Tech

Britain regulator seeks tougher checks for Google, Facebook ad supremacy

Editorial Bureau July 1, 2020

LONDON (UK) – Britain’s competition watchdog said on Wednesday that the government should bring in more measures to check the monopoly of tech giants Google and Facebook in digital advertising and give space for other players. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority’s

Tech

Justice Dept, state AGs to meet Friday on Google antitrust probe: source

Ren Leen June 24, 2020

WASHINGTON (Technology) – U.S. Justice Department officials and some state attorneys general are set to meet on Friday to discuss ongoing antitrust probes into Alphabet Inc’s Google unit, a person briefed on the matter said. The federal government and nearly all state attorneys general have opened investigations into allegations that Google has broken antitrust

Tech

Massive spying on Google Chrome users exposes chinks in armour

Ren Leen June 18, 2020

SAN FRANCISCO (US) – A newly discovered spyware effort attacked users through 32 million downloads of extensions to Google’s Chrome web browser, researchers at Awake Security revealed. This highlights the tech industry’s failure to protect browsers as they are used more for email, payroll and other sensitive functions. Alphabet Inc’s Google said it

UK

UK bats for global digital tax as US quits discussions

Ren Leen June 18, 2020

LONDON (UK) – Britain will keep pushing for a global solution on taxing international digital companies such as Google and Facebook Inc after the United States left talks, a British Treasury spokesman said on Thursday. “We remain committed to a global solution,” the spokesman said. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin decided to pull out of […]

Tech

Facebook, Twitter, Google to report monthly on fake news fight, EU says

Jim Stein June 10, 2020

BRUSSELS (Technology) – Facebook, Google and Twitter should provide monthly reports on their fight against disinformation, two senior EU officials said on Wednesday as they called out Russia and China for their roles in the spread of fake news. The comments by EU foreign policy head Josep Borrell and the European Commission’s Vice President for […]

Tech

Google postpones Android 11 unveiling amid U.S. protests

Jim Stein May 30, 2020

(Technology) – Alphabet Inc’s Google on Saturday said it has postponed next week’s planned unveiling of the beta version of its latest Android 11 mobile operating system in light of protests and unrest in the United States. “We are excited to tell you more about Android 11, but now is not the time to celebrate,” […]

Tech

Google faces antitrust case in India over payments app – sources

Jim Stein May 27, 2020

NEW DELHI (Technology) – India’s antitrust body is looking into allegations that Alphabet Inc’s Google is abusing its market position to unfairly promote its mobile payments app in the country, five sources familiar with the case told Reuters. The complaint was filed in February and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has kept the identity […]

Business

Google to begin office reopening with 30% capacity targetted in September

Ren Leen May 27, 2020

(Business) – Google to begin the reopening of its buildings at roughly 10% of its capacity in more cities starting July 6. They intend to scale it up to 30% by September if conditions allow for the same. Google and Facebook allowed employees to work from home starting early March in adherence to government-mandated restrictions […]

Tech

Latvia launching a Google-Apple friendly coronavirus contact tracing app

Jim Stein May 25, 2020

RIGA (Technology) – Latvia aims to become one of the first countries to launch a smartphone app using a new toolkit created by U.S. tech giants Apple and Alphabet’s Google to help trace coronavirus infections. Early success of tracing apps in countries like Singapore and Australia has been patchy because Apple’s iPhone does not support […]

USA

U.S. state attorneys general might bring antitrust lawsuits against Google

Jim Stein May 16, 2020

(Technology) – A group of state attorneys general led by Texas are likely to file an antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet Inc’s Google and are working on potential litigation for later this year, a person familiar with the situation said on Friday. The Justice Department is also moving toward bringing a case as soon as this […]