Atlanta residents are now well-poised to join inhabitants of metro Raleigh and Kansas City as citizens of one of the nation’s few crucibles of fiber competition. Comcast is setting its sights squarely on Google Fiber today with the announcement of a new fiber to the home offering at twice Google’s speed, and Atlanta is the lucky city getting first dibs. [More]
You Can Now Turn Any Google Map Into A Pac-Man Game
By 3.31.15
Have you ever looked at a Google Map and thought to yourself, “It would be flippin’ awesome if I could play Pac-Man on this street grid”? Probably not, because that is not something that occurs to most people. But it did occur to some folks at Google who have incorporated, perhaps temporarily, a button that lets you Pac-Man-ize your Google Map. [More]
Google Fiber To Expand More, Adds Salt Lake City To List Of Lucky Locales
By 3.25.15
Google said earlier this year that the FCC’s net neutrality rule wouldn’t stop them from investing more in Google Fiber, and it looks like they really meant it. The service is now slated to expand to yet another location: Salt Lake City. [More]
Google To Start Doing Its Mega-Personalized Ad-Serving Thing On TV, Too
By 3.23.15
As dominant as it is and has been for decades, TV advertising is something of a crapshoot. Neilsen ratings are still the gold standard for every network out there, especially since they now finally track time-shifted viewing. But Neilsen still uses their own proprietary tech, and works on a sampling basis. In an age when every set-top box and most of the TVs they’re plugged into are themselves net-connected computers, there’s a more granular and accurate way to measure viewers and to advertise to them — and Google’s taking it. [More]
FTC Report Alleges Google Used Anti-Competitive Practices Prior To 2013
By 3.20.15
When conducting a search on Google, consumers have a reasonable expectation that results will show a variety of options related to their inquiry. But a recently disclosed report shows that wasn’t always the case. [More]
Report: Google Error Leaks Hidden Data For 280,000 Domains
By 3.13.15
Usually when we hear that a company has had a bunch of data leaked to the world, hackers are responsible. But in the case of a Google leak involving hidden data for 280,000 domain names, a bug in Google’s system is apparently to blame. [More]
Google Expands “Safe Browsing” App To Warn Users About Sites Riddled With Unwanted Software
By 3.13.15
First of all, we’d like to offer a belated Happy Birthday to the World Wide Web, which turned 26 yesterday. You’re closer to 30 than 20 now, so your hangovers will only get worse. Second, to honor that milestone, Google announced updates to its Safe Browsing technology, including a warning when users are about to visit a site chockfull of unwanted software. [More]
Google’s First Branded Retail Store Opens In London
By 3.11.15
Move over Apple and Microsoft, there’s another tech company taking its products to the retail floor with its own branded store: Google. [More]
Google Launches Car Insurance Comparison Site
By 3.5.15
Google officially jumped into the insurance business today with the launch of its car insurance comparison website in the United States. [More]
Study: Self-Driving Vehicles Could Eliminate 90% Of Car Accidents In United States
By 3.5.15
Although we’re likely a decade or two away from every person on the block owning a driverless car, when the time comes we could be saving billions of dollars and spending far less time dealing with auto accidents. [More]
Google Confirms Plans For Wireless Service
By 3.2.15
A new major player could be coming to the world of wireless service providers. Google confirmed plans to launch its own wireless service in the next several months, albeit in a limited capacity. [More]
Google Reverses Content Policy Prohibiting Adult Content On Blogger Platform
By 2.27.15
In an abrupt about-face, Google announced early Friday morning that it would reverse a content policy change made just three days earlier that banned the users of the Blogger platform from sharing sexually explicit or graphic nudity on their sites. [More]
Google Play Search Results Will Now Feature Sponsored Ads
By 2.26.15
The next time you visit the Google Play store to download an app, you’ll likely be greeted with an ad or two. [More]
Google Fiber, Other ISP Heads Agree: We’ll Keep Investing No Matter What The FCC Does About Net Neutrality
By 2.25.15
With only hours remaining in the countdown to tomorrow’s net neutrality vote, everyone from Silicon Valley to Capitol Hill is getting their last words in. At a tech policy event in Washington, DC yesterday, a panel of ISP executives spoke about the future of competition, innovation, and network deployment as the regulations and the marketplace change around them. And when the moderator directly asked the speakers if Title II regulation would diminish investment in their networks, the answer was the same all around: nope. [More]
Revenge Porn Site Operator Tells Google To Remove His Personal Info. Seriously.
By 2.25.15
For several years, Craig Brittain operated a so-called “revenge porn” website that not only allowed users to publicly post revealing photos and personal information about people (mostly women) without their permission, but actively encouraged it. The site has since been shut down and Brittain recently settled with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations of fraud. But now the man who made money off the sharing of strangers’ images doesn’t want the world to know what he looks like. [More]
Google Changes Content Policy To Prohibit Adult Material On Blogger Platform Starting March 23
By 2.24.15
Starting next month all users of Google’s Blogger platform must adhere to a more stringent content policy, which includes banning users from sharing sexually explicit or graphic nudity on their sites. [More]
Google Wallet To Come Pre-Installed On AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile Android Phones
By 2.23.15
Even though Google Wallet has been around for several years, the mobile payment system hasn’t been the industry leader the company had hoped for, mostly because AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile created a competing app, Softcard. But Google has now reached a deal with those three providers that will result in Google Wallet being pre-installed on new devices later this year. [More]
Ridiculous Copyright Claim Seeks Takedown Of Skype, Java, Whatsapp, Dropbox & 91 Others
By 2.23.15
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act allows content companies to ask Google and others to remove sites from search results because they contain material that infringes on their copyright. But one music company has been on a tear recently, sending DMCA notices claiming that everything from news stories about file-sharing to the generic “downloads” pages of some of the Internet’s biggest sites are violating its copyright. [More]
