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Google gaffes: 9 branding misfires from the smartest company around
From Android Automotive to YouTube Music, Google regularly misses the mark in branding its offerings
At Android Police, we have a generally positive take on a lot of Google's products and services. We are Android Police, after all. But among major players in the tech space, Google seems singularly inept at communicating what its products do and who should use them.
Google would rather ruin its products than pay Sonos, and that's unacceptable
Cough up the dough or start sending customers refunds, Google
The ongoing lawsuit between Google and Sonos probably isn’t in the forefront of anyone's mind right now, but after recently digging into a change YouTube made for the worse on its Chromecast app, I can’t really stop thinking about it. Did you know that if you have a Pixel phone and need to reset a Chromecast or connect it to a new Wi-Fi network, you’re basically screwed? One of the most popular streaming dongles in the world, noted for its simplicity and ease of use, now offers an inconsistent and degraded experience, adding to the other deficiencies Google itself announced for its Nest and Home speakers when it comes to volume adjustments and groups, taking away features and functionality customers paid for.
Google is slowing down hiring for the rest of the year
Not even your favorite big tech companies are immune to economic woes
The current economic landscape globally is painting a grim scenario. As fears of a global recession mount, companies and regular folks are bracing themselves for disaster. And those fears have even reached multi-billion dollar, big tech companies, who are already making moves to cut down unnecessary spending and keep business flowing. Among those is also Google. The approach the company is taking, for now at least, is to address one of the main sources for added expenses — hiring.
Google reportedly offers to reorganize ad business to head off US antitrust case
But it's probably not enough to assuage the feds
Big Tech is increasingly in the sights of US regulators, and Google is at the top of the list. For the last several years, Google has been the target of a Justice Department probe that observers believe will lead to a Microsoft-style lawsuit seeking to break up the search giant. A new report claims that Google is so concerned about the prospects of a suit that it's willing to voluntarily reorganize its ad business. And it's made some interesting offers to the government.
Google blocks popular app's update in South Korea over third-party billing
The KakaoTalk messaging app has over 100M downloads, and it's stuck in update limbo
Read update
Google has long been wishy-washy about billing rules in the Play Store, but it announced strengthened enforcement in 2020. Not all developers were pleased with the changes, which forbade bypassing the Google Pay system. Epic filed (another) lawsuit, and lawmakers in South Korea passed an in-app payment law known colloquially as the "anti-Google law." It's being put to the test now that the rules have gone into effect. According to local reports, the popular KakaoTalk app is unable to submit updates because includes a link to its website for payments rather than integrating with the Play Store payment platform.
See the wurst hot dog preferences of your state with this Google Trends map
It turns out that hot dogs are an incredibly versatile meal
Hot dogs are some of the most popular snacks or meals for July 4 in the US, with legends saying that this tradition was started as early as the 1910s with hot dog eating contests (though it looks like this was only started in the 70s). The annual trend is something that reflects in Google searches across the country, easily picked up by Google Trends, the company’s division analyzing search term popularity across regions and countries. It would seem that there are all kinds of different hot dogs that pique searcher’s interests, and a new US map published on Twitter reveals just how diverse hot dogs are across the country.
Google may be breaking the law when it convinces you to sign up for an account
It's hard to say 'no' to Google
In many sectors, Google has grown its way into becoming one of the biggest targets for European scrutiny. From antitrust allegations galore to concerns over privacy, the company has had to navigate through billions of euros in fines and plenty of new regulations in the wake of its own transgressions. And you can expect more legal challenges to come as consumer protection agencies across Europe are taking such steps against the tech giant for steering consumers into accepting corporate surveillance.
Google invests in the future of knowledge panels with Wikimedia Enterprise partnership
The Internet Archive has also signed on with the non-profit foundation
Google's success largely stems from its ability to connect users with the data they're looking for, and sometimes that means working with a few partners. The Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit entity behind Wikipedia itself, established a new offering called Wikimedia Enterprise in 2021 as a paid service for big tech companies that access a lot of Wikipedia data, helping them to work with it more efficiently. It's only now starting to announce partners who have signed up to take advantage, and Google is among the first.
Google Analytics is losing track of millions of users as regulators ban the service
Austria, France, and now Italy are now telling webmasters to switch away
The European Union has been after Google for abuse of its monopoly power in mobile search engines and applications. Now, a growing number of countries in the union are going after the use of Google Analytics for violations against the General Data Protection Regulation.
Google tells employees they can 'relocate without justification' after Supreme Court ruling
With big legal decisions come complicated consequences
In the wake of the Supreme Court decision which overturned federal protections of abortion rights, institutions and employers are scrambling to respond with new policies that will support women in their organizations who are seeking to terminate their pregnancies, but live in a state that has banned abortions. Google is one of them.
Regulators around the world are closing in on Google’s potentially anti-competitive strategies
The latest service to get a closer look from regulators is Google’s Maps Platform
Monopolistic big tech companies are increasingly feeling regulatory pressure from all sides. As exemplified by John Oliver in a recent Last Week Tonight episode, that’s more than likely a good thing for consumers, but it will have serious implications for the affected business models. The latest regulatory investigation comes from Germany, where the German Federal Cartel Office is now looking into the Google Maps Platform.
Google pesters Apple to support RCS in iMessage by explaining Drake's 'Texts Go Green'
Did you need an explainer on what green texts are?
On Friday, Drake released his seventh studio album called "Honestly, Nevermind" which featured a track about someone who abandoned a relationship because their partner wasn't communicating their feelings in the right way. But with a name like "Texts Go Green," it didn't take much more for Google's social media team to pounce upon Apple and its iMessage platform, making the case that iPhones and other devices should support RCS messaging.
Lawmakers push Google to direct abortion seekers to the resources they're looking for
Democrats are wary of crisis pregnancy centers listed in search results for abortion clinics
One of the many touchstone issues that has defined the political divide in the United States is abortion. You may be aware of the Supreme Court's forthcoming reckoning over the federally-protected right of women to terminate their own pregnancy. Whatever the outcome, though, the decision won't stop women from seeking abortions in the states that permit it — that also means anti-abortion activists will be deploying strategies to prevent as many of them as possible. Now, lawmakers are urging online search behemoth Google to make sure it is directing women to the right places.
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John Oliver attacks Google for its anti-competitive grip on search on Last Week Tonight
The host goes on criticizing other tech monopolies like Apple and Amazon
We know that Google, Amazon, and Apple are big companies with monopolistic tendencies, but many of us have come to accept this a long time ago, ignoring or not aware of the issues cropping up due to these structures. John Oliver has taken on the task to bring these problems in the limelight, talking about Google’s dominance in the search engine industry, Apple’s App Store policies, and Amazon’s grip on third-party sellers during this week’s Last Week Tonight.
Google suspends engineer who claimed that the company’s LaMDA chatbot has become sentient
The engineer compares it to a child at the age of seven or eight
Last year at Google I/O, the company introduced its conversational LaMDA AI, short for Language Model for Dialogue Applications. It’s essentially an advanced chatbot that’s meant to take over all different kinds of roles, and so it can pretend to be a paper plane or Pluto you can chat with (both examples used on stage at Google I/O 2021). It looks like the AI is just a tad too good at its job, as a Google engineer says that it has gained sentience and has a self awareness comparable to a seven or eight-year-old. When he presented evidence to superiors, lawyers, and government representatives, the company promptly put the engineer on leave, saying that he is not authorized to share confidential information.
WWDC proves that Apple has replaced Google as the fun tech giant
Can we get back the Google that made us laugh?
As Android enthusiasts, many of us have become accustomed to watching Apple announcements that bring in new products and features that look awfully similar to things Google did first—not to say Android hasn’t borrowed a few things too. But in recent years, there seems to be another thing Apple has borrowed from Google—is willingness to have fun.
When will Google take the consumer services market seriously?
Google is building all kinds of new hardware, but its subscription services are lacking
We're looking forward to the release of a lot of Google products right now: the Pixel 6a, the Pixel Watch, the Pixel Buds Pro, and an unnamed Pixel tablet are all officially confirmed to be in the works—not to mention rumored stuff like the foldable Pixel phone. Between existing and upcoming products, Google's building toward the kind of every-corner-of-your-life hardware ecosystem currently enjoyed by rival Apple. But while Google may be closer than ever to really competing with Apple on hardware, Apple's got something else Google doesn't: services that people want to pay for.
Google contractors don’t enjoy the same work-from-home privileges as Google employees
Contractors are encouraged to look for another job if they aren’t comfortable returning to office
Depending on who you ask, Google’s workforce mostly consists of contractors rather than employees, though nobody can be sure since the company has never released details regarding its workers’ structures. It turns out that on top of contractors inherently not enjoying the same benefits as employees, this part of the workforce also doesn’t have the same privileges when it comes to work-from-home options. Contractors requesting to work from home are essentially asked to start looking for a job elsewhere.
Ukraine recognizes Google's ceaseless support with inaugural peace prize
Google has done a lot of things to benefit Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been underway for over three months. It has seen numerous territorial changes and war tragedies, and while it hasn't stopped yet, Ukraine has managed to hold its own and defend its territory. A significant element of the war has been battling misinformation to ensure both those in and out of the country are kept informed about what's happening. One of the companies helping with those efforts has been Google, which is why the company has been awarded Ukraine's first "peace prize."
Google seems to be panicking as its free news empire starts to crumble around it
The UK is considering Australian-style rules to make Google pay the media
Digital platforms relay massive loads of content to their users by the second and make money off of them by selling ads off their engagement. The journalism industry has had problems dealing with the likes of Facebook and Google in terms of sifting and labeling what's trustworthy, but the biggest stumbling block has been about money. The latest salvo between both sides centers around a report backed by the British newspaper industry that is making the case for a cut of Big Tech's revenue.