourth quarter of 2023.

Google’s parent company disclosed that advertising revenue fell short of forecasts at $65.52 billion compared to $65.8 billion, but the overall revenue exceeded expectations at $86.31 billion versus $85.36 billion. This marked a 13% increase from the previous year.

The chief financial officer of Alphabet described the company’s results as “very strong,” emphasizing the surpassing of overall revenue expectations. “We remain committed to permanently restructuring our cost base while making investments to support growth opportunities,” she stated.

The response to the report was subdued after Google’s parent company laid off 1,000 employees in January. CEO Sundar Pichai announced at the end of the month that the company will refocus on “investing in key priorities,” particularly in the artificial intelligence elements integrated into Google’s flagship products, in 2024, and hinted at further job cuts.

Investors expressed encouragement Analysts believe that the recent job cuts may reflect prudent cost-cutting efforts amidst rising interest rates. However, the impact of the layoffs is evident, with Porat stating that severance pay in the first quarter of 2024 is expected to be $700 million. Alphabet recorded $2.1 billion in severance-related expenses and $1.8 billion in severance-related expenses in 2023, freeing up office space.


Despite the overall advertising downturn, Alphabet announced that YouTube ad revenue reached $9.2 billion, exceeding analysts’ predicted $9.16 billion and a significant increase from the same period in 2022.

CEO Sundar Pichai, in a statement accompanying the earnings call, expressed Alphabet’s pleasure with “the growing contribution from YouTube.” He also highlighted the company’s digital subscription services, including YouTube and cloud storage service Google One, achieving $15 billion annually.

“The significant growth in our subscription revenue over the past few years demonstrates the ability of our team to deliver high value-added services and provides a strong foundation on which to build,” he stated. Ta.

Like many other companies in the technology industry, Alphabet is aiming to take advantage of the AI ​​boom, with the mention of the word “AI” occurring more than 70 times in Tuesday’s earnings call. Pichai outlined the company’s plans to integrate its new AI model Gemini across various products, including search, advertising, and cloud.

Alphabet’s emphasis on AI comes as the company seeks to diversify its revenue streams. Its core search advertising business has stalled, and it faces growing antitrust litigation threats. The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging a monopoly on digital advertising technology. A judge’s ruling in January confirmed that the company will be forced to stand trial for charges brought by multiple states regarding advertising market dominance. The company also faced an antitrust case last year related to its dealings with other technology companies, including payments to Apple of about $18 billion annually to keep Safari’s default search engine.

“Google could have its toughest year yet as antitrust threats loom and the death knell sounds for third-party cookies,” stated Evelyn Mitchell Wolf, a senior analyst at Insider Intelligence. “We need to prepare ourselves for the possibility that something may happen.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

Google Commits to Removing Abortion Clinic Visit Location Data Despite Research Findings

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Google made a promise in July 2022 to remove location data of users who visited abortion clinics. However, little progress has been made in fulfilling this promise. This move would make it more difficult for law enforcement to use this information to investigate and prosecute people seeking abortions in states where abortion is banned or restricted. Recent research shows that Google still retains location history data in 50% of cases.

Google originally made this promise shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision to end federal abortion protections. The company stated it would remove entries for locations considered “private” or sensitive, including “health care facilities such as counseling centers, domestic violence shelters, and abortion clinics.” However, as of now, there has been no implementation of this policy. A study conducted by tech advocacy group Accountable Tech found that Google does not mask location data in all cases, even after claiming to prioritize user privacy and implement changes to its location retention policy “as promised” in early 2022.

Accountable Tech’s latest study revealed that while Google’s location retention rates had improved slightly, the company was still not deleting location history in all cases as promised. Google Maps’ Director of Products, Marlo McGriff, disputed this finding and stated that any claims of non-compliance are false.

Researchers used her latest Android device to guide her to an abortion clinic and tested what location data it stored about her trip in the latest study. The study also found that Google still holds data on the location search queries and other criminal data as well, from emails to Google search data. Law enforcement’s use of reverse search warrants and geofence location warrants have raised new concerns about user data privacy.

Recently, Google announced plans to change the way it stores location history data for all its users. This change includes storing location data on users’ devices by default and encrypting and deleting all location data backed up to Google’s cloud storage after three months. However, Accountable Tech remains skeptical of Google’s promises to protect location data, based on its history of unfulfilled commitments.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Google cuts hundreds of jobs in hardware, augmented reality, and Assistant divisions

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Google has laid off hundreds of employees across its hardware, voice assistant, and engineering teams as part of its cost-cutting measures.

Google said in a statement that the job cuts are aimed at “responsibly investing in our biggest priorities and important opportunities for the future.”

“Some teams continue to make these types of organizational changes, including the elimination of some roles globally,” the paper said.

Google previously announced it would eliminate hundreds of roles across its engineering, hardware, and Assistant teams, with most of the impact hitting the company's augmented reality hardware division. The job cuts follow pledges by executives at Google and its parent company Alphabet to cut costs. A year ago, Google announced it would lay off 12,000 people, or about 6% of its workforce.

On the same day that news of the layoffs broke, Google announced the following: Deprecating 17 “underutilized” features in Google Assistantuse voice commands to play an audiobook, send an email, or start a meditation session in Calm.

In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), the Alphabet union described the layoffs as “another unnecessary layoff.”

“Our members and teammates work hard every day to build great products for our users, and our company cannot continue to lay off our colleagues while making billions of dollars every quarter.” the union wrote. “We will not stop fighting until our jobs are safe!”

Google achieved record growth in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, but its expansion has slowed over the past year, forcing it to adjust its business forecasts.

It's not the only technology company in this boat. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has cut more than 20,000 jobs. In December, Spotify announced it would lay off 17% of its global workforce in 2023, the music streaming service's third round of layoffs, in a bid to cut costs and improve profitability.

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Earlier this week, Amazon laid off hundreds of employees in its Prime Video and Studios divisions. The company also plans to lay off about 500 employees who work at live streaming platform Twitch. Amazon has cut thousands of jobs following a surge in hiring during the pandemic. In March, the company announced plans to lay off 9,000 employees, in addition to the 18,000 employees it announced in January 2023.

Google is currently in fierce competition with Microsoft, with both companies trying to take the lead in the field of artificial intelligence. Office software giants are ramping up their artificial intelligence offerings to rival Google. In September, Microsoft introduced its Copilot feature for business customers to integrate artificial intelligence into products such as search engine Bing, browser Edge, and Windows.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Everything you should know about the new ChatGPT AI competitor, Google Gemini

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The emergence of ChatGPT in 2023 has been so significant that even those who are not typically online or technologically savvy are familiar with its existence. However, as OpenAI continued to develop its AI tool, competitors also began to emerge.

Shortly after launching ChatGPT, Google announced its own competitor called Bard. Bard is capable of doing everything that ChatGPT can, but with the backing of the world’s largest search engine.

Now, Google is taking another step forward with a new project called Google Gemini, which appears to have already surpassed ChatGPT. However, the question on everyone’s mind is whether Google will surpass ChatGPT to become the top AI in 2024?

What is Google Gemini and how does it work?

OpenAI’s well-known tool is ChatGPT, which is powered by GPT-4, a large-scale language model that uses images, text, context, and other factors. For Google, Gemini serves a similar role to GPT-4, functioning as an engine that runs AI programs.

Gemini was built from the ground up and leverages teams across Google to generalize and understand various forms of content. It was trained on a large dataset that includes books, articles, code repositories, music, audio recordings, and other media. This data is processed into a format that is efficiently understood by Gemini, enabling the model to learn relationships between different terms and media, and how to respond to prompts, questions, and suggestions.

How to try Google Gemini for free

There are currently two ways to test Google Gemini, with the most accessible option being through Google Bard, which has been built on a test version of Gemini. An alternative way is to access Gemini through features integrated with Google Keyboard and the Recorder app on a Google Pixel 8 Pro.

What can Gemini do?

Google has been showcasing Gemini’s capabilities, demonstrating its ability to understand, answer questions, and perform various tasks. While impressive, some of these demonstrations are curated, making it difficult to gauge their real-world performance. Gemini can interact with different forms of digital content, from images to videos, and is capable of making connections between different words and images.

Google Gemini vs. GPT-4: Which is better?

Gemini has been touted as outperforming GPT-4 in various categories used to test model knowledge and reasoning. However, these impressive statistics have been verified by Google itself, leaving room for questions about Gemini’s real-world performance. Google plans to release different versions of Gemini, each with varying levels of intelligence and functionality, similar to OpenAI’s GPT model.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Possible Scrutiny Awaits FTC Candidate Melissa Holyoake in the Wake of Google Settlement

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Sources tell On The Money that critics have blasted the terms of Google’s $700 million settlement over anti-competitive Android app store practices as weak, leaving the Republican vacant seat at the Federal Trade Commission open. Melissa Holyoake’s bid to become the world’s most successful bidder could face new hurdles.

Holyoak, Utah’s Republican attorney general, said U.S. states have argued that Google’s monopolistic tactics, including charging major developers up to 30% fees in the Play Store, have led to price gouging and lowering prices. As a result, he played a key role in negotiating this deal. Choice for consumers.

The settlement, which Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney decried as “unfair to all Android users and developers,” requires FTC candidates to be “appropriately skeptical of Big Tech.” This could anger some Republicans who want to see more, and even cause some to reconsider their support. An industry source who requested anonymity to discuss the situation told the Post.

“If she was the tip of the spear in an embarrassing reconciliation, that’s not a good thing,” the source added.

As the Post previously reported in June, some Washington insiders were concerned that Mr. Holyoak did not have the antitrust integrity they expected from a new commissioner, and that certain information Sources quipped that FTC Commissioner Lina Khan would “run circles” around the Republican candidate. Regarding antitrust laws.

Utah’s Republican attorney general, Melissa Holyoake, played a key role in negotiating the deal after U.S. states alleged Google’s monopolistic tactics. Paola Morongello

The Republican-backed litigators will need to be approved by the Senate Commerce Committee in October, followed by a floor vote.

Another person said she “will be confirmed” even if some Republicans complain about the odor, but the process may not be a smooth one.

“if [Sen. Josh Hawley] Or she could delay if someone on the Republican side wants it,” another person said. “I think a scenario where she’s delayed is possible, but it’s unlikely that she won’t be confirmed. But it’s safe to say that her nomination is either delayed or in jeopardy.”

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney called the settlement “unfair to all Android users and developers.” Getty Images

Mr. Hawley’s office did not respond to a request for comment about Mr. Holyoak’s confirmation.

On Wednesday, Hawley sent a letter stating that he plans to block the confirmation of another Republican FTC commissioner nominee, Andrew Ferguson, by the end of the year and asking him “additional questions about his philosophy on Big Tech.” I made it possible.

The Missouri senator also opposes expedited confirmation of Todd Inman to a post on the National Transportation Safety Board. Both Mr. Ferguson and Mr. Inman are former aides to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Sen. Josh Hawley sent a letter indicating he plans to block efforts to confirm another Republican FTC candidate, Andrew Ferguson, by the end of the year. AP

Capitol Hill insiders blame Hawley’s move on a well-documented rift with McConnell. There was no mention of Holyoak in the letter.

Utah accounted for the highest amount of claims in the lawsuit targeting Google’s Android app store practices, and was one of the few states to spearhead the lawsuit, along with New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, and California.Holyoak name appears Court documents detailing settlement terms.

In remarks prepared for the Sept. 20 FTC nomination hearing, Holyoak emphasized his efforts on behalf of Utah and said of the high-profile legal battle, “Our office’s led the work,” he told the Senate committee. Her testimony came just days after the Google settlement was first announced.

“This is a huge benefit for consumers.” Holyoak said at the time:.

The Utah Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The settlement with Google was first announced in September, but specific details were withheld pending the conclusion of Epic Games’ stunning legal victory against Google in a related case. Epic specifically rejected the possibility of a settlement.

In the U.S. state case, Google will pay consumers $630 million (just $6 per eligible U.S. user) to cover state fines and legal costs, according to court filings this week. agreed to pay an additional $70 million for

The company also agreed to a series of time-limited changes to its app store policies. This includes allowing developers to use other in-app purchases and dialing back the use of so-called “horror screens” when Android users try to use competing app stores. It will be.

Critics, including Mr. Sweeney, noted that the states’ previous lawsuits “made a strong case for $10.5 billion in damages.” Epic Games’ CEO called it a “disappointing result.”

Meanwhile, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said the deal includes “many of the injunctive reliefs we sought that would change Google’s behavior,” adding that payments to consumers would be ” “It’s an added bonus.”

“Holyoak is still trying to understand what antitrust law is… She doesn’t have the ability to understand how to enforce the law,” said one longtime antitrust expert.

“What about her actually going after Big Tech?” added a source. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Source: nypost.com

Google Addressing Antitrust Concerns in Germany Regarding Bundled Car Services

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The move follows a competitive objection filed against Google in Germany this summer over the bundling of Google Maps and other services through its Android-based in-vehicle infotainment system software, known as Google Automotive Services (GAS). The tech giant will eliminate some service bundling and contractual restrictions that apply to automakers to resolve regulatory intervention.

Google’s proposed remedies will be applied to the automaker in a market test by Germany’s competition regulator, which will then determine whether it resolves the problems it has identified.

Back in June, this country’s Federal Cartel Office (FCO) sends statement of objection He spoke to tech giants about how to operate GAS, specifically referring to the Google Maps, Google Play, and Google Assistant bundles that Google offers automakers.

The statement also highlighted Google’s practice of giving a portion of its advertising revenue to automakers only if they refrain from pre-installing other voice assistants next to their voice AI. Another concern raised by the FCO is that Google requires GAS license holders to set bundled services as default or prominently display them. It also took issue with Google’s refusal to restrict or allow interoperability of services included in GAS with third-party services.

At the time, the FCO said its preliminary view of Google’s practices around GAS was that they did not comply with German competition rules for large digital companies. This would give the FCO greater freedom to intervene where it suspects competition is being undermined.

“In particular, we are critical of Google’s ability to offer its services for infotainment systems only as a bundle. This reduces the opportunity for competitors to sell competing services as individual services. body,” the FCO said in the summer.

Regulators said they will now carefully consider Google’s proposal to determine whether an appropriate level of separation of its services from in-vehicle infotainment platforms would address competition concerns.

“We are particularly concerned about the forced bundling of the reach of services with significant market power with those with less power. “This is particularly problematic as a way to ‘infiltrate’ the market,” said FCO Chairman Andreas Mundt. press release Google is expected to announce its proposal on Wednesday. “It may reduce the opportunity for our competitors to sell competing services. We will now look very closely at whether Google’s proposal can effectively eliminate the practices that raised our concerns.” ”

Google’s proposed remedy to address the FCO’s competition concerns provides three products separately in addition to the GAS product bundle: Google Maps OEM Software Development Kit, Google Play Store, and Cloud Custom Assistant. This means that automakers will be able to: Develop mapping and navigation services with functionality comparable to Google Maps.

The addition of Google Play Store also allows end users to download a wider selection of third-party apps, alleviating concerns that they will be steered toward using Google’s own apps. Cloud Custom Assistant is described as a “proprietary AI voice assistant solution” for use in vehicles to enable automakers to offer competitive assistants.

The tech giant is also proposing to remove contractual clauses it imposes on advertising revenue sharing provided its proprietary Google Assistant voice AI is exclusively pre-installed on the GAS infotainment platform. .

“Google is also prepared to remove contractual provisions relating to setting Google services as a default application or displaying them prominently on infotainment platforms,” ​​the FCO said. “Finally, Google stands ready to enable licensees to combine the Google Assistant service with other mapping and navigation services and provide the technical prerequisites to create the necessary interoperability.”

“Based on the results of market testing, federal cartel ramt [FCO] It will be determined whether Google’s proposal generally addresses concerns that have been addressed to date. The question of whether Google’s proposal amounts to a bundled offering of Google’s services in the automotive sector will become decisive in this context.”

Google was asked for comment on the proposal.

The technology giant’s business was placed under Germany’s Special Competition Abuse Regulation Regime in January 2022. Since then, the FCO has extracted a number of concessions from the company over how it operates, including securing an agreement on Google’s data reform this autumn. Under the terms, users will be able to gives you more choice in how you can use your information. Last year, Google also proposed limiting how news content it licenses from third-party publishers appears in search results to address regulators’ concerns about self-preference.

Germany’s digital competition restart applies only to designated high-tech giants within the market, but companies may choose to apply product changes globally to manage operational complexity (For example, by launching a new account center, as Meta did this summer, users are opting out of cross-site tracking after the FCO intervened, and the company plans to roll this out globally.) announced).

The European Union has also recently implemented its own pre-competition reforms in the form of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) targeting so-called internet gatekeepers. The FCO’s enforcement against Big Tech therefore raises the possibility of what action will be taken across the bloc next year, when compliance deadlines for the six targeted his DMA gatekeepers and their 22 core platform services begin next year. You can get a glimpse of what’s going on. This list includes Google Maps, Google Play, Google Shopping, Google Ads, Google Chrome, Google Android, Google Search, and YouTube, the Google-owned video sharing platform.

Notably, the EU has not designated GAS as a core platform service. This may partly explain the FCO’s focus on GAS here, as competition regulators across the region seek to avoid duplication of intervention. (Germany’s status as a major automaker may also facilitate scrutiny of Google’s automotive software and services.)

The FCO also began proceedings on Google Maps in June 2022, some time before the DMA was approved by the bloc’s co-members.

On the other hand, the pan-EU regulation began to be applied in May 2023. However, the deadline for DMA gatekeepers to comply is March 2, 2024, so a full restart of Big Tech competition across the EU will not occur until then. next year. This may be enough reason for the FCO to continue monitoring Google Maps for some time. (In this regard, the German regulatory authorities also Said The EU will continue to “cooperate closely” with EU competition authorities on regulating the digital economy.

As of June 2023, the FCO has announced that it will continue to investigate Google’s terms of use for the Google Maps Platform (GMP), and in a preliminary assessment, the tech giant will end restrictions on combining its own GMP mapping services. Use a third party map service that you mentioned you need to type.

“These restrictions could hinder competition between applications relating to mapping services used by, for example, logistics, transport and delivery service providers,” the FCO said at the time. “It could also negatively impact competition among services for vehicle infotainment systems by making it more difficult for map service providers to develop effective alternatives to Google Maps.”

Ex-ante competition law reforms in Germany and across the EU are aimed at curbing fraudulent practices by digital giants that could further consolidate their vast market power, and European regulators are looking to move ahead with these more aggressive reforms. We hope that such interventions will have a better effect on correcting the imbalances in the digital economy. The implementation of a classic competition could be achieved. (A related example of classic enforcement is the 123 million fine that Italy’s competition watchdog imposed on Google in May 2021 over restrictions it applied to third-party app makers via its Android Auto in-car software.) There is a dollar fine.)

Source: techcrunch.com

Chrome on desktop gets proactive safety checks in the latest Google update

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Google is releasing several updates to the desktop version of Chrome this week to make your browsing experience safer and give you more control over the browser’s memory usage.

The main feature of this update is proactive safety checks. In fact, starting with version 120, which was released a few weeks ago, Chrome Safety Check on the desktop runs in the background to detect if your Chrome password has been compromised or if an extension you’ve installed is malware. We now send proactive alerts. . You will also be notified to update Chrome.

Image credits: Google

But perhaps more importantly, Chrome’s safety checks automatically revoke permissions you gave sites a long time ago but haven’t used them in a while. This is similar to how Google currently handles permissions on Android, allowing you to prevent sites you no longer use from continuing to gain access to your location or microphone.

Also now: If you receive a large number of notifications from a site you don’t engage with often, the safety check will ask you if you want to disable them. I regained my sanity.

Image credits: Google

Google is also highlighting two other updates to Chrome for desktop today. The first is an update to Chrome’s Memory Saver mode, which shows more information when you hover over a tab, and a new feature that makes it easier to tell Chrome to prevent certain sites from going to sleep. Settings added.

The second is the save function tab group (It’s a browser feature that some users really like, but most users simply ignore.) This will be rolled out in the coming weeks. The use case here is that you can save these tab groups and sync them with other desktop devices to pick up where you left off.

Image credits: Google

Source: techcrunch.com

Google Search: Beware of These Deceptive Practices

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A new study shows that searching online to evaluate news can actually increase beliefs in misinformation, especially when search engines return low-quality information. This highlights the need for better media literacy programs and improved search engine responsiveness. Credit: SciTechDaily.com

Alarming research findings demonstrate the limitations of using recommended procedures to debunk false content.

Conventional wisdom holds that searching online to assess the veracity of misinformation can lead to less belief in that information. But a new study by a team of researchers shows that the opposite is happening. This means that searches are actually taking place to assess the veracity of false news articles. To increase Probability of believing false information.

The results of this study will be published in the journal today (December 20th) Nature, provides insight into the impact of search engine output on users. This is a relatively under-researched area.

How search engines influence users’ beliefs

“Our research shows that the act of searching online to evaluate news increases beliefs in misinformation, which is very common and by a significant amount.” new york universityCenter for Social Media Politics (CSMaP) and one of the authors of this paper.

The reason for this result may be explained by the search engine output. Researchers found that this phenomenon was concentrated among individuals for whom search engines returned low-quality information.

“This means that ‘data gaps’ (areas of the information ecosystem dominated by low-quality or outright false news and information) play a significant role in the online search process, leading to poor search results. “The danger is that you may see reliable or, even more alarmingly, unreliable information at the top of search results,” said lead author and University of Central Florida professor said Kevin Alette, assistant professor and CSMaP faculty researcher.

Methodology and focus of nature research

The newly published Nature Aslett, Sanderson, and their colleagues studied the effects of using online search engines to evaluate false or misleading views. This approach is recommended by technology companies, government agencies, and others.

To do so, they recruited participants through both Qualtrics and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (a tool frequently used to conduct behavioral science research) and conducted a series of five experiments. Its purpose is to measure the impact of common actions. i.e. Searching and Evaluating News Online (SOTEN).

Investigating online search behavior and its impact

The first four studies tested the following aspects of online search behavior and impact:

  • The impact of SOTEN on believing both false or misleading news and true news within two days of article publication (popular fake articles included articles such as: COVID-19 (new coronavirus infection) vaccines, Trump impeachment proceedings, climate change, etc.)
  • Does the effect of SOTEN change individuals’ evaluations of the truthfulness of news articles?
  • blue sky effect Month After publication
  • The impact of SOTEN on recent news about salient topics with important news coverage – in the case of this study, news about the Covid-19 pandemic.

The fifth study combined survey and web tracking data to determine the effects of exposure to both low- and high-quality search engine results on misinformation beliefs. By collecting search results using a custom web browser plug-in, researchers were able to determine how search results were displayed. quality These search results can influence users’ beliefs about the misinformation being evaluated.

Source credibility ratings for this study were determined by NewsGuard, a browser extension that rates news and other information sites to help users evaluate the trustworthiness of content they encounter online.

Conclusion and recommendations

Across five studies, the authors found that the act of searching online to evaluate news led to a statistically significant increase in belief in misinformation. This occurred either immediately or months after the incorrect information was published. This finding suggests that the passage of time, and the ostensible opportunity for fact-checking to enter the information ecosystem, does not reduce the impact of SOTEN, which increases the likelihood of believing a false news article to be true. Additionally, a fifth study showed that this phenomenon is concentrated among individuals for whom search engines return low-quality information.

“The findings of this study underscore the need for media literacy programs to ground recommendations in empirically tested interventions and the need for search engines to invest in solutions to the challenges identified in this study.” ” concludes Joshua A. Tucker, professor of political science and co-director of CSMaP. of the author of the paper.

Reference: “Online searches to evaluate misinformation may increase perceptions of its truth,” December 20, 2023 Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06883-y

Other authors on the paper include William Gaedel and Jonathan Nagler of New York University’s Center for Social Media Politics and Nathaniel Persily of Stanford Law School.

This research was supported by a grant (2029610) from the National Science Foundation.

Source: scitechdaily.com

Google Play undergoes changes following US settlement

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Google today announced that it will pay $700 million as part of a settlement with the U.S. Attorney General’s Office in a lawsuit over the Google Play Store. In addition, the company also agreed to take certain actions related to Google Play billing, sideloading, and how sideloaded apps are updated.

Here is the list of changes that Google has agreed to implement: All of these provisions will apply from the effective date of the Settlement.

Third-party app stores and sideloading

  • Google will support installing apps on Android outside of Google Play through a variety of methods, including third-party app stores, for at least seven years.
  • Google will not force developers to release apps on Google Play at the same time or sooner for at least four years. This includes not entering into agreements with developers to provide versions with more features on Google Play.
  • For four years, Google has announced that third-party companies can use APIs to automatically update apps, use “split features” to download portions of apps on demand, and allow third-party companies to Support a consent mechanism to stop updates.
  • Google should also allow pre-installed apps or third-party app stores to maintain “exclusive” rights to update apps unless users choose to update from another source. However, developers can opt out of the ability to allow users to update their apps from another source.
  • Currently, Google displays a warning screen when you try to install apps from alternative sources. Next, the user must tap the settings button to allow installing apps from other sources. For at least 5 years, Google should merge these two screens into one and display the following message: “Your phone is not currently configured to install apps from this source.” Giving this source permission to install apps could put your phone and data at risk . “

alternative billing

  • Google must allow developers to offer alternative billing mechanisms for in-app purchases for at least five years. Additionally, we can’t force developers to offer the lowest prices through Google Play billing.
  • If a consumer chooses a different billing option, Google may only collect the minimum amount of data necessary from developers. Additionally, the company cannot use this data to compete with apps.
  • Google will allow developers to contact users outside of their apps with their consent for promotions related to pricing and billing using information collected from outside or inside their apps for at least six years. There is a need.
  • Developers can offer discounts and display them within the app to promote other billing systems. Additionally, Google can’t stop you from displaying prices linked to Google Play or Google Play’s billing system.
  • For six years, Google will allow developers to display information about other purchasing options, such as “Available for purchase on our website for $9.99,” without a link.

OEM clause

  • Google cannot enter into a deal with a phone manufacturer to put Google Play on the device’s home screen as a dedicated app store for at least five years.
  • During the same period, device manufacturers will no longer need to ask Google for “consent” to preload third-party app stores.
  • For at least four years, Google will be required to grant OEM installer rights to preloaded apps.

These changes may seem like a lot, but they may be small changes for Google. As we found out during the Epic vs. Google trial, Google is offering his 4% discount on user-selected charges May not be enough for developers to switch If the cost exceeds the savings, transfer to another payment processor. Additionally, other app stores should provide enough incentives and large numbers of users so that developers can earn more revenue through these app stores.

Source: techcrunch.com

Google Maps upgrades to enhance user experience in India

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Google on Tuesday introduced a range of new features and updates to its mapping services in India as it closes out the year and lays the foundation for next year.

The latest in a series of new features is Lens in Maps, which will be launched on Android in 15 cities across India by January. The feature was introduced in the U.S. and select global markets in October and uses a combination of artificial intelligence and augmented reality to show people information such as opening hours, ratings, reviews, and photos when they point their smartphone camera on the street. I will provide a. Go to a restaurant or cafe.

Google has also launched Live View Walking Navigation in India, providing overlays of arrows, directions, and distance markers on the map screen to help users navigate to their destinations easily. Google says the feature will initially be available on Android and will be rolled out to more than 3,000 cities and towns across the country.

“India is a huge country with very diverse needs,” Miriam Karthika, vice president of Google Maps Experience, said at the event. “The scale on which we have to operate for India is enormous.”

In addition to the visually immersive viewing experience with Lens in Maps and Live View walking navigation, Google uses a combination of machine learning signals to discover the most relevant lands around your pinned address. We announced an address descriptor that provides up to five mark and area names and displays landmark references. Users share their location information. This India-first feature was introduced for Google Maps Platform developers earlier this year and will be available across his 75+ cities in India.

Image credits: Google

Google is also bringing fuel-efficient directions to India, which will be available to users starting in January. This feature works on domestic four-wheelers and two-wheelers and helps users reduce fuel consumption and limit carbon emissions. The feature will be available to users in Indonesia in addition to India next year.

Since its initial launch in October 2021, through September this year, Google said its fuel-efficient directions had prevented more than 2.4 million tons of CO2e emissions worldwide. The company says the feature uses AI to understand real-time traffic data, road elevation, and vehicle engine type to identify routes that limit fuel and emissions.

Apart from launching global features in India, Google has partnered with India’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and mobility app Namma Yatri to bring metro schedules and reservations directly to users through Google Maps. . The experience will be available from the Kochi metro by the middle of next year, and will be rolled out in stages as other metros come on board with the open e-commerce network.

Google is also expanding its Where Is My Train app, which helps more than 80 million users every month to navigate their intercity train journeys, to local trains in Mumbai and Kolkata, with plans to add more cities in the future. .

To date, Google has mapped millions of kilometers of roads and 300 million buildings across the country. More than 50 million searches are made every day on the domestic map, 2.5 billion kilometers of directions are recorded every day, and more than 60 million unique users contribute to the map. Additionally, Google said it has mapped 30 million businesses and locations across the country, enabling direct connections between 900 million merchants and consumers.

Last July, Google introduced the Street View feature in India, six years after it was banned due to security concerns. The company has partnered with local companies Genesis and Tech Mahindra. According to Google, more than 50 million users in Japan are currently viewing Street View.

Source: techcrunch.com

Google to pay $700 million as part of Play Store dispute resolution

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Google today announced that it will pay $700 million in a Play Store settlement reached in September, including $630 million to U.S. consumers and $70 to a fund to be used by U.S. states.

In September, the company reached a tentative settlement in a class action lawsuit originally brought by U.S. states and consumers in 2021. However, the search giant released details of the settlement today.highlighted complaints Google has a monopoly on app distribution on Android Via the Play Store.

In November 2022, Google began piloting a user-choice billing program in the United States, allowing developers to use alternative payment methods for in-app purchases. The company announced today that it will expand its domestic program as part of the settlement. Google says developers will be able to display different costs for in-app purchases based on the billing method a customer chooses.

The company too Said He said the sideloading process will be streamlined, without providing any details about the new process. However, the company emphasized that it plans to change its messaging regarding sideloading.

“While we maintain that it is important to our safety efforts to inform users that sideloading on mobile can carry unique risks, as part of the settlement we will further strengthen the process of sideloading.” We’re simplifying and updating our language to inform users about the potential risks of downloading.”For the first time, apps are available directly from the web,” said Wilson White, vice president of government affairs and public policy at Google. I am.

Google pointed out that blog post I also made Android 14 Easier app upgrade process More control over third-party app stores via API.

This development comes as Google lost an antitrust battle with Epic. Google plans to appeal the ruling, reiterating in a blog post today that it “disallows the choice and competition our platform enables,” but the case is “not over yet.”

The trial revealed Google’s dealings with the following companies: spotifythere are no fees for in-app purchases on the Play Store.

Source: techcrunch.com

Google quietly discontinues popular apps as part of restructuring efforts

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Google is removing popular apps in a new shake-up within the company.

The Google Play Movies & TV app will be retired soon.

The service has already been removed from Roku devices and most smart TVs, and over the next few weeks, Google plans to continue shutting down the service until it’s gone completely. It’s still available on Android TV and the Google Play Store, but not for much longer.

“We’re making several changes to simplify the way you buy new movies and access the movies and TV shows you buy through Google,” the company said in a statement. Posted in support thread Android TV Help.

Starting January 17th, users will no longer be able to access content through Play Movies & TV. But don’t worry, your rented or purchased movies won’t be lost forever. All your purchased movies and TV will be transferred to Android TV and YouTube.

“As a result of these changes, Google Play Movies & TV will no longer be available on Android TV devices or the Google Play website,” Google explained. “However, you will still have access to all previously purchased titles (including active rentals) on Android TV devices, Google TV devices, the Google TV mobile app (Android and iOS), and YouTube.”

The tech giant has been slowly discontinuing its Play Movies & TV app since launching a standalone TV app in 2021.


Starting January 17th, users will no longer be able to access content through Play Movies & TV. Daniel Krassoa – Stock.adobe.com

When this change takes effect on January 17th, people with Android TV-powered TVs or streaming devices will be able to watch previously purchased titles or purchase new movies from the Shop tab. Purchased titles and active rentals will be displayed.

On a cable box or set-top box with Android TV, the YouTube app stores all your previously purchased content. YouTube is also the new content home for people using web browsers.

These changes come on the heels of Google removing inactive Gmail accounts in a cybersecurity effort and introducing an AI-powered makeover with five new features.

Source: nypost.com

Google takes steps to eliminate geofencing warrants, a surveillance issue largely created by the company itself

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Google will soon This allows users to store their location data on their devices rather than on Google’s servers, allowing police and law enforcement to tap into Google’s vast bank of location data to identify potential criminals. We were able to effectively put an end to years of surveillance practices that allowed eavesdropping.

The use of so-called “geofencing warrants” has exploded in recent years, largely due to the proliferation of smartphones and the ability of data-hungry companies like Google to siphon and store vast amounts of users’ location information. This is due to the fact that it is now possible to obtain it by law. Request for enforcement.

Police can use geofence warrants (also known as reverse location warrants) to ask Google to hand over information about whether a user’s device was in a particular geographic area at a particular time.

But critics argue that geofencing warrants are unconstitutional and inherently overbroad. This is because these requests often include information about completely innocent victims. nearby when the crime was committed.flat Courts cannot agree on whether geofencing warrants are legal which could ultimately be challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court.

This week’s Google announcements I didn’t mention geofencing warrants. Specifically, it only says that users will have “more control” over their data by storing location data on their devices. In effect, this move would result in police seeking a search warrant to access that specific device, rather than requesting the data from Google.

Although Google is not the only company targeted by geofencing warrants, it is the largest collector of sensitive location data and the first company to be intercepted.

The act of police eavesdropping on users’ location data to Google is revealed for the first time Google has long relied on user location data to power its advertising business, which generated about 80% of Google’s annual revenue, or about $220 billion, in 2022 alone.

However, in reality, this surveillance technique is believed to be much more widespread. Law enforcement agencies have since expanded location data requests to other companies. Microsoft and Yahoo (which owns TechCrunch) are known to have received geofencing warrants, but neither company has yet disclosed how many requests for user location data they receive.

The number of lawsuits related to geofencing requirements has increased rapidly in recent years.

Police in Minneapolis used geofencing warrants to identify individuals who participated in protests following the killing of George Floyd. The 2022 overturn of Roe v. Wade will allow law enforcement in states where access to abortion care is restricted or where it is illegal to seek an abortion to identify people seeking care. Concerns were raised about the potential use of geofence warrants. Lawmakers later called on Google to stop collecting location data, saying it could be used to identify people seeking abortions.

The companies have said little about the number of geofence warrants they receive, but last year Google, Microsoft and Yahoo supported a New York bill that would ban the use of geofence warrants statewide. This bill failed to become law.

Google has not disclosed how many geofencing warrants it has received in recent years. Google has released its latest (and only) disclosure about the number of geofence warrants it received in 2021, following pressure to release the numbers following growing criticism of its surveillance practices.

According to the data, Google received 982 geofence warrants in 2018, 8,396 geofence warrants in 2019, and 11,554 geofence warrants in 2020. This represents about a quarter of all legal claims received by Google. Although the disclosure is limited, it provides a first glimpse into the surging number of such requests, but Google is concerned about how often the search giant pushes back against legal requests for its users’ location data. Or, if there was, they didn’t mention it.

News that Google will soon move your location data to your devices drew cautious praise.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which challenged the constitutionality of geofencing warrants in court, said: in a blog post “At least for now, we intend to take this as a victory.” But EFF pointed out that there are other ways for Google to hand over users’ sensitive personal data. Law enforcement agencies use a similar legal request, called a “reverse keyword” warrant, to identify Google accounts that searched for specific keywords in time, such as before a crime was committed. Google has not said whether it plans to close a loophole that allows police and law enforcement agencies to issue so-called “reverse keyword” warrants for users’ search queries.

Geofencing warrants won’t disappear overnight. Google still maintains a vast bank of historical location data, which law enforcement can access at any time until Google determines it no longer needs to be retained. And while tech companies store large amounts of user location data, they may also be subject to similar legal claims.

But the hope is that by closing the door on geofencing warrants, Google could significantly reduce this surveillance loophole, at least going forward.

in Latest transparency report In 2022, Apple announced that it received 13 geofencing warrants requesting customer location data, but did not provide any data in return. Apple said it has “no data to provide in response to geofencing requests” because the data resides on the user’s device and cannot be accessed.

Source: techcrunch.com

Publisher sues Google for antitrust damages from AI-inflicted profit losses

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A new class action lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on behalf of news publishers, accuses Google and parent company Alphabet of anticompetitive practices that violate U.S. antitrust laws, the Sherman Act, and other laws. The lawsuit, filed by the Arkansas-based publisher Helena World Chronicle, alleges that Google is “siphoning” content, readers and advertising revenue from news publishers through anticompetitive means. It also specifically cites new AI technologies such as Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) and Bard AI chatbots as exacerbating the problem.

The Helena World Chronicle, which owns and publishes two weekly newspapers in Arkansas, said in its complaint that Google “starves freedom of the press” by sharing publishers’ content on Google and “starves out freedom of the press” and forces publishers to ” They claim that they have lost billions of dollars.

In addition to newer AI technology, the lawsuit also points to Google’s older question-and-answer technologies, such as Knowledge Graph, which was launched in May 2012, as part of the problem.

“When a user searches for information about a topic, Google displays a “knowledge panel” to the right of the search results. “This panel contains a summary of content extracted from the Knowledge Graph database,” the complaint states. “Google compiled this vast database by extracting information from publisher websites (what Google calls ‘material shared on the web’) and ‘open source and license databases.'” There is.

By 2020, the knowledge graph looked like this: grown 500 billion facts about 5 billion entities. However, much of the “collective intelligence” used by Google was content “appropriated from publishers,” the lawsuit alleges.

Other Google technologies, such as “Featured Snippets,” where Google algorithmically extracts answers from web pages, have also been cited as driving traffic away from publishers’ websites.

Perhaps more importantly, the case addresses how AI will impact publishers’ businesses.This issue has recently been clarified in detail In a Thursday report in the Wall St. Journal, It yielded shocking statistics. When the online magazine The Atlantic modeled what would happen if Google integrated AI into search, it found that 75% of the time, the AI ​​would be used by users without requiring them to click through to his website. , and found that the traffic was lost. This could have a big impact on publisher traffic going forward, as Google currently accounts for nearly 40% of publisher traffic, according to SamelWeb data.

Some publishers are now trying to get ahead of this problem. For example, Axel Springer signed a deal with OpenAI this week to license AI model training news. But overall, publishers believe they will lose 20 to 40 percent of their website traffic once Google’s AI products are fully rolled out, the WSJ report said.

The lawsuit reiterates this concern, saying that Google’s recent advances in AI-based search are “for the purpose of discouraging end users from accessing class member websites that are part of the commercial field of digital news and publishing.” It is claimed that it was implemented in

SGE offers web searchers a conversational way to search for information, but it “appropriates” content, ultimately trapping users in Google’s “walled garden”. claims. Publishers also cannot block his SGE, as it uses his web crawler, which is the same as his GoogleBot, Google’s general search service.

Additionally, Google’s Bard AI says it was trained on a dataset that includes “news, magazines, and digital publications,” citing both 2023. report From News Media Alliance Washington Post article on AI training data For reference only. (The Post, working with researchers at the Allen Institute for AI, found that news and media sites were his third largest category of AI training data.)

The lawsuit also points to other concerns, including AdSense price changes and evidence of improper misappropriation of evidence on Google’s part through the destruction of chat messages. This issue is raised in the recent Epic Games lawsuit against Google over app store antitrust issues. I won.

In addition to damages, the lawsuit also seeks an injunction to obtain consent from publishers to use the website’s data to train artificial intelligence products in general, including those of Google itself and its competitors. It also calls on Google to allow publishers who opt out of SGE to continue to appear in Google search results.

Lawsuits continue in the US Google’s agreement with the Canadian government last month The search giant would then pay Canadian media a fee to use their content. Under the terms of the deal, Google will provide US$73.5 million (C$100 million) annually to news organizations in the country, with the funding to be distributed based on news organizations’ headcount. Negotiations with Meta have not yet been resolved, but Meta began blocking news in Canada in August in light of pressure to pay for content under new Canadian legislation.

This lawsuit will be filed at the same time as the U.S. lawsuit. Department of Justice files suit against Google against digital advertising technology monopolies, and the 2020 Department of Justice Civil antitrust lawsuit around search and search advertising (a different market than the digital advertising technology in recent litigation).

The anticompetitive effects of Google’s plans cause serious harm to competition, consumers, workers, and democratic press freedom.” announcement It was posted on the website of Hausfeld, the law firm that handled the case.

“Plaintiff Helena World Chronicle LLC invokes the Sherman Act and the Clayton Act to restore and ensure competition in digital news and reference publishing and install guardrails to preserve the free market of ideas in a new era. Seeks collective monetary and injunctive relief for: Artificial Intelligence.”

Google has been asked for comment, but has not yet received a response.

Complaints are available below.

Helena World Chronicle, LLC v. Google LLC and Alphabet Inc. by tech crunch On Scribd

Source: techcrunch.com

New Update Gives Google Maps Users Greater Control Over Their Information

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Google Maps today announced that it is introducing several new ways to give users more control over their personal information. The Navigation app now allows you to delete activity related to a specific location, and location controls are now easily accessible from the blue dot within the app.

The company says users will soon be able to see recent activity related to a specific location and easily delete searches, directions, visits and shares with just a few taps. Let’s say you’re going to the bakery and you use an app to navigate there. You’ll soon be able to view and delete all recent activity related to your bakery.

As for the blue dot that marks your location on Google Maps, you’ll soon be able to use it to access location controls. Click this to see whether your Location History and Timeline settings (Features of Maps that help you remember places you’ve been) are turned on, and whether you’ve given Maps access to your device’s location. It shows.

Google says the ability to remove location-related activity from Maps and new blue dot controls will begin rolling out to Android and iOS in the coming weeks.

Google Maps also announced that when you turn on Location History, your time will immediately be saved directly to your device.

Timeline on Device

Image credits: Google

“As before, you can always remove all or part of your information or disable your settings completely,” Mario McGrid, product director for Google Maps, said in a blog post. “If you are buying a new phone or are worried about losing your existing phone, you can always choose to back up your data to the cloud to avoid data loss. Backup data will be automatically It’s encrypted so no one, including Google, can read your data.”

Additionally, when you turn on Location History for the first time, automatic deletion controls are set to 3 months by default. This option was previously set to 18 months.

Google says these changes will be rolled out gradually over the next year on Android and iOS. Users will receive a notification when this update is applied to their account.

Source: techcrunch.com

Epic Games Prevails in Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google Over Fortnite

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On Monday, a jury sided with Epic Games over Google in an antitrust case that could change the way app marketplaces like Google Play operate.
The unanimous ruling ended a three-year legal battle between the two companies. Epic, the developer of the popular online multiplayer game Fortnite, first filed a lawsuit against Google in 2020, alleging that the company’s app store practices violated federal law and California antitrust law. He claimed that there was.
The lawsuit against Google was just part of Epic’s splashy effort to rally app developers large and small against the entrenched gatekeepers of mobile software. Epic’s war against Apple and Google revolves around the hit game Fortnite, which is free to play and available on almost every software platform imaginable, despite the current App Store and Google Play drama.
Epic alleges that both tech giants violate antitrust laws by forcing app users to pay through their systems, drastically reducing in-app revenue in the process. When defending themselves, Apple and Google typically point to security concerns and justify a shared desire to direct app users to central software authorities.
Apple and Google treat third-party apps differently. iOS doesn’t allow third-party apps, but Android allows “sideloading” of apps. This fact changed the shape of the battle between Epic and Google. Still, Google warns customers against installing external apps, and the process isn’t as simple as just downloading something on Google Play.
Faced with these facts, it wasn’t clear whether Epic would prevail in its lawsuit against Google Play’s relatively unrestricted ecosystem, but it did.
“Today’s ruling is a victory for all app developers and consumers around the world,” Epic Games said in a statement about the ruling. “This proves that Google’s app store practices are illegal and abuse its monopoly to charge exorbitant fees, stifle competition, and reduce innovation.”
Epic points to the UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill and the EU Internal Digital Markets Act as examples of regulations on the way that could impose further restrictions on Apple and Google’s dominant software practices. I admired it.
In a statement provided to TechCrunch, Wilson White, Google’s vice president of government affairs and public policy, confirmed the company’s plans to appeal.
“We intend to appeal the ruling. Android and Google Play offer more choice and openness than any other major mobile platform,” White said. “…We remain committed to the Android business model and remain deeply committed to our users, partners, and the broader Android ecosystem.”
If any of these look familiar, it’s probably because Epic fought the same battle against Apple. The highly publicized campaign began with a parody of Apple’s iconic “1984” ad and culminated in a mixed verdict two years ago.
The court’s ruling largely favored Apple, but called on the iPhone maker to open up its software market by allowing developers to direct customers to alternative payment options. In September, the companies asked the Supreme Court to reconsider the ruling and take the case, so essentially everything is still up in the air.
Epic started directing Fortnite players to download it in 2018, moving it away from Google’s Play Store. In 2020, Epic released Fortnite through Google’s official app marketplace, but it still accused the company of preventing users from downloading third-party apps. The popular game is no longer available on Google Play or installed on iOS devices through Apple’s App Store.
This isn’t the last we hear about Epic’s multi-pronged battle. Google should appeal soon. Still, between a somewhat unexpected victory in court and last week’s massive Lego Fortnite launch that attracted more than 2.4 million concurrent players, Epic has everything going for it right now.

Source: techcrunch.com

Apple and Google snubbed ChatGPT for “App of the Year,” selecting AllTrails and Imprint instead.

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Apple and Google announce 2023 app and game winners

Apple and Google announce 2023 app and game winners

Both Apple and Google announced the best apps and games of the year today, with hiking and biking companion AllTrails winning Apple’s iPhone App of the Year for 2023. Imprint: Learn visually Selected as one of the best apps on Google Play. Meanwhile, Apple and Google have agreed on a game of the year chosen by both companies. Honkai: Star Rail As their winner.

These year-end “best of” lists not only drive interest in new apps and games, but also assess the status of the app marketplace, what the platform itself wanted to celebrate, and what attracted consumers. It also functions as a means to ‘Attention this year. But surprisingly, this year Apple bucked the trend of highlighting apps that are new to the store or that leverage recently released technology in innovative ways. Instead, this year’s iPhone app finalists include winner AllTrails, plus apps that have long been praised as well-built and well-designed mobile companions, including language learning app Duolingo and travel app Flighty.

Still, this is a different type of selection than previous years, with 2022 social hit BeReal and last year’s well-received children’s app Toca Life World among the App Store winners. It’s also notable that neither Apple nor Google named an AI app as their app of the year, despite the phenomenal success of mobile apps like ChatGPT. ChatGPT Fastest growing consumer application in history Earlier this year, the service reached 100 million users shortly after its launch. This record was later broken by Instagram Threads, which reached his 100 million user mark in just five days, and still maintained his user base of just under 100 million active users as of October. While any of these picks would be a mobile app success story, both app store platforms looked to others as this year’s top winners. Moreover, apart from ChatGPT, many other AI apps are generating millions of dollars in revenue as well, so the decision to avoid the AI ​​category appears to be a deliberate choice on Apple’s part.

Other App Store winners include:

  • iPad App of the Year preta makeup
  • Mac App of the Year photometer
  • Apple TV App of the Year Mubi
  • Apple Watch App of the Year smart gym
  • iPhone Game of the Year Honkai: Star Rail
  • iPad Game of the Year lost in play
  • Mac Game of the Year P’s lie
  • Apple Arcade Game of the Year hello kitty island adventure

Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement about the 2023 winners: “We are proud of the developers who continue to create amazing apps and games that redefine the world around us. It’s exciting to see. This year’s winners represent the limitless potential of developers who bring their visions to life, creating apps and games with amazing ingenuity, exceptional quality, and purpose-driven missions.”

Google took a different approach to “best of” apps this year, emphasizing “multi-device” apps that mirror its efforts in the Play Store. The company named Spotify the best multi-device app. An interesting choice considering that it was just revealed that Spotify had a sweet deal with Google that allowed it to avoid Play Store fees through its antitrust lawsuit with Epic Games.

Google also allows users to vote for their favorite apps; Chat GPT We won the race here as the app of the year as chosen by our users.

However, the press release does not name these names, instead pointing only to: App Store grouping. In addition to it, overall winner, Google took a different approach to “best of” apps this year, emphasizing “multi-device” apps that mirror its efforts in the Play Store, which is designed to make it easier to find apps beyond smartphones.


Source: techcrunch.com

Enhanced Google Maps now includes additional social features for planning outings with friends

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Google Maps get some new updates, includes social features designed to help people plan and collaborate with friends. The navigation platform also adds improved transit directions and emoji responses.

New social features are designed to take planning from group chats to Google Maps. The platform is updating its Lists feature to make it easier for people to share locations, make plans with friends, vote on group activities, and more. With this new feature, you can share locations in Maps with your friends, then create collaboration lists and start planning hangouts. Everyone in the group can add locations they want to visit and vote using emojis like hearts and thumbs up.

Image credits: Google

Google says the new feature will allow users to plan outings from start to finish within the Maps app. For example, you can invite your friends, make a list, and decide on all the activities you want to do this winter. Everyone can add activities that interest them, like ice skating at a specific rink or checking out the Holiday Market. Once people start voting, everyone will be able to see which activities are the most popular.

The new update will roll out globally on Android and iOS in the coming weeks.

When it comes to transportation improvements, Google Maps now makes it easy to see the best route to your destination based on factors such as ETA, number of connections, and trip length. We’ve also added the option to customize your route based on the type of transportation you want to use, or choose a route that requires minimal walking.

Plus, you’ll know exactly where the station entrances and exits are, which side of the street they’re on, and a clear walking route to and from the station. These updates will help ensure you’re on the right train in the right direction.

The transportation update will begin rolling out on Android and iOS in the coming weeks.

Google Maps also adds emoji reactions to photos, videos, and reviews. If you can’t find an emoji that sums up your feelings, you can sometimes create a mashup reaction like this: emoji kitchen. Emoji reactions begin rolling out globally today on Android and iOS.

Source: techcrunch.com

New AI-powered search updates, enhanced navigation interface, and more introduced by Google Maps

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Google is adding a number of new updates to Maps. These include several AI-powered features designed to make it easier for users to search, explore their surroundings, and reach their destinations. The company is rolling out updates to its navigation interface that will make it easier to find specific items nearby or find inspiration for things to do, provide EV drivers with more information about chargers, and expand the features announced in 2018 to more cities and more.

The tech giant is updating its in-map search to make it easier to find specific things nearby. Searching for things like “animal latte art” will show you the photo results you’re looking for. The results you see are based on AI and advanced image recognition models analyzing the photos you share on Google Maps. By showing you these images, Google wants to make it easier for you to find new spots that have exactly what you’re looking for. In this scenario, if you find a cute animal latte art image that you like, you can click on it to see details of the coffee shop that offers that image and be directed to that cafe.

Image credits: Google

This new way to search in Maps is rolling out this week in France, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the US. Google plans to expand its service to more countries in the future.

If you have free time and aren’t sure what you’re looking for, you’ll soon see more organized search results for things near you. For example, if you’re in Tokyo and don’t know what to do, search for “things to do” and you’ll get suggestions for places like “anime,” “cherry blossoms,” and “art exhibitions.” You can tap a location to go to it or save it for later. The update is designed to help you discover activities and dining options and will roll out globally on Android and iOS in the coming weeks.

Image credits: Google

Google also announced that its Maps navigation interface will soon reflect your surroundings more accurately. For example, when you’re driving downtown, you’ll see more realistic buildings and better orient yourself. In addition to color updates on the map, you now see improved lane details when driving on highways. This is useful when you need to quickly cross multiple lanes to get to the exit. These updates will begin rolling out in the coming months in 12 countries, including the United States, Canada, France, and Germany.

US drivers will start checking to see if there are HOV lanes on their routes. And in Europe, he’s expanding Google’s AI-powered speed limit information to 20 countries. Both of these features will begin rolling out to Android, iOS, and cars with Google built-ins in the coming months.

Image credits: Google

In addition, EV drivers using Android and iOS can see on the map whether a charger is compatible with their vehicle and whether available chargers are fast, medium, or slow. You will now be able to see additional information about charging stations. You can also see when the charger was last used, so you can be sure it’s working properly and avoid using a broken charger.

As part of today’s announcement, Google shared that it will be expanding some of its current AI-powered features to more cities. Immersive View for Routes, which lets you preview your journey by car or on foot, is expanding to Amsterdam, Barcelona, ​​Dublin, Florence, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paris, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Tokyo, and Venice (on Android and iOS).

Google is also bringing Lens in Maps, formerly known as Search with Live View, to more than 50 new cities, including Austin, Las Vegas, Rome, Sao Paulo, and Taipei. This feature uses AI and augmented reality to help you understand your surroundings, and when you lift your phone, you can find information about nearby ATMs, transit stations, restaurants, etc.

Source: techcrunch.com