TheNewsGuru

Tag: Google

  • Firm loses bid to intervene in Google antitrust challenge

    U.S. search and advertising company Yelp has lost its bid to intervene in Google’s challenge.

    The challenge is against a 2.4 billion euro (2.7 billion dollars) EU antitrust fine after an EU court said it had no direct interest in the case.

    The Luxembourg-based General Court also rejected an application by U.S.-based lobbying group Consumer Watchdog for the same reason, according to its Dec. 7 ruling.

    The European Commission penalized Google, the world’s most popular internet search engine, last year for favoring its own comparison shopping service in internet searches.

    The case had been triggered by British price comparison shopping site Foundem while other European and U.S. rivals also filed complaints.

    Yelp had bid to take part in the court proceedings so that its rights and interests would be covered by the final ruling in the case.

    The General Court, however, backed Google’s argument against Yelp’s intervention, saying that while Yelp took part as an interested third party in the EU investigation, it runs a different business from Google.

    “As Yelp does not operate a search service that specializes in comparison shopping results.

    ”It cannot be directly affected by the ruling regarding the contested act and thus does not satisfy the criterion laid down in the case-law,” judges said.

    The court also dismissed lobbying group FairSearch’s bid to intervene in the shopping case.

    Judges said FairSearch had failed to prove that it is a representative body. They also rejected intervention bids from Prestige Gifting, Connexity, Pricegrabber.com Ltd and lobbying group ICOMP.

    This is one of two Google challenges against EU antitrust rulings, with the other related to Android.

     

  • Trump accuses Facebook, Google, Twitter of bias

    US President Donald Trump took a swipe on Tuesday at America’s tech giants, accusing them of having a liberal bias, and claiming Twitter was making it more difficult to follow his account.

    “Facebook, Twitter and Google are so biased toward the Dems it is ridiculous!. Twitter, in fact, has made it much more difficult for people to join @realDonaldTrump. They have removed many names & greatly slowed the level and speed of increase. They have acknowledged-done NOTHING!” Trump tweeted.

    Trump is a regular critic of social media and his criticism echoed another attack on Twitter as recently as October, when he again accused the platform of stifling the growth of his account.

    The Internet firms have consistently denied charges of political bias and many analysts have pointed to large social media followings of conservatives including Trump.

    Twitter said in a statement it has been working to weed out accounts that hide a user’s true identity or seek to manipulate the platform.

    “Our focus is on the health of the service, and that includes work to remove fake accounts to prevent malicious behaviour,” Twitter said in an emailed statement.

    “Many prominent accounts have seen follower counts drop, but the result is higher confidence that the followers they have are real, engaged people.”

    The criticism came a day after a report for the Senate revealed Russian agents had used social media in an attempt to sway the 2016 election in Trump’s favour.

    An analysis for the Senate Intelligence Committee described an organised campaign by the St Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency (IRA) to hurt Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee.

    Troll accounts marshalled by the organisation had inflamed right-wing conspiracy theories and suppressed the vote of traditionally liberal-leaning groups such as African Americans, the report said.

    The IRA-created “Blacktivist” account sent out messages such as: “No lives matter to Hillary Clinton. Only votes matter to Hillary Clinton.”

    Separately, a portion of the 3,841 IRA accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube studied by the researchers sought to provoke Republican-leaning white Americans to get out and vote.

    The study showed the IRA US campaign began in 2015, aiming to mobilise conservative voters, with no specific backing for Trump at the time.

    But as the then-candidate gained support, and especially when he drove his anti-immigrant message, the IRA posts turned in his favour.

    While the study did not draw any lines between the IRA propaganda and the election results — Republican Donald Trump stunned Clinton to take the White House — post-election data suggests some impact.

    According to the Pew Research Center, white voter turnout surged in 2016 while black turnout sank by five percentage points, to 59.6 percent, from four years earlier.

     

  • Google to invest over $1 billion to establish new campus

    Google to invest over $1 billion to establish new campus

    Google will be investing over $1 billion in capital improvements to establish a new campus in New York City, the Internet giant said in a statement on Monday.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Ruth Porat, SVP and CFO of Google and Alphabet, in the statement, said the over 1.7 million square-foot campus is a result of lease agreements.

    The statement reads: “Today we’re taking the next step in our commitment to our New York City presence by investing over $1 billion in capital improvements to establish a new campus, Google Hudson Square.

    “The over 1.7 million square-foot campus is a result of lease agreements at 315 and 345 Hudson Street and a signed letter of intent at 550 Washington Street.

    “When we came to New York City almost two decades ago, it was our first office outside of California. It’s now home to more than 7,000 employees, speaking 50 languages, working on a broad range of teams including Search, Ads, Maps, YouTube, Cloud, Technical Infrastructure, Sales, Partnerships and Research.

    “New York City continues to be a great source of diverse, world-class talent—that’s what brought Google to the city in 2000 and that’s what keeps us here.

    “Earlier this year, we announced the $2.4 billion purchase of the Manhattan Chelsea Market and shared plans to lease additional space at Pier 57.

    “We hope to start moving into the two Hudson Street buildings by 2020, followed by 550 Washington Street in 2022 once the building is complete. Google Hudson Square will be the primary location for our New York-based Global Business Organization.

    “We believe that as our company grows, we have a responsibility to support the communities we call home. That means supporting the infrastructure and services that make our neighborhoods unique places to work, live and play.

    “Since 2011, Google has contributed more than $150 million in grants and employee-matched giving to New York nonprofit institutions. We’ve been ardent supporters of iconic neighborhood public resources such as the High Line and Hudson River Park, and partnered with the New York City Public Library System to provide free Wi-Fi hotspots to public school students and families without home internet access.

    “We recently donated $1.5 million to support the Stonewall National Monument Preservation Project and joined forces with 19 local businesses to establish the Westside Community Fund. And to help foster New York’s burgeoning tech ecosystem, we’ve funded programs like MotherCoders NYC, provided space to organizations like Black Girls Code and hosted Cornell Tech while its permanent campus on Roosevelt Island was under construction.

    “We’ll continue to deepen our commitments in STEM education, workforce development and access to technology. This coming spring, Grow with Google—our initiative to create economic opportunities for all Americans—will come to New York City with a temporary digital skills learning center on the ground floor of our office on 8th Avenue in Chelsea.

    “Grow with Google will host free hands-on workshops, one-on-one coaching and community events with local partners so that New Yorkers have the opportunity to gain the skills needed to thrive in today’s digital economy.

    “With these most recent investments in Google Chelsea and Google Hudson Square, we will have the capacity to more than double the number of Googlers in New York over the next 10 years.

    “Our investment in New York is a huge part of our commitment to grow and invest in U.S. facilities, offices and jobs. In fact, we’re growing faster outside the Bay Area than within it, and this year opened new offices and data centers in locations like Detroit, Boulder, Los Angeles, Tennessee and Alabama. And as we continue to grow across the country, we look forward to calling New York City home for many years to come.

     

  • Check out Nigeria’s top trending songs of 2018

    The trio of Davido, Wizkid and Olamide have dominated Google’s year-ending list of top trending songs.

    Google on Wednesday announced the results of its 2018 year in search, which includes top trending songs, movies and sports people.

    Davido had four entries on the list of most-searched songs by Nigerians in 2018 while Wizkid had three and Olamide earned two.

    Burna Boy came into the list with his monster hit ‘Gbona’ while Kizz Daniel made the cut courtesy of his ‘One Ticket’ collaboration with Davido.

    For the top ranking movies, Kemi Adetiba’s ‘King of Boys’ made the list while ‘Black Panther’, was also included.

    ‘Acrimony’ and the sequel of ‘The Wedding Party’ were also among the top movies of the year among Nigerians.

     

    Check out the list below:

     

    Top Trending Songs

    1. Fever – Wizkid
    2. Assurance – Davido
    3. Science Student – Olamide
    4. Motigbana – Olamide
    5. Nwa Baby – Davido
    6. One Ticket – Kiss Daniel ft Davido
    7. Gbona – Burna Boy
    8. Manya – Wizkid
    9. Soco – Wizkid
    10. Fia – Davido

    Top Trending Movies

    1. Black Panther
    2. Avengers Infinity War
    3. Acrimony
    4. Venom
    5. Deadpool 2
    6. King of Boys
    7. Wedding Party 2
    8. Rampage

    Top Trending Sports People

    1. Alexis Sanchez
    2. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
    3. Philippe Coutinho
    4. Emmanuel Eboue
    5. Fred
    6. Anthony Joashua
    7. Jorginho
    8. Unai Emery
    9. Willian
    10. Didier Drogba

     

  • Atiku Abubakar, Osun State election dominate Google Search

    Atiku Abubakar, Osun State election dominate Google Search

    Query for Osun State election dominated Google Search in 2018, according to The Year in Search 2018 results released on Wednesday, which offered an insight into the year’s major moments and top trends based on searches conducted in Nigeria.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Google Search, also referred to as Google Web Search or simply Google, is a web search engine developed by Google LLC.

    It is the most used search engine on the World Wide Web across all platforms, with 92.74% market share as of October 2018, handling more than three billion searches each day.

    Google Trends which was launched in May 2006, allows one to see how popular, search terms and its demography have been over time on the search engine.

    According to Mr Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s Communications and Public Affairs Manager, Anglophone West Africa him, the Osun elections, Alexis Sanchez, Black Panther searches top the 2018 trending list.

    Kola-Ogunlade said that the trend had to do with what people, places, and things were trending around the globe this year, the top trending news moment of the last 12 months and which new music and movies trended to the top and grabbed people’s attention.

    “This year’s most searched news event was the Osun elections, which gripped national attention in September due to alleged incidents of voter intimidation and interference.

    “Manchester United footballer Alexis Sanchez was both the most searched person and the most searched sports person of 2018.

    “Black Panther took number one in the trending movies list, while Fever by Wizkid was the top trending song,” he said.

    Koka-Ogunlade said that the top trending news searches for the year was: Osun elections, Ekiti elections, PDP Presidential Primaries, ASUU Strike, NLC Strike/Minimum Wage, Offa Robbery, Kaduna Crisis, Lagos APC primaries, Royal Wedding and Atiku Running Mate.

    For the top trending people, the Google spokesman listed them as: Alexis Sanchez, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Meghan Markle, Stan Lee, Philippe Coutinho, Atiku Abubakar, Tosyn Bucknor, Avicii, Aisha Abimbola and Sylvester Stallone.

    He said that for the top trending questions are: How to check Jamb result, How to write a Business Plan, Who is leading in Osun Election, How to check BVN, Who is Prince Harry?, Who is the richest musician in Nigeria?, How to write a CV.

    Others he listed are: How to dance Shaku Shaku, Who is Atiku’s running mate? and Who is the president of Croatia?

    The top trending songs are: Fever – Wizkid, Assurance – Davido, Science Student – Olamide, Motigbana – Olamide, Nwa Baby – Davido, One Ticket – Kiss Daniel ft Davido, Gbona – Burna Boy, Manya – Wizkid, Soco – Wizkid and Fia – Davido.

    He listed the top trending movies as: Black Panther, Avengers Infinity War, Acrimony, Venom, Deadpool 2, King of Boys, Wedding Party 2 and Rampage.

    The top trending sports people he said are: Alexis Sanchez, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Philippe Coutinho, Emmanuel Eboue, Fred, Anthony Joashua, Jorginho, Unai Emery, Willian and Didier Drogba.

     

  • U.S. lawmakers grill Google Chief on censorship, bias, personal data

    U.S. lawmakers started a hearing with the Chief Executive of Google, Sundar Pichai, on Tuesday on censorship, bias and personal data.

    The hearing took place amid accusations that the company is engaging in censorship in China and allegations by conservatives that the Company had a liberal political bias.

    The chairman of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee also raised concerns about how Google stores and handles personal data, including the location of users and browsing habits.

    Google is also under pressure over data leaks.

    “I think it is fair to say that most Americans have no idea the sheer volume of information that is collected,’’ Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte said.

    He also noted that it was nearly impossible to avoid Google.

    One study estimates Google runs 90 per cent of internet searches.

    Pichai said the collection of data was something that users opted into and called it “transparent,’’ while urging customers to review their privacy setting.

    Republicans like Goodlatte accused Google of a liberal bias, a theme expected to come up during the hearing.

    Pichai outright rejected this claim and insisted individual engineers could sway the leanings of search results.

    Reports have indicated Google is working with China to develop a search engine that would fit into the country’s censorship system and government efforts to track citizens.

    Kevin McCarthy, the Republican Majority Leader in the House said the committee must check whether U.S. companies were serving as “instruments of freedom’’ or of control.

    The United States needs to know Google “is on the side of the free internet,’’ he added.

     

  • France, Germany aim to keep digital tax alive

    France and Germany on Tuesday sought to salvage a proposed EU tax on big digital firms including Google and Facebook by narrowing the focus to cover only companies’ online advertising revenue.

    Eager to break months of deadlock, the two countries’ finance ministers put a new proposal to their EU counterparts at a meeting on the issue in Brussels.

    In March, the European Union’s executive arm proposed a 3 percent tax on big digital firms’ online revenues, accusing them of funnelling profits through member states with the lowest tax rates to keep their overall tax down.

    While France has pushed hard for the digital levy, countries such as Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland have opposed it while Germany has also had misgivings.

    The new Franco-German proposal would still impose a 3 percent levy, but not cover data sales and online marketplaces since it would be focused on advertising revenues.

    That means companies with big online advertising operations like Google and Facebook would be the most affected as they make the majority of the market in Europe.

    A broader turnover tax on firms with significant digital revenues in Europe would have hit companies such as Apple and Amazon harder.

    “It’s a first step in the right direction which in the coming months should make the taxation of digital giants a possibility,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.

    “Will it put all arguments to rest? certainly not,” he added.

    Le Maire said that if the tax were adopted, individual countries like France would be free to impose it on a wider basis.

    In the original European Commission proposal, the tax was intended to be a temporary “quick fix” until a broader solution could be found among OECD members.

    Under the Franco-German proposal, the tax would not come into force until January, 2021 and only if no broader international solution has been found.

    The tax requires the support of all 28 EU states, including small, low-tax countries like Ireland which have benefited by allowing multinationals to book profits there on digital sales to customers elsewhere in the European Union.

    The European Union’s current Austrian presidency has been trying to reach a deal on the tax by the end of the year. The Franco-German proposal calls for a deal by March.

    The setback is a painful blow to French President Emmanuel Macron, as his government had invested considerable political capital in the tax. It is also seen in Paris as a useful example of joint European action before EU parliament elections next year.

     

  • Consumer groups criticize Google location data collection

    European consumer groups on Tuesday criticized Google for breaching personal data protection rules, citing how the location of smartphone users was continuously tracked.

    Google collected location data of people, who use Google’s services or accounts on their smartphones and features
    like “location history’’ and “web & app activity,’’ according to the Brussels-based European Consumer Organisation.

    This was in breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that entered into force in May, the groups
    said, saying they planned to file complaints with national data protection authorities.

    The information was used for services such as targeted advertising.

    Location data can be sensitive as it can also reveal personal information, ranging from religious beliefs to health
    conditions or sexual orientation, the groups said.

    The findings were highlighted in a report by the Norwegian Consumer Council, one of the European consumer
    groups planning a complaint.

    The consumer groups criticised Google for not being open about the features or how consumers can choose
    not to share their location data.

    “Thanks to the GDPR, users should be in control of their personal data. Google’s deceptive practices are in breach
    of the spirit and the letter of this regulation,” Monique Goyens, Head of the European Consumer Organisation said in a statement.

    Google Norway spokeswoman, Helle Skjervold, said in a written statement to public broadcaster NRK that
    Google was “constantly working to improve our settings, and we will carefully read this report to see if there are things we can change.’’

    Complaints were due in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia and
    Sweden.

     

  • Google urges business owners to embrace innovations

    The Product Marketing Manager, Google Nigeria, Mrs Tutu Laditan, on Friday urged business owners to adopt disruptive models that would help accelerate their businesses.

    Laditan, who made the appeal at the Google Business Group Lagos (GBG) BizFest, spoke on the theme: “Building a Digital Business and how you Fuel Your Hustle’’.

    The GBG Lagos is a community of business people helping each other to unleash the power of the internet by exploring and connecting with experiences, ideas and experiences.

    “The world is changing and this is due to the adoption of technology and so business owners need to shape up to fit in the changing landscape as the work space is gradually changing.

    “There is need for business owners to adopt disruptive models that will enable their businesses to stay competitive and relevant in the ecosystem,’’ she said.

    Laditan mentioned some of the disruptive models that would aid business; listing them as: subscription model, free model, market place model, access-over- ownership model.

    Other models listed were: hypo market model, experience model, the pyramid model, on-demand model and the ecosystem model.

    Laditan said that the advantages attached to a business being digitally inclined had to do with revenue growth, business being profitable and having market value which would attract investors.

    She listed the forces driving changes in the digital landscape as: consumer technology, new business models and pace of change.

    Laditan urged business owners to replicate and find a model to adopt, saying that such disruption also came with the power of technology.

    She told business owners that the key things that would help them to succeed were the people, process and technology, urging them to make proper use of the three keys.

    “Nigerians are very entrepreneurial and to fuel their hustle, they need to be very inspirational so as not to get stocked along the line.

    “They need to be innovative as one who does not adapt to changes will not have his business grow.

    “Hustle is what keeps one going and so going online should be where they need to be as there are templates already online that one can easily make use of.

    “These resources online will enable business owners to improve themselves and their businesses, ‘’ Laditan said.

     

  • Google extends application deadline for Podcasts creator program

    Google extends application deadline for Podcasts creator program

    Internet giant, Google has extended application deadline for the Podcasts creator program that aims to promote inclusive storytelling.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Podcasting has quickly become one of the best ways to share and listen to stories, but its future depends on a diverse array of stories, voices and creators.

    The application window officially opened globally in October through November 18th for the first round of the Google Podcasts creator program, which will kick off in January 2019.

    Google announced the deadline extension to enable those, who want to bring new voices, perspectives and experiences into people’s lives, who are yet to apply for the program, to get a shot.

    The Google Podcasts creator program is focused on three main pillars: empowering and training underrepresented voices through an accelerator program, educating a global community with free tools, and showcasing participants’ work as a model for others.

    PRX, partnering with Google for the program, alongside a global advisory committee, will select teams to receive mentorship, seed funding, and an intensive 20-week training.

    For podcast enthusiasts that want to learn more about what it takes to create a podcast, but are not yet ready to apply to the program, PRX will draw on learnings from the program to develop a series of broadly accessible podcasting 101 videos in multiple languages, as well.

    Podcasts are a way to bring additional voices, perspectives and experiences into your day-to-day life.

    The Google Podcasts creator program is designed to help support these voices, so that everyone can find a story that resonates with them.

    Application deadline for the Google Podcasts creator program is now December 2nd.