Google

Tue
15
May
John Lister's picture

Google Drone Military Involvement Sparks Resignations

Around a dozen Google employees have resigned over the company developing artificial intelligence for use with military drones. An internal petition against the work has reportedly been signed by 4,000 employees. The protest is over Google's ... involvement in Project Maven, a program the US Department of Defense is developing to make better use of its aerial drones. It is said to collect so much video footage from its drones in war zones and other areas where the US has a military presence that it's not viable to have humans analyze all the material. The idea of Project Maven is to use computers ... (view more)

Thu
10
May
John Lister's picture

YouTube Deletes Videos Promoting Cheating

YouTube has removed hundred of videos which included promotions for essay-writing services. The company says it breaches its rules but the video presenters say they weren't given enough warning. The case doesn't involve ads placed via YouTube itself ... that are shown to viewers before popular videos, or display ads shown on the site. Instead the 'ads' were part of the videos themselves. 700 Million Views For Promotions A BBC investigation found that more than 250 people who produce popular YouTube videos had broken off in the middle of a clip to promote EduBirdie, a Ukraine-based service which ... (view more)

Tue
08
May
John Lister's picture

Google Cracks Down On Election Ad Abuse

Google is to tighten up its rules on election-related advertising. It will restrict who's allowed to place such an ad and give the public more detail on who's behind elections ads. The new rules will cover election ads purchased on Google in the US. ... It doesn't yet appear the rules will affect ads that simply address political issues rather than specific candidates and campaigns. One rule is that anyone placing an election ad will need to prove they are either a US citizen or a lawful permanent resident. While this becomes law, Google says it will tighten its enforcement by requiring proof ... (view more)

Tue
03
Apr
John Lister's picture

Google Cracks Down On Cryptomining Scams

Google is banning Chrome browser tools that harness a computer's power to 'mine' virtual online currencies for a third party. It seems Google gave up trying to distinguish between different levels of legitimacy in such set-ups. The whole concept of ... "cryptomining" using a web browser may seem baffling to many users. In the simplest terms, the cryptomining program could automatically load when visiting a particular web page or would always remain active (if it was through a browser extension). The users' computer would then "mine" (using mathematical equations) until a ... (view more)

Wed
21
Mar
John Lister's picture

Google Bids $300M for Paywall Support, Combat Fake News

Google says it is investing $300 million to help improve the quality and reliability of online news. It argues that such work is in its own business interests. The biggest change with the 'Google News Initiative' is a couple of steps to improve the ... online experience for people who subscribe to news sites that are behind a paywall. One is that subscribers, once signed up to a news site, will be automatically logged on to it whenever they are signed in to their Google account, saving the need to re-enter passwords. Another change is that people who use this facility will now see a special ... (view more)

Wed
14
Mar
John Lister's picture

YouTube Reviewers OK Terror Group Videos

Google says human error allowed videos from a banned Neo-Nazi group to remain on YouTube despite reports. It says it will look at both human and automated changes to stop it happening again. The videos involved National Action, a far right Neo-Nazi ... group in the United Kingdom. The government there has proscribed the group. That's a special measure for groups that are actively carrying out, preparing or promoting terrorism rather than merely expressing offensive views. British law means it's illegal to be a member of a proscribed group or take part in its meetings. The UK government describes ... (view more)

Thu
01
Feb
John Lister's picture

Google to Predict Flight Delays before Airlines

Google is attempting to predict flight delays before airlines announce them. In some cases, it might be before the airline even knows it is going to happen. The new feature will be added to Google Flights, a service that lets users compare different ... options and find the best flight for their needs. This can take account of factors such as whether the user wants to prioritize price, direct flights vs layovers and total travel time. It also allows users to compare details such as baggage allowance. Incoming Flight Delays Among Key Data Once a user has booked a flight, the service can already ... (view more)

Tue
16
Jan
John Lister's picture

Report: Google Home, Chromecast Break WiFi

Several Google devices such as the Google Home and Chromecast appear to be causing temporary WiFi outages on home routers. Google says it's working on the problem, but some critics believe it's a design flaw rather than a bug. Originally it appeared ... the problem was specifically restricted to one gadget, the Google Home Max, and affected only "Archer" brand routers. However, later reports have identified the problem in other models of the Google Home smart speaker, along with the Chromecast range that 'casts' Internet audio and video to a television set. WiFi Dropping Out Reports ... (view more)

Thu
23
Nov
John Lister's picture

Google Tracked User Location even when GPS Turned Off

Google has admitted it tracked the location of cellphone users even when they had location services switched off. It says it's now stopped an 11-month program designed to improve "message delivery." Having location services switched on allows an ... Android phone to collect information about a user's location, commonly combining GPS data, details of nearby WiFi networks, and the location of nearby cellphone towers - all of which can be detected by a phone. Google - and third party app makers - use this data for tools such as mapping, navigation and finding nearby outlets of a particular chain of ... (view more)

Wed
01
Nov
John Lister's picture

Google Docs Users Locked Out

Google has been locking users out of their online documents in what appears to be a glitch. The problem has raised questions over how and why Google scans the contents of documents. The problem is with Google Docs, a service that lets users store, ... edit and share documents online, rather than them having to be stored on a specific computer (and shared by physical media such as USB sticks if necessary). Multiple users are reporting that they've been unable to access files, instead seeing a message saying "This item has been flagged as inappropriate and can no longer be shared" or "We're sorry. ... (view more)

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