Google and Yahoo might crow about supporting the entertainment industry, but a new report says that hasn’t stopped the two Internet giants from placing ads on sites with pirated movies, TV shows and music. The report looked at analysis of which sites have the most copyright infringement notices against them and found that Google and Yahoo are in the top 10 ad networks that support major piracy sites. Ruh roh. [More]
More Online Ads Should Require Users To Confirm They Meant To Click
By 12.19.12
Last week, Google introduced a new feature on its mobile ad network that seeks to cut down on accidental ad clicks by requiring the user to verify they want to visit the site linked in the ad. We think this is a great idea that the entire Internet could use. [More]
Gift-Givers, Beware Of Google’s Short Return Window For Nexus Devices
By 12.13.12
Are you buying a product from Google’s Nexus line as a gift this holiday season, or for an upcoming special event? It’s too late for reader Joan, but she wants everyone to know that you should probably make your purchase from somewhere with a looser return policy than the Google Play store if your gift-giving occasion is more than two weeks or so away. That’s because you can’t return items more than 15 days after purchase unless they’re defective. [More]
Newly Updated Google Maps App Finally Makes Its Return To iPhones
By 12.13.12
Apple’s pride is still likely stinging just a bit from the Great Map Debacle Of 2012, but nevertheless, a new version of Google Maps is now available as an app for iPhone users on iOS 6. Google announced yesterday that the revised map had finally been approved by Apple and will now be listed in the company’s app store. [More]
Gmail Briefly Goes Down, Everyone Proceeds To Freak Out On Social Media As Per Usual
By 12.10.12
It seems that noon is the magical time chosen by the Gmail elves to abruptly shut things down and throw everyone who uses it into a social media tizzy. We at Consumerist were right there with other Gmail users back during the Great Gmail Shutdown Of April 2012 when the site also crashed around noon ET, and today was like a giant flashback. Everyone make it back in once piece? [More]
Sears Loses A Nexus 7 Sale, Misses The Point
By 12.7.12
Bill has been a loyal Sears customer for most of his life. They happen to sell the Nexus 7 tablet, which he wanted to get for his wife for Christmas (hope she doesn’t read Consumerist) for a competitive price, and he could get Shop Your Way rewards points. Score! He ordered up the tablet online, then headed over to the store to pick it up. Then things started to go terribly wrong. [More]
Nexus 4 Owners: Really Unlucky Or Just Really Clumsy
By 11.29.12 — Updated: 1.28.13
Earlier this week, we asked owners of Google’s new Nexus 4 smartphone whether they’ve found it exceptionally slippery. It was part warning, part user poll. Reader Blaine thought that his phone got all smashed up after falling off an ironing board in a way that sort of defies the laws of physics because of its curved back and super shiny surface. Sad Nexus owners wrote in, but so did tech fans who wanted to defend the honor of Google and manufacturer LG. The consensus? Don’t put your phone on a non-flat surface, and accessory makers really need to hurry up with those bumper cases. [More]
Nexus 4 And 10 Purchasers Just Want To Know Where Their Devices Are
By 11.19.12
Google announced a fresh assortment of Nexus mobile devices last week, so regular readers know what that means: a fresh assortment of reader complaints about the experience of ordering from Google. As we’ve noted pretty much every time the company releases a consumer-facing product, the company makes great products that consumers want, but still aren’t all that great at dealing with those customers. Tuesday’s release of the Nexus 4 (phone) and Nexus 10 (big tablet) worldwide were no different. Many customers whose orders got through before the Nexus 4 sold out (or did it?) aren’t sure when their phones are coming…if they’re coming at all. [More]
Sorry, You Can’t Buy Nexus Devices With Your $350 Google Play Store Credit
By 11.19.12
Michael’s plan seemed like a really great idea at the time he hatched it. He wanted to make sure that he would have the money for a Nexus 4 set aside, so he purchased $350 worth of credit for the Google Play store. The phone’s available for sale there, so this made perfect sense. Until the phone actually launched. When he could finally get through to place his order, he learned that Play Store credit specifically couldn’t be used on Nexus devices. Oh, no. [More]
Man Sues Google For Defamation & Wins Because He’s Not Part Of Australia’s Criminal Underworld
By 11.13.12 — Updated: 11.14.12
While I might get a bit huffy at Google search results that bring up that other person with my name, since she’s not part of a criminal underworld I’m totally not going to sue Google. But one man whose name pulled up all sorts of unfortunate results linking his name to some seriously shady stuff in Australia had enough with being tied to such negative results, so he sued Google for defamation. And he actually won. [More]
If You Bought Your Nexus 7 Elsewhere, Don’t Expect Support From Google
By 11.6.12 — Updated: 11.7.12
This Guy Drop-Tests iPad Mini & Google Nexus 7 So You Don’t Have To
By 11.2.12
If you’re in the market for a tablet this holiday season, especially one for one of your butterfingered kids or your accident-prone parents, you’ll probably want to know how well Apple’s new iPad Mini and the Google Nexus 7 survive when dropped on the ground. [More]
Still Waiting For A Nexus 7 I Don’t Even Want Anymore
By 10.29.12
Last week, we shared with you two discouraging tales of terrible customer service from Google. It’s not that the people who answer the phone when you order the Galaxy Nexus or Nexus 7 aren’t friendly. They are. They just can’t do anything to help their customers, who have been waiting for their devices. And waiting. Reader Phil grumbles that he’s still waiting for his order to leave “processing” status after a few weeks, and he could go buy a better device for the same price elsewhere instead of paying more to have a delayed order he can’t cancel directly from Google. [More]
Google Doesn’t Send My Galaxy Nexus, Doesn’t Know Why
By 10.23.12
Purchasing an unlocked Galaxy Nexus directly from the Google Play store is very easy. The problem seems to be in getting it. Dan ordered his phone almost two weeks ago, and wonders where it is. Google’s customer service representatives are very nice, but completely powerless and don’t have anything to tell him. The phone is supposed to be shipping now. Where is Dan’s? Is anyone else having the same problem? (Update: Yes, they are.) [More]
Google Pulls Back The Curtain On Its Secretive Data Centers To Show Where Your Internet Gets Made
By 10.17.12
As much as you might’ve thought there was a wizard behind Google’s curtain pulling levers and making the Internet, well, it’s not true. But Google’s secretive data centers were just as mysterious as the Great and Powerful Oz until the company pulled back the curtain this week to show photos of its huge rooms full of computers working away to process Internet search requests, send emails and beam YouTube clips around the world. [More]
Google Won’t Replace Your Broken Nexus 7 Until You Put Up $200 Collateral
By 10.12.12
Google does many things very well, like selling ads against your e-mail and designing mobile operating systems. What they’re not all that good at is customer service. Trey was really excited to buy the Nexus 7 tablet direct from Google. Great tablet, great price. The problem was that he would have to get his tech support directly from Google. That doesn’t seem like such a bad idea… unless you’ve tried to deal with Google’s tech support. [More]
Microsoft Asks Google To Censor Bing, U.S. Government In Automated DMCA Takedown Notices
By 10.8.12
Out of the five million DMCA takedown requests Microsoft filed with Google last year, there are probably plenty of legitimate ones involving copyright infringement and protected content. But then there are the automated requests to censor sites like BBC, CNN, HuffPo, TechCrunch, Wikipedia and a bunch of others, including its own search engine, Bing. Whoops. [More]
The Google Algorithm Has Become Self-Aware and Self-Hating
By 10.5.12
Reader golddog has been noticing some unflagged messages/false positives coming from Gmail’s spam filter, but noticed something in his spam box that really, really shouldn’t have been there. It was a message from Google itself, promoting a Google product for sale. The Gmail account that golddog uses on his Android devices flagged this message, naturally, as spam. [More]
