3 ways Google Chrome is speeding up your searches | Mashable

October 24, 2023October 22, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Google wants to help you speed up your searches.

The tech giant published a blog this week debuting new features for your Chrome address bar that should improve your search abilities. Everyone could likely use some more efficiency online. And while you can read the whole piece from Google, here are few of the new features the company dropped.

1. There is improved autocomplete

Google searches in Chrome should now anticipate the URL you actually want when you begin searching. As an example, Google noted that simple typing “flights” into the search bar will give you the option of autocompleting to Google Flights, even though the ultimate destination URL actually begins with “google.com/travel.” That should be a helpful upgrade when you know where you want to end up, even if you don’t know the actual URL.

Google Antitrust Trial: What Small Business Owners Need to Know | Small Business Trends

September 14, 2023September 12, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In what’s being termed as the most significant US antitrust trial in decades, Google’s dominance over internet search is under scrutiny.

This development could bring forth changes that impact every facet of the digital landscape, especially for small business owners who rely on search engines to drive traffic and sales.

Google Antitrust Trial Begins

Search Engine Landscape Might Change

Google’s search engine, which processes billions of queries daily, is at the heart of this lawsuit. Should Google lose the trial, it could reshape how search engine operations function. This could influence where and how businesses advertise and may affect search visibility for many.

Google Salary Data Leak Shows Employee Compensation in 2022 | Entrepreneur

July 24, 2023July 23, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Tech jobs have long been in the top ranks among the highest-paying industries, but some companies really shell out the dough for their engineers.

In 2022, the median total compensation for Google employees was $279,802, according to leaked internal data from the company reviewed by Business Insider. Among the highest-paying positions at Google, software engineers led the pack with a maximum base salary of $718,000 last year.

Google adjusts privacy policy allowing use of public data for AI training | Mashable

July 6, 2023July 5, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Google can now use public data to help train and create AI products, according to new privacy policy changes.

As of July 1, the tech giant’s newly adjusted policy reads: “Google uses information to improve our services and to develop new products, features and technologies that benefit our users and the public. For example, we use publicly available information to help train Google’s AI models and build products and features like Google Translate, Bard, and Cloud AI capabilities.”

Previously, the policy only stated that publicly available information could be used to help train Google “language models” and gave a single mention of Google Translate.

Use it or lose it: Google says it will delete inactive accounts | CNN Business

May 17, 2023May 16, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If you haven’t logged into your Google account in a long time, you better use it or lose it.

Google announced Tuesday it will start deleting accounts that have been inactive for at least two years, a move that the company says is intended to prevent security risks.

The updated policy takes effect immediately, but Google said it will not begin deleting accounts until December. The company plans to send out multiple warning notifications to users and to conduct the purge of inactive accounts in phases.

The first accounts on the chopping block will be those that were created and then never revisited by the user, Google said. The policy also will only impact personal accounts, leaving organizations like schools and businesses untouched.

Google to pay a record $391m privacy settlement | BBC News

November 16, 2022November 15, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Google will pay $391.5m (£330m) to settle allegations about how it collects data from users.

The technology giant tracked the location of users who opted out of location services on their devices, 40 US states said.

Google has been told to be transparent about location tracking in the future and develop a web page telling people about the data it collects.

It is the largest privacy-related multi-state settlement in US history.

A Google official said: “Consistent with improvements we’ve made in recent years, we have settled this investigation, which was based on outdated product policies that we changed years ago.”

Report: Amazon To Lay Off 10,000 Employees | Entrepreneur

November 15, 2022November 14, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Amazon became the latest technology giant that’s likely to conduct large-scale layoffs, according to the New York Times. On Monday, the outlet reported that the company planned to lay off some 10,000 people, citing “people with knowledge of the matter.”

It’s the latest post-pandemic labor rout in the tech industry. Earlier this month, Twitter laid off roughly 3,000 employees. Meta laid off over 11,000 people last week. Google, Apple, and Disney have announced plans to cut costs or slow down hiring.

Google puts an end to Google Hangouts once and for all | TechCrunch

November 3, 2022November 1, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Google Hangouts, a text, video and voice chat app built into Gmail, is finally being shut down today. As announced earlier this year, Google is switching Hangouts users over to Google Chat, the company’s Slack-like instant messaging app for businesses.

Starting today, November 1, the Google Hangouts web app is no longer available. This was the last Hangouts offering available to users. The Android and iOS apps died in July of this year.

Hangouts had an arguably slow death, with Google allowing users to migrate over to Chat in 2021. The company announced in June 2022 that it would prompt Hangout users to move to Chat in Gmail or the app.

What to do with your old phones, gadgets and other e-waste | CNN Business

October 18, 2022October 16, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In the past two months, Apple, Google and Samsung have all unveiled their newest smartphones and other devices with the goal of getting consumers to upgrade ahead of the holidays. But in the process, these and other companies may also be adding to a growing problem: electronic waste.

The limited lifespan of many tech gadgets combined with few options to fix older devices, have caused the issue of e-waste to surge over the years. United Nation’s data indicates the world generated a staggering 53.6 million metric tons of e-waste in 2019, and only 17.4% of that was recycled.

Friday marks International E-Waste Day, an annual opportunity to reflect on the impacts of electronic waste and do more to repair or recycle them. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEE) Forum, a Brussels-based nonprofit that has spearheaded the occasion since 2018, said the focus this year is on taking action with the small bits of e-waste many people may unintentionally hoard, including your old cell phone, headphones, remote controls and computer mouse.

Google’s ‘delete last 15 minutes of search history’ feature comes to Android early | Mashable

March 22, 2022March 20, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Wouldn’t it be great if you could just click a button and just wipe, say, the last 15 minutes of your Google search history?

iPhone users have been living that dream since last summer, when Google rolled out that very option to its iOS app. Now Android users can now feel the joy of deleting your most recent search history with a single tap too.

Google is now rolling out the option to remove the last 15 minutes of a user’s search history to its official Android app, according to The Verge and confirmed by the search giant. Some Android users are already reporting that the feature is now available to them.