Google to give Chrome users an opt-out to ‘forced login’ after privacy backlash

Google has responded to blowback about a privacy hostile change it made this week, which removes user agency by automating Chrome browser sign-ins, by rowing back slightly — saying it will give users the ability to disable this linking of web-based sign-in with browser-based sign-in in a forthcoming update (Chrome 70), due mid next month. The […]

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Here’s everything Google announced today at its “Future of Search” event

Google has changed a lot in 20 years. What started as an index of “just” a few million pages is now reaching into the hundreds of billions; what was once a relatively simple (if very clever!) search engine is now an impossibly complex brew of machine learning, computer vision, and data science that finds its […]

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Google rebuked by Senate Intelligence Committee for not sending Page or Pichai to testify

Alphabet’s decision to decline to send its CEO Larry Page to today’s Senate Intelligence Committee hearing — to answer questions about what social media platforms are doing to thwart foreign influence operations intended to sow political division in the U.S. — has earned it a stinging rebuke from the committee’s vice chair, Sen. Mark Warner. “I’m […]

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The Google Assistant is now bilingual 

The Google Assistant just got more useful for multilingual families. Starting today, you’ll be able to set up two languages in the Google Home app and the Assistant on your phone and Google Home will then happily react to your commands in both English and Spanish, for example. Today’s announcement doesn’t exactly come as a […]

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Google Go search app for emerging markets can now read out website content

Google has lit the news canon at its annual India event which takes place in New Delhi today. The company just introduced a subtle new AI-powered feature for its Google Go search app: website reading. You can bet this is the first of many product announcements to come out today. The U.S. firm introduced Google Go […]

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Google Search’s new featured snippet panel saves you more clicks

Google is introducing an additional format for featured snippets in its search results today. For years, these snippets have appeared at the top of the search results page and featured both images and text that Google thinks are relevant to your query. They are all about Google saving you a click. Today, Google is going […]

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