European rules that allow individuals the “right to be forgotten” online could be extended worldwide.
The European Court of Justice is hearing evidence on the matter and will rule in 2019.
Google argues that extending the law could turn it into a tool for censorship, in “less democratic” regimes.
France’s regulator said that Google is currently not respecting the rights of citizens to have information erased.
Posted in News and Views
Tagged Google, right to be forgotten, The European Court of Justice
The Senate Intelligence Committee’s hearing on foreign use of social media to influence US politics took place Wednesday morning with two of the big tech companies that senators wanted to hear from present — and one empty chair.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey were in the room and testifying. Google had offered to send Kent Walker, its senior vice president of global affairs, but the committee declined, saying it wanted someone more senior. Google did not offer anyone. So next to Sandberg and Dorsey was an empty chair, with a placecard for Google.
Posted in News and Views
Tagged Facebook, Google, Jack Dorsey, Sheryl Sandberg, twitter
Let the upcoming fourth quarter be known as the incubator phase of the six-second video ad unit, a few industry players echoed in recent days. Next year, they say, it’s go time.
The format has built up buzz since Google threw its stake in the ground when the best examples of its six-second hackathon were highlighted at Sundance in January. Then in June, Fox announced it was on board with six-second video ads. And, at the end of last month, Facebook revealed it was going to work on its six-second ad game during its second-quarter earnings call. Now, brands and agencies are starting to state their motives for getting out in front of the movement. Michelin this week started testing the snack-sized clips on YouTube, the Google-owned video platform that calls them bumper ads.
It looks like Google is finally admitting what we all already know: The company has too many damn music streaming platforms.
YouTube’s head of music confirmed on Thursday that the company plans to consolidate its two music streaming services into one platform.
Speaking at a conference in New York Thursday, Youtube music chief Lyor Cohen said Google will combine YouTube Red and Google Play Music into a single service, according to a report from The Verge.
The company is updating the feed in its Google app to provide more in-depth, personalized context about news and information shared around the web.
Starting Wednesday, Google app users will see a new look for their feeds — under the usual information cards, the app will show related links, like fact-checks on some news stories or additional coverage. It may also show movie times for a new film, a favorite sports team’s latest scores or news related to a destination you’re planning to visit on vacation.
Users will also be able to follow topics that interest them. For instance, if you see a story about Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, you can tap on the card in which the story is displayed to follow news and updates about Bezos. The app will also factor in trending stories.
Google will no longer scan your emails to steer the ads it shows you—a longstanding controversial practice that you may not have even been aware the company was doing.
The surprise announcement seems to be an effort to appease paying users of Google’s office email software. The search giant has never shown those customers ads or skimmed their emails as it does with its free Gmail service, but some were confused about that point, according to Google Cloud SVP Diane Greene.
“This decision brings Gmail ads in line with how we personalize ads for other Google products,” Greene wrote in a blog post.
Microsoft and Google are locked in a colossal battle to rule your business productivity. Office 365 and G Suite both are excellent, cloud-based toolkits that can ensure your team collaborates and stays in sync.
But unless you’re drowning in cash or just like redundancy, you only need one. Which is the right choice? Each offers distinct advantages. Here’s a breakdown of both products to make the decision easier.
Starting and managing a business is no easy feat, even for Google
While it’s currently one of the most powerful and respected businesses in the world, nearly 20 years ago it was just a small group of people working at a very typical startup, all-nighters and all.
“The founders [Larry Page and Sergey Brin] built the company in the image of what they saw at Stanford graduate school,” Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google and current chairman, told Reid Hoffman on Masters of Scale, a podcast series examining counterintuitive theories to growing a company. He added, “that graduate student culture, that sense that somehow we’re about to discover something new, permeated the decision-making, and traditional experience wasn’t present.”
Posted in Tools and Information
Tagged bad meetings, failing products, Google, hiring, mangement
Japanese tech giant SoftBank is acquiring robotics company Boston Dynamics from Alphabet for an undisclosed sum.
Boston Dynamics is best known for the videos it periodically posts on its YouTube page featuring its latest and strangest walking robots. Each video would quickly rack up millions of views.
Posted in News and Views
Tagged Alphabet, Boston Dynamics, Google, SoftBank, walking robots
A new Google Docs phishing scam just reared its head a few hours ago, and it’s spreading like wildfire. Google appears to be taking action to stop it, but in the meantime: be super, super wary of Google Doc invites for now. If you fall for this one (and plenty of otherwise eagle-eyed people have already), it’ll blast out the bait to everyone on your contact list.
